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The Hawaiian Islands are a perfect laboratory for learning how plants and animals colonize new ecological niches, since every time a volcano sticks its head above the waves, life invades. A new $2 million grant from the NSF will allow UC Berkeley researchers to study how insects and spiders explore new niches and create new biodiversity on the newest of the islands, Hawaii.
Tag: biodiversity
Salamander helps rewrite geologic history of Central & South America
March 20, 2013:
UC Berkeley’s David Wake and colleague Kathryn Elmer at the University of Glasgow analyzed the genetic variability of salamanders that had moved from Central to South America and concluded that they could not have diversified within the 3 million years geologists think the two continents have been connected. They think the Panamanian land bridge formed 23 million years ago.
Despite global amphibian decline, number of known species soars
July 30, 2012:
Publicity over the past 25 years about the decline of amphibians worldwide has led to an explosion of research on the causes and exploration to find new species. AmphibiaWeb now counts 7,000 amphibian species, up from 5,000 a mere 12 years ago.
Hindcasting helps scientists improve forecasts for life on Earth
June 12, 2012:
Scientists at UC Berkeley have launched a unique program, the Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology, to use hindcasting – “predicting” what happened during past episodes of climate change – to improve the reliability and accuracy of computer models that forecast how plants and animals will adapt to a changing planet.
Can social networking save the world’s amphibians?
May 25, 2011:
Amphibian lovers have teamed up to create a social networking site, the Global Amphibian Blitz, where citizen scientists can submit photographs of amphibians in order to help scientists track their worldwide decline and hopefully find a way to halt it.
UC’s natural reserves give species new lease on life
December 6, 2010:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature this year singled out UC’s system of 36 natural reserves — a haven for the state’s diverse ecosystems and species for nearly half a century — as one of the “20 best biodiversity success stories.” The UC Newsroom reports on efforts by the reserves to reintroduce and foster the survival of endangered and threatened species.
