ScienceDaily: Top Environment News: Carbon storage recovers faster than plant biodiversity in re-growing tropical forests

Jay OwenEarth Systems Science

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

Carbon storage recovers faster than plant biodiversity in re-growing tropical forests

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:46 PM PST

A new study of re-growing tropical forests has concluded that plant biodiversity takes longer to recover than carbon storage following major disturbances such as clearance for farming.

Stressed-out trees boost sugary rewards to ant defenders

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:13 PM PST

When water is scarce, ecuador laurel trees ramp up their investment in a syrupy treat that sends resident ant defenders into overdrive, protecting the trees from defoliation by leaf-munching pests.

Spider’s super-thin ribbons key to silk tech

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:26 PM PST

The silk of a spider feared for its venomous bite could be the key to creating new super-sticky films and wafer-thin electronics and sensors for medical implants that are highly compatible with the human body.

Staying alive in the high and dry

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:16 PM PST

New research published this week sheds light on how desert plants gain nutrients they desperately need — even in the driest circumstances.

Clay may have been birthplace of life on Earth, new study suggests

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 10:20 AM PST

Clay — a seemingly infertile blend of minerals — might have been the birthplace of life on Earth. Or at least of the complex biochemicals that make life possible, biological engineers report.

The next big thing in the energy sector: Photovoltaic generated DC electricity

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 09:14 AM PST

A viable solution for sustainable energy transmission is the onsite generation of electricity using the photovoltaic method of converting solar energy directly into electrical energy.

Motion of the ocean: Predicting the big swells

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 06:32 AM PST

New research will help you every morning with the surf report. It is estimated that 75 per cent of waves across the world are not actually generated by local winds. Instead, they are driven by distant storms which propagate as swell.

Hurricane Sandy’s impact measured by millions of Flickr pictures

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 06:31 AM PST

A new study has discovered a striking connection between the number of pictures of Hurricane Sandy posted on Flickr and the atmospheric pressure in New Jersey as the hurricane crashed through the US state in 2012.

Global map provides new insights into land use

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 05:14 AM PST

In order to assess the global impacts of land use on the environment and help provide appropriate countermeasures, a group of researchers has created a new world map of land use systems. Based on various indicators of land-use intensity, climate, environmental and socio-economic conditions, they identified twelve global patterns called land system archetypes.

Oldest ice core: Finding a 1.5 million-year record of Earth’s climate

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 05:12 AM PST

How far into the past can ice-core records go? Scientists have now identified regions in Antarctica they say could store information about Earth’s climate and greenhouse gases extending as far back as 1.5 million years, almost twice as old as the oldest ice core drilled to date.