Almost one in five of British mammal species face a high risk of extinction, according to the first comprehensive review of their populations for more than 20 years launched today by The Mammal Society and Natural England.
The red squirrel, wildcat and the grey long-eared bat are all listed as facing severe threats to their survival.
The...
Original habitat is best, but restoration still makes a big difference
A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications presents some of the best evidence to date that restoration efforts in Missouri's Ozark Highlands make a difference for nesting songbirds that breed there. The reduction of Missouri pine savannah and woodland areas has caused birds that rely on these habitats to decline. Current efforts to bring...
Clever bees can identify different flowers by patterns of scent
New research led by scientists from the University of Bristol and Queen Mary University of London has revealed that bumblebees can tell flowers apart by patterns of scent.
Flowers have lots of different patterns on their surfaces that help to guide bees and other pollinators towards the flower's nectar, speeding up pollination.
These patterns include visual signals...
Citizen science: A powerful tool to combat invasive giant slugs
With the help of citizen science, researchers have unraveled the close correlation between weather conditions and the appearances of a giant slug species, enabling them to predict the slug's activity on the following day.
The giant slug Limax maximus, an invasive species which made its way from northern Europe to Japan and other regions worldwide, is...
Physiological benefits may be experienced by veterans with PTSD who use service dogs
A new study shows how veterans with PTSD may benefit physiologically from using service dogs.
This study, led by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, is the first published research to use a physiological marker to define the biobehavioral effects of service dogs on veterans with PTSD.
The findings were published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, and...
RNA changes aided sunflower's rapid evolutionary transformation, domestication
A new University of Colorado Boulder-led study sheds light on the genetic mechanisms that allowed sunflowers to undergo a relatively rapid evolutionary transition from wild to domesticated in just over 5,000 years.
Sunflowers, prized for their seeds and oil, have long held agricultural value for humans. Wild, ancestral varieties of the common sunflower Helianthus annuus are...