Biodiversity in the Mediterranean is threatened by alien species
Millions of tourists visit the Mediterranean each year, but its deep-blue waters host the largest invasion currently underway on Earth. Almost 1,000 alien species, including fish, crustaceans, and...
View ArticleUS initiates prototype system to gauge national marine biodiversity
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA are funding three demonstration projects that will lay the foundation for the first national network to monitor marine biodiversity...
View ArticleThe unexamined diversity in the 'Coral Triangle'
Research on zoantharians, a group of animals related to corals and anemones, by researchers James Reimer of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, Angelo Poliseno of Universita Politecnica...
View ArticleCitizen scientists home in on crab menace
Perth fishermen have helped stop a 'nasty' crab invading West Australian waters which could have devastated local marine biodiversity.
View ArticleUN moves toward major treaty for ocean biodiversity
UN member states agreed Saturday to begin negotiations on a treaty to protect marine biodiversity in ocean areas extending beyond territorial waters, in a move heralded by environmental organizations.
View ArticleClimate models suggest major changes in coastal marine ecosystems
Climate change over the 21st century will significantly alter an important oceanographic process that regulates the productivity of fisheries and marine ecosystems, according to an interdisciplinary...
View ArticleScientists develop new methods to track ocean biodiversity
How can you track changes in complex marine ecosystems over time? MBARI scientists are part of a team trying to do just this with a five-year, $7 million grant through the National Ocean Partnership...
View ArticleResearchers create marine biodiversity database
The world's epicentre of marine biodiversity is under threat. Researchers in the Philippines are developing a marine biodiversity database to help identify local hotspots requiring urgent management.
View ArticleSeas face biodiversity shakeup even under 2 C warming
The oceans will undergo a dramatic turnover in biodiversity even if the UN meets its goal of limiting of global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), scientists said Monday.
View ArticleMarine reserves: Finding the balance with oil and gas
How do we get the most out of our marine reserves? The government is in the process of reviewing Australia's network of marine protected areas. The review focuses on zones that exclude recreational...
View ArticleStudy identifies priority regions for conservation of iconic large marine...
A team of researchers, and from the Universities of Exeter, Plymouth and Southampton and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), has brought together several decades of scientific literature about animals...
View ArticleHow can we avoid kelp beds turning into barren grounds?
Urchins are marine invertebrates that mould the biological richness of marine grounds. However, an excessive proliferation of urchins may also have severe ecological consequences on marine grounds as...
View ArticleStranded pilot whale rescued in Cape Verde
The archipelago nation of Cape Verde is widely recognised as a marine biodiversity hotspot, not least because of the abundance of marine mammals found in its waters.
View ArticleWild fish ecosystems may be masking serious rapid decline in fish production...
New mathematics model shows that as the fish diversity of complex marine food webs declines, fish production resists the change, masking ultimate rapid loss
View ArticleEnd-Permian mass extinction may have been driven by an ocean teeming with life
(Phys.org)—The Permian geologic period that ended the Paleozoic era climaxed around 252 million years ago with a sweeping global mass extinction event in which 90 to 95 percent of marine life became...
View ArticleClimate impacts on marine biodiversity
New research into the impact of climate change has found that warming oceans will cause profound changes in the global distribution of marine biodiversity.
View ArticleUnderstanding reef systems at the genetic level
(Phys.org)—Coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystems, biodiversity hotspots now under anthropogenic threat from climate change, ocean acidification and pollution. Efforts are underway to...
View ArticleStudy: 17K marine species unprotected
A new study says that more than 17,000 marine species worldwide remain largely unprotected, with the U.S. among the bottom in supporting formal marine protected areas (MPAs) that could safeguard marine...
View ArticleNew software to assess the environmental status of marine ecosystems
The new tool is called NEAT, which stands for Nested Environmental status Assessment Tool. "NEAT allows us to assess the environmental status of European seas in an integrative way", says Dr Borja of...
View ArticleClownfish share their sea anemone homes when space is limited
Clownfish share their sea anemone homes when space is limited, say Australian researchers. They have found that multiple species of clownfish live together in the same host anemone and divide up the...
View ArticleDeep-sea biodiversity impacted by climate change's triple threat
A new study found that vulnerability of deep-sea biodiversity to climate change's triple threat - rising water temperatures, and decreased oxygen, and pH levels - is not uniform across the world's oceans.
View ArticleDiverse fish communities more productive and resistant to changing temperatures
Fish provide protein to billions of people and are an especially critical food source in the developing world. Today marine biologists confirmed a key factor that could help them thrive through the...
View ArticleScattered marine cave biodiversity data to find home in new database WoRCS,...
Considered "biodiversity reservoirs," underwater caves are yet to be explored with only a few thoroughly researched areas in the world. Furthermore, species diversity and distributional data is...
View ArticleResearchers develop tools to understand marine biodiversity and assess the...
More than 250 European researchers have collaborated in developing new tools to understand marine biodiversity and assess the environmental status of our oceans, within the project DEVOTES...
View ArticleHong Kong hosts more than a quarter of all marine species recorded in China
Hong Kong is best known as a bustling harbour, a financial centre and a shoppers' paradise, with a dense burgeoning population of seven million impacting its natural environment. Yet, away from the...
View ArticleHabitat destruction, pollution and climate change are driving global declines...
Intensifying pressures from fisheries, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change are driving global declines in marine biodiversity.
View ArticleLack of staffing, funds prevent marine protected areas from realizing full...
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an increasingly popular strategy for protecting marine biodiversity, but a new global study demonstrates that widespread lack of personnel and funds are preventing...
View ArticleAs continents continue moving, study suggests effects on biodiversity
Continental drift and plate tectonics—the notion that large chunks of Earth's crust slowly but inexorably shift positions—was proposed in 1912 but not accepted until the 1960s. These movements changed...
View ArticleNew marine protected area designated in Costa Rica
International days, such as World Oceans Day earlier this month, are vitally important for raising awareness of topics such as marine biodiversity. But in Costa Rica this year, not only was awareness...
View ArticleIn the wild, biodiversity's power surpasses what experiments predict
Hundreds of experiments have shown biodiversity fosters healthier, more productive ecosystems. But many experts doubted whether these experiments would hold up in the real world. A Smithsonian and...
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