BioScience articles from February 2006

BioScience archives from February 2006

Teaching the public about Science.(Editorial)
February 1, 2006... For years the National Science Foundation (NSF) has recognized the importance of communicating research findings to the public. Thus, NSF requires grant applicants to consider how they will communicate their findings to the public and to...

DNA barcoding in taxonomy and the perception of species in nature.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... In the recent Viewpoint by Ebach and Holdrege, More Taxonomy, Not DNA Barcoding" (BioScience 55: 822-823), the authors doubt that the application of DNA barcoding (the use of short nucleotide sequences as molecular markers for species...

Response from Holdrege and Ebach: what about taxa?(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... The problem of recognizing "real species" as opposed to identifying operational units is best addressed by viewing organisms and populations as taxa--namely, by considering the interrelationships of their homologous characteristics. Whether we...

A critique of Svancara and colleagues.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... The article by Svancara and colleagues ("Policy-driven versus Evidence-based Conservation: A Review of Political Targets and Biological Needs," BioScience 55: 989-995) has numerous failings that make the authors' analysis highly questionable....

Response from Svancara and colleagues.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... We appreciate the opportunity to to George Wilhere's comments. We could not find support for Wilhere's first criticism. We addressed different expressions of minimum area in figure 4. In figure 5, we used only those 13 articles (list available...

The "theory of evolution" is a misnomer.(Viewpoint)
February 1, 2006... The teaching evolution in American high schools is once again under siege from creationists. The recent court challenge in Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District, in York County, Pennsylvania, is a case in point. Almost everyone...

The endangered species act under threat.(Viewpoint)
February 1, 2006... A bedrock principle of natural resources law in the United States has long been that wildlife is not the property of those on whose land, or in whose waters, it occurs. Rather, the state and federal governments exercise a special responsibility...

Unearthing the secret lives of Alaska's mushrooms.
February 1, 2006... There is reason people refer to "hunting" mushrooms instead of "picking" them. Mushrooms may not move fast, but they are elusive. Because the processes that drive fungi to fruit are still not fully understood, even choosing the right time and...

Evolution and the environment: the second symposium in a series draws educators.(Special Report)
February 1, 2006... Why are amphibians declining on all continents where they are found? How important is it to conserve wild relatives of food plants like cassava, on which millions of people around the world depend? What are the evolutionary processes that...

James P. Collins: seeking biology's growing points.(Interview)
February 1, 2006... James P. Collins, Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and the Environment at Arizona State University, began serving as assistant director for biological sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF) on 15 October 2005....

Europe gears up to double its investment in research.(Washington Watch)
February 1, 2006... In late 2005, much of the talk around Washington, DC, focused on competitiveness and innovation in science and technology. The National Academy of Sciences released "The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic...

Krill, currents, and sea ice: Euphausia superba and its changing environment.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2006... Investigations of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) over the last 40 years have examined almost every aspect of the biology of these ecologically important animals. Various elements of krill biology have been brought together to provide...

Linking ecology and economics for ecosystem management.
February 1, 2006... This article outlines an approach, based on ecosystem services, for assessing the trade-offs inherent in managing humans embedded in ecological systems. Evaluating these trade-offs requires an understanding of the biophysical magnitudes of the...

New directions in conservation for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
February 1, 2006... The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 includes the nation's broadest statutory commitment to ecosystem protection: to "ensure that the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the system are...

Ethics for wildlife conservation: overcoming the human-nature dualism.(Thinking of Biology)
February 1, 2006... This article contrasts the instrumental-value approach, extensionist approach, and biocentric approach to environmental ethics with the Buddhist approach of Daisaku Ikeda in terms of their meaning for wildlife conservation. I argue that both...

Evolution and creationism in Science: 1880-2000.(Biology in History)
February 1, 2006... The journal Science has documented the evolutionist-creationist controversy since it began publication in 1880. The annual number of references suggests the intensity of the public debate. Peaks occurred in response to the Scopes trial (1925)...

Integrating teaching and research: a new model for graduate education?(Education)
February 1, 2006... New models of graduate education are emerging in response to the need to prepare students for careers involving not only research but also teaching, outreach, service, and interdisciplinary work. One such model is provided by the National...

Unremembered intimacies.
February 1, 2006... Beasts of the Earth: Animals, Humans, and Disease. E. Fuller Torrey and Robert H. Yolken. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 2005. 191 pp. $23.95 (ISBN 0813535719 cloth). Surrounded long ago by ever better pottery and ever longer...

Encounters with the seers of the underground.
February 1, 2006... Underground: How Creatures of Mud and Dirt Shape Our World. Yvonne Baskin. Island Press, Washington, DC, 2005. 256 pp. $26.95 (ISBN 1597260037 cloth). Popular science writers chronicling the lives of alluring penguins, elaborate orchids,...

A genealogy of life on earth.
February 1, 2006... Five Kingdoms: A Multimedia Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth. Version 2.0. Lynn Margulis and Karlene V. Schwartz. Springer, New York, 2003. $59.95 (ISBN 3540408665 CD-ROM). In many ways, the Five Kingdoms multimedia CD-ROM, authored by...

The long view.
February 1, 2006... Nutrient Cycling and Limitation: Hawai'i as a Model System. Peter M. Vitousek. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2004. 232 pp. $35.00 (ISBN 069111580X paper). Peter Vitousek's Nutrient Cycling and Limitation: Hawai'i as a Model...

New titles.
February 1, 2006... Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States. John Soluri. University of Texas Press, Austin, 2006. 337 pp., illus. $21.95 (ISBN 0292712561 paper). Biofilms, Infection, and...

Incorporation Day for NEON.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2006... The birth of the National Ecological Observatory Network is now official. On Thursday, 15 December 2005, NEON, Inc., was legally established as a not-for-profit corporation. It will serve as the primary coordinating body for NEON implementation...

AIBS cosponsors Dover teleconference.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2006... In December, AIBS and The Interfaith Alliance cosponsored a teleconference that brought together scientific and religious leaders to respond to the pro-evolution decision in the high-profile Kitzmiller v. Dover case. Reporters from a variety of...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2006... Original article in English * "Environmental Metabolomics: The Study of Disease and Toxicity in Wildlife" by Mark R. Viant, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom Spanish translaUons of previously posted articles * "Uso de Casos...

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
February 1, 2006... Public Policy Report for 3 January 2006 * A victory for science in Dover * AIBS cosponsors post-Dover press conference * Congress reauthorizes NASA * Congress wrapped up legislative business in time for holidays * Graduate...

Calendar of meetings.(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... February 12-17 Society for Range Management, Vancouver, Canada; www.rangelands.org/events.shtml 13-16 Weed Science Society of America, New York, NY; http://abstracts.co.allenpress.com/cgi-bin/wssa/index.pl 20-24 ASLO Ocean...

Seeing the forest for the carbon.(BioBriefs)
February 1, 2006... CARBON DATING AND AGE STRUCTURE It's hard to see the Amazon--the oldest, largest, most productive forest and hydrological system on the planet--for all the superlatives. The Amazonian ecosystem is so complex that scientists are finding...