Scientists identify 100 questions to conserve global biodiversity

October 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Experts have determined that the world will miss its agreed target to stem biodiversity loss by next year. The goal was agreed at the 6th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in April 2003.

September 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Australian researchers have discovered 850 new species of invertebrates, which include various insects, small crustaceans, spiders, worms and many others, in underground water, caves and "micro-caverns" amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback. The team, led by Professor Andy Austin (University of Adelaide), Dr Steve Cooper (South Australian Museum) and Dr Bill Humphreys (Western Australian Museum), has conducted a comprehensive four-year survey of underground water, caves and micro-caverns across arid and semi-arid Australia.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new international research, scientists have determined that human activities have already pushed the Earth system beyond three of the planet's biophysical thresholds, with consequences that are detrimental or even catastrophic for large parts of the world. The research was conducted by 29 European, Australian and US scientists.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists go on to find answers to different questions by merging creativity with model based studies, according to a research. Dr. Nancy J. Nersessian has studied the cognitive processes that underlie scientific creativity by observing scientists at work in their laboratories.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, a team of Brazilian researchers has defined global conservation priorities that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors for endangered carnivores. The team, led by Dr.

August 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that global warming threatens the existence of tropical species, the ecosystem and its by-products. The research was done by herpetologist Laurie Vitt, curator of reptiles and George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma's Sam Noble Museum of Natural History.

August 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have devised a small, cheap, lab-on-a-chip sensor that quickly and accurately identifies sweetness. It can accurately identify the full sweep of natural and artificial sweet substances, including 14 common sweeteners, using easy-to-read colour markers.

August 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Climate models have confirmed that as a result of human-induced global warming, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is increasing. The research was done by scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and a group of international researchers.

August 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has determined that a period of global warming from 53 million to 47 million years ago strongly influenced plants and animals, spurring a biodiversity boom in western North America. According to lead author Michael Woodburne, honorary curator of geology at the Museum of Northern Arizona, 50 million years ago, when temperatures were at their highest, the middle of Wyoming was a tropical rainforest teeming with lemur-like primates, small dawn horses and a number of small forest rodents and other mammals.

June 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have found that a rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels 200 million years ago led to a sudden ancient collapse in plant biodiversity. The evidence for the collapse in the plant biodiversity was unearthed by scientists in the form of 200 million-year-old fossil leaves collected in East Greenland.

June 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, has determined that coral reefs throughout the Caribbean have been comprehensively 'flattened' over the last 40 years. The collapse of reef structure has serious implications for biodiversity and coastal defences - a double whammy for fragile coastal communities in the region.

May 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has found that rare and unique ecological communities will be lost if oceanic islands aren't adequately considered in a global conservation plan. Although islands tend to harbor fewer species than continental lands of similar size, plants and animals found on islands often live only there, making protection of their isolated habitats our sole chance to preserve them.

May 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, researchers in France are reporting development of a simple test for distinguishing 100 percent natural honeys from adulterated or impure versions that they say are increasingly being foisted off on consumers. The study, by Bernard Herbreteau and colleagues from Universite de Lyon, France, points out that the high price of honey and its limited supply has led some beekeepers and food processors to fraudulently make and sell impure honey doped with inexpensive sweeteners, such as corn syrup.

April 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists is looking for easier, more effective ways of finding and measuring the toxic pollutants that people actually breathe, especially in cities. The team is being led by William Vizuete, assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health.

February 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - More than 80 percent of the world's major conflicts have taken place in the the most biologically rich and diverse places on earth, a new study says. These hotspots are considered top conservation priorities because they house more than half of all plant species and at least 42 percent of all vertebrates, and are highly threatened.