AIBS BioScience Features

Minnesota's Moose: Ghosts of the Northern Forest?

2009-11-06T18:11:45Z

Gii-wen (Ojibwe for "so the story is told"), moose once vanished from the land. According to Ojibwe legend, an owl flew north and chanced upon the herd grazing on balsam fir trees. The moose were thriving, without humans. The Ojibwe, on the other hand, couldn't live without the moose. Whither go the moose, so go the Ojibwe, says Norman Deschampe, chairman of the Minnesota Tribe of Lake Superior Chippewa/Ojibwe, Grand Portage Band. "Moose are at the center of our culture. Without them, we will cease to be Ojibwe. We've hunted moose since chemaywe'ya, the way-back time, for subsistence. One moose can feed a family for several seasons." Now, says Deschampe, the Grand Portage Band can't locate enough moose to fulfill its allotted hunting permits. "We need to find out why this is happening."

Permafrost in Flux: Tracking Carbon in the Alaskan Tundra

2008-03-06T21:23:59Z

Ecologists are trying to determine how much of the carbon stored in permafrost may be released as temperatures warm and permafrost thaws.

The Green Revolution Arrives in Africa

2008-01-28T21:21:04Z

The Green Revolution that brought advances in crop genetics to Asia and Latin America completely bypassed the African continent. Africa's smallholder farmers finally joined the movement in 2006, when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined the Rockefeller Foundation to create the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. Its goal is to develop 100 new crop varieties in 5 years, so that within 20 years farmers will double or triple their yields.

Running Hot and Cold: Are Rainforests Sinks or Taps for Carbon?

2007-07-24T16:14:30Z

Conventional wisdom has long held that tropical rainforests act as a sink for carbon dioxide, cleansing the atmosphere of a major greenhouse gas. However, biologists studying the forests of Costa Rica are finding that rising temperatures are casusing trees to grow less and to pump out more carbon dioxide, adding to an accelerating pattern of global warming.

Decrypting Biofuel Scenarios

2007-06-07T21:21:45Z

An energy–food–environment maelstrom, and a prairie plan

Out of Africa: A Tale of Gorillas, Heart Disease ... and a Swamp Plant

2007-05-04T19:51:39Z

Captive western lowland gorillas are susceptible to a heart condition known as fibrosing cardiomyopathy. Although the cause of the disease is unknown, the captive gorillas' diet may be a contributing factor. Aframomum melegueta, an herbaceous perennial plant that gorillas in the wild consume with gusto, contains substances with powerful anti-inflammatory properties that may protect gorillas' health.

Ghosts in Our Midst: Coming to Terms with Amphibian Extinctions

2007-04-03T16:07:03Z

A global mass extinction of amphibians is well under way, driven both by habitat loss and by environmental changes. As amphibian communities in Central America are being decimated by chytrid disease, scientists are working to fashion an emergency response. They are also sending out an urgent warning about what the loss of these environmentally sensitive species may portend.

Return of the Pronghorn

2007-04-03T16:03:05Z

The Sonoran pronghorn, one of five pronghorn subspecies, may be the most endangered large mammal in the United States. Once ranging more widely, today they are found in the United States only on protected lands in southwestern Arizona. Captive breeding programs and desert enhancements are starting to revive Sonoran pronghorn numbers.

Protected Areas and Equity Concerns

2007-03-05T23:16:50Z

Protecting areas to preserve biodiversity raises equity concerns for local and indigenous peoples. Conservationists and peoples' rights advocates are often at odds, whether miscommunicating or working in direct opposition. Policies for simultaneously safeguarding cultural and biological diversity can be achieved.

The Ascent of NESCent

2007-02-13T20:31:10Z

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), in Durham, North Carolina, was established in December 2004 to foster synthetic, collaborative, cross-disciplinary studies in evolutionary biology. The center sponsors scientific catalysis meetings to stimulate new approaches to research and working groups for in-depth investigations of particular topics. NESCent also offers faculty sabbaticals and postdoctoral fellowships, as well as education and outreach opportunities.

Cannery Row Revisited

2007-01-25T23:47:37Z

New research is reviving interest in the work of Edward F. Ricketts, a maverick marine biologist immortalized in the writings of John Steinbeck, who foresaw the impacts of overfishing in the Pacific more than 75 years ago. Today his scientific descendants are working to understand startling changes in the water he loved.

Madagascar Defiant

2006-12-14T17:24:49Z

Conservationists have long proclaimed the economic value of biodiversity and the services it provides. The point may be proved in Madagascar, where a determined president and an international conservation coalition are struggling to transform a country noted for its past environmental mismanagement into a new role model for green development.

The Millennium Assessment

2006-11-07T17:09:29Z

Charged with describing the current state of the environment, scientists worldwide collaborated to produce the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In seven synthesis reports and other technical documents, the assessment summarizes the Earth's present condition and the impacts humans have on critical ecosystem services.

SPECIAL REPORT: Biodiversity—The Interplay of Science, Valuation, and Policy

2006-10-31T17:57:33Z

In recent years, policymakers have recognized the economic values associated with biodiversity; economists have found ways to incorporate values associated with biodiversity into economic thinking; and scientists have documented the variety of services that diverse ecosystems provide. Those present at the 2006 AIBS annual meeting had the opportunity to explore the diverse linkages among these fields.

A Plague of Deer

2006-09-20T20:32:02Z

Unchecked deer populations are causing a decline in forest diversity. Overbrowsing by deer leaves only the few plant species deer can't digest as survivors. Managing deer populations through revised hunting practices, however, meets strong resistance.