news 2014

As the climate changes, the Amazon Basin may release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it absorbs, according to a new study published . An international team of scientists, co-led by Professor Emanuel Gloor from the University of Leeds, found that during a dry year the Amazon Basin’s ecosystems ‘exhaled’ more carbon dioxide (through vegetation fires) than it ‘inhaled’ (through photosynthesis).

On average, organic farms support 34% more plant, insect and animal species than conventional farms, say Oxford University scientists. Researchers looked at data going back 30 years and found that this effect has remained stable over time and shows no signs of decreasing. 'Our study has shown that organic farming, as an alternative to conventional farming, can yield significant long-term benefits for biodiversity,' said Sean Tuck of Oxford University's Department of Plant Sciences, lead author of the study.

28 Jan 2014 Almost a fifth of Britons living in the South East are likely to wash just four times or less per week, according to new research by academics at the Universities of Manchester, Edinburgh, Lancaster and Southampton. However, less frequent bathing or showering, which is much more likely to be a habit of older people, may be dying out with huge implications, say the team, on the demand for water and energy consumption.

A new study has revealed that fungi, often seen as pests, play a crucial role policing biodiversity in rainforests. The Oxford University-led research found that fungi regulate diversity in rainforests by making dominant species victims of their own success. Fungi spread quickly between closely packed plants of the same species, preventing them from dominating and enabling a wider range of species to flourish.

Marine ecosystems - especially in nutrient-starved areas of the ocean - are very sensitive to abrupt climate change, according to new research from the University of Bristol. The research, which involved scientists from the University of Bristol's Earth Science department , Cardiff University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Columbia University, is published today.

A study has found that homing pigeons' ability to remember routes depends on the complexity of the landscape below, with hedges and boundaries between urban and rural areas providing ideal landmarks for navigation. Researchers from Oxford University, the Zoological Society of London and Uppsala University, Sweden, released 31 pigeons from four sites around Oxford for an average of 20 flights each.