BioScience articles from February 2004

BioScience archives from February 2004

A new online education resource at AIBS: www.ActionBioscience.org.(Editorial)
February 1, 2004... At the start of this year, AIBS took an important new step in fulfillment of its mission to advance research and education in the biological sciences. On 1 January, the Institute assumed ownership of the award-winning education Web site...

A census of marine life.(Viewpoint)
February 1, 2004... Although humanity has begun to explore Mars, we are still colonizing our home planet. The 70 percent of Earth beneath the oceans is twice the area of Mars and the moon combined, but it is not nearly as well mapped. Ninety-five percent of...

Native incursions: avian range expansions imperil threatened species.(Feature)
February 1, 2004... In the shadows of an old-growth forest, Eric Forsman looked into the dark eyes of a spotted owl. He placed a live mouse on a branch, offering the bird a free lunch. "Mousing" is a strategy he and other biologists have used for decades to help...

A look at aspects of research policy in the European Union.(Washington Watch)
February 1, 2004... Public policy and business leaders worldwide increasingly recognize the economic and quality-of-life benefits that robust scientific research and development (R&D) programs can confer. Indeed, European Union (EU) leaders have made it a priority...

Competitive and facilitative evolutionary diversification.(Articles)
February 1, 2004... A central goal of evolutionary ecology is to understand the role of different ecological processes in producing patterns of macro evolutionary diversification. Theory and empirical evidence have shown that competition between existing species...

The landscape continuum: a model for high-elevation ecosystems.(Articles)
February 1, 2004... Interactions between climate and ecosystems with complex topographic gradients generate unique source and sink habitats for water and nutrients as a result o precipitation, energy, and chemical redistribution. We examined these phenomena for a...

Range contractions of North American carnivores and ungulates.(Articles)
February 1, 2004... We compared the historic and current geographical ranges of 43 North American carnivores and ungulates to identify large-scale patterns in range contractions and expansions. Seventeen of the species had experienced range contractions over more...

Nor gloom of night: a new conceptual model for the Hubbard Brook ecosystem study.(Thinking of Biology)
February 1, 2004... The great challenge now facing forest ecosystem scientists and managers is to address the need for multiple ecosystem services over relatively large spatial and temporal scales (e.g., whole national forests over 50- to 100-year time frames)....

Living with the land ethic.(Plenary)
February 1, 2004... The legacy of Aldo Leopold includes the concept of ethical responsibilities toward the land, and the establishment of ecological restoration both for environmental learning and for land management. For more than a half-century, the land ethic...

The case for regime-based water quality standards.(Roundtable)
February 1, 2004... Conventional water quality standards have been successful in reducing the concentration of toxic substances in US waters. However, conventional standards are based on simple thresholds and are therefore poorly structured to address human-caused...

Complexity, design, and natural selection.
February 1, 2004... Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? Michael Ruse. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003. 371 pp. $29.95 (ISBN 067401023X cloth). For a very long time, I have thought at Michael Ruse's best book was The Darwinian...

A layperson's guide to the Southern Ocean.
February 1, 2004... The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife: Birds and Marine Mammals of the Antarctic Continent and the Southern Ocean. Hadoram Shirihai. Illustrated by Brett Jarrett. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2002. 512 pp., illus. $49.50 (ISBN...

The price of resistance.
February 1, 2004... Battling Resistance to Antibiotics and Pesticides: An Economic Approach. Ramanan Laxminarayan, ed. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, 2003. 400 pp., illus. $65.00 (ISBN 1891853511 cloth). I should state at the outset that, although...

New titles.
February 1, 2004... Biology and Ecology of Fishes. 2nd ed. James S. Diana. Biological Sciences Press, Traverse City, MI, 2003. 498 pp., illus. $80.00 (ISBN 1884125980 cloth). Cell Biology: A Short Course. 2nd ed. Stephen R. Bolsover, Jeremy S. Hyams,...

AIBS launches education web site.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2004... On 1 January 2004, AIBS assumed ownership of www.ActionBioscience.org, an award-winning educational Web site focusing on the biological sciences. (See the editorial on page 91 for further details.) Established in 2000 and run for the past three...

AIBS hires education and outreach program manager.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2004... AIBS is pleased to announce that Susan Musante has been hired as AIBS education and outreach program manager, Musante has been a faculty and curriculum programs manager for the American Society for Microbiology and an education and outreach...

Upcoming AIBS council meeting.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2004... The 2004 AIBS council meeting will be held on Monday, 15 March (7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.), and Tuesday, 16 March (9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.), at the Westin Grand Hotel, 2350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037. The meeting will be attended by AIBS council...

2004 AIBS annual meeting.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2004... The program for the 2004 AIBS annual meeting is full of useful information. Register online at www.aibs.org/annualmeeting-2004/index.html. Don't delay in registering for this exciting program, entitled "Invasive Species: The Search for...

Calendar of meetings.(Calendar)
February 1, 2004... February 9-12 Annual Meeting of the Weed Science Society of America, Kansas City, MO; Web site: www. wssa.net/ 11 "Living with Nature: Everyday Actions to Sustain Our Planet," Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum...

Museum records and satellite imagery yield powerful predictions.(BioBriefs)
February 1, 2004... Madagascar, one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots and a high priority for conservation, is a large island, 1600 kilometers long (roughly the distance from Los Angeles to Seattle). Isolated for 160 million years off the...