BioScience articles from April 2008

BioScience archives from April 2008

Let's talk.(Editorial)
April 1, 2008... Even as calls grow for a presidential debate on science and technology--see the Washington Watch column on p. 296--advocates of scientific realpolitik are warning the debate's champions (among which are BioScience and AIBS) to be careful what...

Limitations of char from biomass.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Day and Hawkins (BioScience 57: 814-815 [doi:10.1641/B571002]) claim that they have a technology to convert biomass to a fertilizer that is part char and part ammonium carbonate. Various claims for the product are not credible. Foremost, the...

Response from Day and Hawkins.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... For brevity we did not include an important detail in one use of our biochar, to create a nitrogen-enriched char by capturing carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]). The Energy citation referenced by Gutschick (doi:10. 1016/j.energy.2004.07.016) provides...

[Cartoon].(Letters)(Cartoon)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Good Grief! Who cares where our tails begin!"

Can carbon trading save vanishing forests?(Viewpoint)
April 1, 2008... Among the many nasty things that humans are doing to the environment, few rank worse than destroying tropical forests. Rainforests sustain an astonishing diversity of species, and they are vital for keeping our planet livable--they limit soil...

Deep sea lost and found: glass sponge reefs thought to be extinct are discovered to be thriving in ocean depths.(Report)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mummies, they're called, these strange shapes that form one of the largest structures ever to exist on Earth. Stretching some 2900 kilometers from Spain to Romania, the long, sinuous curve of millions of...

Political science.(Washington Watch)
April 1, 2008... Whether in response to the politicization" of science, or simply to ensure that public policy is informed by science, many scientists are mobilizing and becoming more active in the public policy arena. Whatever the reason, science is more...

Systematics and herpetology in the age of genomics.(21st Century Directions in Biology)(Report)
April 1, 2008... How is organismal biology changing in the era of genomics? Here, I discuss one example, the changes and trends in the systematics of reptiles and amphibians. The polymerase chain reaction, automated sequencing, and genomic tools now make it...

The relevance of background odor in resource location by insects: a behavioral approach.(Report)
April 1, 2008... Insects live in a highly complex odorant world. Within a variety of odor blends, they need to locate potential food sources, mates, and oviposition sites to gain reproductive success. In nature, volatile cues leading to a resource are always...

China's booming economy is sparking and accelerating biological invasions.(Report)
April 1, 2008... China has undergone enormous economic growth in the last 25 years, largely as a result of greatly increased international trade. This burgeoning trade has triggered environmental threats from an expanding list of biological invaders: nonnative...

Andean influences on the biogeochemistry and ecology of the Amazon River.(Report)
April 1, 2008... Although mountains often constitute only a small fraction of river basin area, they can supply the bulk of transported materials and exert strong regulatory controls on the ecological characteristics of river reaches and floodplains downstream....

Federal lands and endangered species: the role of military and other federal lands in sustaining biodiversity.(Report)
April 1, 2008... The US government has multiple responsibilities for the protection of endangered species, many of them stemming from its role as the nation's largest landowner. To explore how endangered and imperiled species are distributed across the federal...

Integrative biology: science for the 21st century.(Forum)(Report)
April 1, 2008... Integrative biology is a label frequently used to describe various forms of cross-disciplinary and multitaxon research. The term is ill defined, but in fact it does rely on principles that are transforming 21st-century science. Collaborative...

Managing fisheries and conserving fishes: a difficult balancing act.(Spring Spotlight on Books)(Essay)
April 1, 2008... Historically, fisheries management and conservation biology were considered to be different disciplines; the former focused on harvestable species and the latter was concerned with preserving biodiversity, especially nongame taxa (Soule 1985)....

Whither bioscience? Benevolence or Bioviolence.('Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terrorism and Crime' by Barry Kellman)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terrorism and Crime. Barry Kellman. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2007, 390 pp. $28.99 (9780521709699 paper). In his book Bioviolence, DePaul University International Law Professor Barry Kellman...

The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics. Roger A. Pielke Jr. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2007. 188 pp., illus. $29.99 (ISBN 9780521694810 paper). The Honest Broker is a must-read for any...

Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism. Daniel S. Greenberg. University of Chicago Press, 2007. 288 pp. $25.00 (ISBN 9780226306254). Since World War II, the foundation of American science policy has been...

Riddled with Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex, and the Parasites That Make Us Who We Are.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Riddled with Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex, and the Parasites That Make Us Who We Are. Marlene Zuk. Harcourt, Orlando, FL, 2007. 336 pp. $25.00 (ISBN 9780151012251 cloth). Wine appreciation courses teach a deeper understanding of wine....

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations.(Book review)
April 1, 2008... Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. David R. Montgomery. University of California Press, Berkeley, 2007. 285 pp., illus. $24.95 (ISBN 9780520248700 cloth). The most overlooked, yet most crucial, material that sustains fife on earth is...

New titles.(Spring Spotlight on Books)(Bibliography)
April 1, 2008... Biodiversity Loss and Conservation in Fragmented Forest Landscapes. A. C. Newton, ed. CABI, Cambridge, MA, 2007. 416 pp, illus. $180.00 (ISBN 9781845932619 cloth). Biotechnology and Plant Disease Management. Z. K. Punja, S. H. De Boer, H....

Call for posters: AIBS annual meeting, 12-13 May.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)
April 1, 2008... The 2008 AIBS annual meeting, to be held 12-13 May, will explore the theme of climate, environment, and infectious diseases. Relationships among climate, the environment, and human health are manifested in infectious disease patterns, notably...

COPUS participants gear up for nationwide celebration of Science in 2009.(AIBS news)(Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science)
April 1, 2008... The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) is preparing to shine the national spotlight on science in 2009 and beyond. COPUS, an organization established in 2007, is planning events to celebrate the Year of Science 2009...

AIBS names 2008 Emerging Public Policy Leaders.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Cheryl Logan and Caroline Ridley)
April 1, 2008... AIBS announced the recipients of the 2008 Emerging Public Policy Leader Award: Cheryl Logan of Stanford University and Caroline Ridley of the University of California-Riverside. Logan and Ridley receive an AIBS membership, including a...

An update for the NEON community.(AIBS news)(National Ecological Observatory Network)
April 1, 2008... On 18 February 2008, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Board Chair Jim MacMahon and Chief Executive Officer David Schimel sent the following letter to the broad NEON community of ecologists and educators. It describes the funding...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Original article in English * "Teaching Anatomy and Physiology--Virtual Highway Style" by Karen Webb Smith, Linwood Holton Governor's School, a Virtual School in Virginia

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Public Policy Report for 17 March 2008 * AIBS submits congressional testimony in support of USGS, EPA * Budget process moves forward in Congress * Senate reviews FY 2009 federal science budget, regrets FY 2008 * Scientist wins...

Calendar of meetings.(Calendar)
April 1, 2008... May 2-3 Southern California Academy of Sciences, Carson, CA; http:// scas.jsd.claremont.edu/annual/ annual.html 4-7 Society for Industrial Microbiology, ...

The wealth--and ecological indebtedness--of nations.(Global Human Impacts)
April 1, 2008... Whenever ecologists and conservationists discuss issues as diverse as protected areas, consumption of rare sea animals, and rising sea levels, equity concerns arise. Systematically measuring the damage that wealthy countries' consumption and...

Mapping ocean damage 1 square kilometer at a time.(Global Human Impacts)
April 1, 2008... A new map of the world has been made. It shows the ecological impact of 17 anthropogenic drivers on 20 marine ecosystems of the world. The authors, with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of...