ENN
Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment
The Polyphagous shot hole borer, a brown-black beetle from southeast Asia, never gets bigger than a tenth of an inch. It breeds inside trees; pregnant females drill into trunks to create networks of tunnels where they lay their eggs. The beetles also carry a fungus called Fusarium; it infects the tunnels, and when the eggs hatch, the borer larvae eat the fungus.
Climate change could threaten reptiles by reducing the number of bacteria living in their guts, new research suggests.
Scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Toulouse found that warming of 2-3°C caused a 34% loss of microorganism diversity in the guts of common lizards (also known as viviparous lizards).
The digging, stirring and overturning of soil by conventional ploughing in tillage farming is severely damaging earthworm populations around the world, say scientists.
“April showers bring May flowers,” or so the saying goes.
Perhaps a more appropriate description this year might be, “Heavy April showers bring record flooding.”
In a new study researchers have found that although warmer weather should benefit badger populations, the predicted human population increase in the Scottish highlands is likely to disturb badgers and counteract that effect. These results emphasise the importance of interactive effects and context-dependent responses when planning conservation management under human-induced rapid environmental change.
Every Canadian has a stake in helping to shape the country’s energy systems. But how do we make sense of the ever-increasing and complex information about issues such as pipeline safety, environmental impacts and economic benefits?
