Earth

In a human-dominated world that contains only little "historical" nature, the term ecosystem can no longer be a synonym for unspoilt nature. The term "novel ecosystems" was coined a few years ago to describe disturbed ecosystems, in which biodiversity has been significantly altered as the result of human intervention. "In our new conservation framework we argue that this strict distinction between historic and novel ecosystems should be reconsidered to aid conservation", pollination biologist Dr. Christopher Kaiser-Bunbury describes the approach, which is not without controversy.

Snow storms, ice and glaciers - these are the usual images we associate with the Antarctic. But at the same time it is also a region of fire: the Antarctic continent and surrounding waters are dotted with volcanoes - some of them still active and others extinct for quite some time. The Marie Byrd Seamounts in the Amundsen Sea are in the latter group. Their summit plateaus are today at depths of 2400-1600 meters. Because they are very difficult to reach with conventional research vessels, they have hardly been explored, even though the Marie Byrd Seamounts are fascinating formations.

MADISON – When it comes to economic growth and environmental impacts, it can seem like Newton's third law of motion is the rule — for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction — and that in most cases, the economy prospers and the environment suffers.

Enhanced growth of Earth's leafy greens during the 20th century has significantly slowed the planet's transition to being red-hot, according to the first study to specify the extent to which plants have prevented climate change since pre-industrial times. Researchers based at Princeton University found that land ecosystems have kept the planet cooler by absorbing billions of tons of carbon, especially during the past 60 years.

For decades, it was thought that our skeleton and all its characteristic bony tissues originated in the predators, known as 'conodonts'. However new research, led by the University of Bristol and published today in Nature, shows that they were evolutionary copy-cats who evolved tooth-like structures and tissues independently of other vertebrates. The origin of our skeleton is to be found in the armour of our mud-slurping ancestors who evolved bony armour to protect themselves from such predators.

URBANA, Ill. – Haitian teens, especially those who live in the country's rural areas, are among the poorest persons in the Western Hemisphere, but they are rich in their family relationships and strongly rooted in their own culture, a University of Illinois study finds.

Animal populations can have a far more significant impact on carbon storage and exchange in regional ecosystems than is typically recognized by global carbon models, according to a new paper authored by researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES).

Alexandria, VA –The majority of bachelor's and doctoral graduates did not participate in an internship experience during their postsecondary career, whereas the majority of master's graduates did have at least one internship experience. Most of those bachelor's, master's and doctoral students that held an internship considered their internship experiences to be "very important". Of these master's candidates, 48% were employed within the geosciences at a company they had previously interned at the time.

An ambitious new study publishing October 15 in the open access journal PLOS Biology describes the full chain of events by which the ocean biogeochemical changes that are predicted to be triggered by manmade greenhouse gas emissions over the next 100 years may cascade through marine habitats and organisms, penetrating to the deep ocean and eventually influencing humans.

An ambitious new study describes the full chain of events by which ocean biogeochemical changes triggered by manmade greenhouse gas emissions may cascade through marine habitats and organisms, penetrating to the deep ocean and eventually influencing humans.

Imagine creating something completely new — something improbable and provocative that has never existed on Earth before. This kind of unconventional science that defies long-standing assumptions in chemistry is the topic of the latest episode of a popular video series from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Oct. 15, 2013 -- What do smoke rings, tornadoes and the Great Red Spot of Jupiter have in common? They are all examples of vortices, regions within a fluid (liquid, gas or plasma) where the flow spins around an imaginary straight or curved axis. Understanding how geophysical (natural world) vortices behave can be critical for tasks such as weather forecasting and environmental pollution monitoring.

Lightning strikes causing rocks to explode have for the first time been shown to play a huge role in shaping mountain landscapes in southern Africa, debunking previous assumptions that angular rock formations were necessarily caused by cold temperatures, and proving that mountains are a lot less stable than we think.

In a world where mountains are crucial to food security and water supply, this has vast implications, especially in the context of climate change.

Climate change affects forests across North America – in some cases permitting insect outbreaks, plant diseases, wildfires and other problems -- but Dartmouth researchers say warmer temperatures are also making many forests grow faster and some less susceptible to pests, which could boost forest health and acreage, timber harvests, carbon storage, water recycling and other forest benefits in some areas.

Boulder, Colo., USA – New Geosphere pre-issue publication articles are now online and include contributions to the CRevolution 2: Origin and Evolution of the Colorado River System II; Results of IODP Exp313: The History and Impact of Sea-level Change Offshore New Jersey; New Developments in Grenville Geology; and the Seeing the True Shape of Earth's Surface: Applications of Airborne and Terrestrial LiDAR in the Geosciences themed issues.