In the News - Feb 2016

Scientists discover a method to eliminate killer fungus in amphibians This research article details the first-ever successful elimination of chytrid fungus from a wild amphibian population, marking a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease responsible for devastating amphibian populations worldwide. The highly-infectious chytrid pathogen has severely affected over 700 amphibian species worldwide; driving population declines, extirpations and species extinctions across five continents. Three species of Wet Tropics frogs are possibly extinct due to chytrid fungus.

 

Twenty-four new wingless weevil species discovered in Australian rainforests Nineteen of these species were from the Wet Tropics while five were from Cape York. Most of the weevil species now recognised as new had been collected in the 1980s and 1990s. Since then they had been resting in museum collections until German researcher Alexander Riedel had the opportunity to study them. Full article - http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=6126

 

Scientists publish most comprehensive ‘tree of life’ yet, with 2.3 million species The first draft of the most comprehensive 'tree of life' has been released, revealing the relationships shared by all the named species of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes on Earth. Everything; including the underlying data and source code, has been made available to browse and download at the open Tree of Life website.

 

Ecosystem Science Council releases their first annual report The Annual Report discusses the progress made regarding a nationally defined set of directions for ecosystem science, and the first actions taken to implement the shared community vision as outlined in Foundations for the future.

 

NRM plan for the Wet Tropics region released Rather than being a huge printed document collecting dust, Terrain NRM’s plan isinteractive and web-based and can be accessed by anybody at any time. It's also very practical with lots of useful mapping tools that the community can use. 

 

Habitat fragmentation has lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems Forest cover is globally decreasing at an alarming rate. In their paper on habitat fragmentation, Ecologist Nick M Haddad of North Carolina State University and his many eminent colleagues claim that fragmentation of forest habitats produces consistently strong effects on the species within them.

 

Half of tree species in the Amazon are at risk of decline In a recent study a large group of scientists found that if deforestation continues at the current rate, 57% of the Amazon’s 15,000 tree species will be in danger. The study makes the first comprehensive estimate of threatened species in the world’s largest rainforest. Among the species expected to suffer significant falls in numbers are the Brazil nut, and wild cacao; both important food sources.

 

Australian rainforest trees with large fleshy fruits are rare because few animals are capable of dispersing them. Researchers found trees with large fleshy fruit, especially in sub-tropical areas, have smaller ranges and fewer connected populations than those with smaller fruit. The lead author of the research paper, Dr Maurizio Rossetto from the National Herbarium of New South Wales said “we found that species with fruit larger than 3 centimetres have significantly smaller ranges throughout the continent”

 

In the News - Feb 2016

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