By Brian Bell, UC Irvine | February 17, 2021 An interdisciplinary team of biologists and mathematicians at the University of California, Irvine has developed a new tool to help decipher the language cells use to communicate with one another. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, the researchers introduce CellChat, a computational platform that enables ... Continue Reading »
Science + Environment
Migratory birds track climate across the year
By Andy Fell, UC Davis | February 18, 2021 As climate change takes hold across the Americas, some areas will get wetter, and others will get hotter and drier. A new study of the yellow warbler, a widespread migratory songbird, shows that individuals have the same climatic preferences across their migratory range. The work is published Feb. 17 in Ecology ... Continue Reading »
Oldest DNA sequences reveal how mammoths evolved
By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz | February 17, 2021 An international team of scientists has sequenced DNA recovered from mammoth remains as old as 1.2 million years. The analyses show that the Columbian mammoth that inhabited North America during the last ice age was a hybrid between the woolly mammoth and a previously unknown genetic lineage of mammoth. The study, ... Continue Reading »
Turtles face grim future from rising sea levels
David Colgan, UC Los Angeles | February 8, 2021 About 60% of the world’s turtle species are considered threatened or endangered, making them one of the most vulnerable groups of animals on the planet. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals new findings about turtles’ evolution so far and the tough prospects they face for ... Continue Reading »
Healthy oceans need healthy soundscapes, say marine scientists
By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz Rain falls lightly on the ocean’s surface. Marine mammals chirp and squeal as they swim along. The pounding of surf along a distant shoreline heaves and thumps with metronomic regularity. These are the sounds that most of us associate with the marine environment. But this soundtrack of a healthy ocean no longer reflects the acoustic environment ... Continue Reading »
A surprising cycle
By Harrison Tasoff, UC Santa Barbara Hydrocarbons and petroleum are almost synonymous in environmental science. After all, oil reserves account for nearly all the hydrocarbons we encounter. But the few hydrocarbons that trace their origin to biological sources may play a larger ecological role than scientists originally suspected. A team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara ... Continue Reading »
UC Berkeley study shows effects of climate change on desert animals
By Claire Daly Small mammals may be better adapted than birds to the increasing temperatures of California’s deserts caused by climate change, according to a study by UC Berkeley researchers published Friday. The study found that while small desert mammal species have largely maintained their numbers over the past century, the numbers of bird species have dropped as ... Continue Reading »
Surveys Identify Relationship between Waves, Coastal Cliff Erosion
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego researchers have uncovered how rain and waves act on different parts of coastal cliffs. Following three years of cliff surveys in and near the coastal city of Del Mar, Calif., they determined that wave impacts directly affect the base, and rain mostly impacts the upper region of the cliffs. The study appears in the ... Continue Reading »
UC Santa Cruz offers virtual tours of Younger Lagoon Natural Reserve
Prompted by the temporary suspension of in-person tours due to COVID-19, the new virtual tours are available in English and Spanish By Tim Stephens A new virtual tour of Younger Lagoon Natural Reserve allows visitors to learn about the unique ecology and programs at the reserve from the comfort of their homes. Younger Lagoon Reserve is a 72-acre natural ... Continue Reading »
New study reveals how fences hinder migratory wildlife in the West
By Kara Manke Each year, thousands of migratory mule deer and pronghorn antelope journey northwest from their winter homes in the Green River Basin, a grassland valley in western Wyoming, to their summer homes in the mountainous landscape near Grand Teton National Park. But to reach their destination, these ungulates must successfully navigate the more than 6,000 ... Continue Reading »