ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Can cattle grazing management technique help capture and store carbon in soil? Posted: 14 Feb 2015 03:45 PM PST Can beef production help restore ecosystems? Scientists are examining the adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing management technique that involves using small-sized fields to provide short periods of grazing for livestock and long recovery periods for fields. The method mimics the migrations of wild herd animals, such as elk, bison and deer. The science team proposes a whole system science measurement approach in comparing AMP grazing with conventional, continuous grazing methods.

Mapping the gut microbiome to better understand its role in obesity Posted: 14 Feb 2015 06:24 AM PST Several recent science studies have claimed that the gut microbiome -- the diverse array of bacteria that live in the stomach and intestines -- may be to blame for obesity. But one expert says it is not that simple.

Bat populations in post-wildfire habitats Posted: 14 Feb 2015 06:23 AM PST Researchers are measuring bat populations in post-wildfire forests of Arizona. Bats are considered an indicator species of habitat health.

World crop diversity survives in small farms from peri-urban to remote rural locations Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:48 PM PST As much as 75 percent of global seed diversity in staple food crops is held and actively used by a wide range of small farmholders -- workers of less than three to seven acres -- with the rest in gene banks.

Finding winners and losers in global land use Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:48 PM PST An increasingly complex, interconnected world makes it difficult to study sustainability and figure out who the winners and losers are.

Thames study: Rivers can be a major source antibiotic resistance Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:21 AM PST Rivers and streams could be a major source of antibiotic resistance in the environment. A new study found that greater numbers of resistant bacteria exist close to some waste water treatment works, and that these plants are likely to be responsible for at least half of the increase observed.

Wildlife at risk around the globe: Scientists say vaccinating endangered carnivores of increasing importance Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:39 PM PST Experts from around the world focused on the threat that canine distemper virus poses to the conservation of increasingly fragmented populations of threatened carnivores. While canine distemper has been known for many years as a problem affecting domestic dogs, the virus has been appearing in new areas and causing disease and mortality in a wide range of wildlife species, including tigers and lions. In fact, many experts agree that the virus should not be called “canine distemper” virus at all, given the diversity of species it infects.

Bacteria protect intestinal tumor model from being killed by immune cells Posted: 11 Feb 2015 03:30 PM PST Bacteria that are commonly found in the mouth are often abundant in patients with colon cancer, but the potential role these microbes play in tumor development has not been clear. A new study reveals that the oral pathogen Fusobacterium nucleatum protects a variety of tumor cells from being killed by immune cells. The findings could open new avenues for the treatment of cancer in human patients.