BioScience articles from June 2006

BioScience archives from June 2006

Predicting aquatic threats.(native animal conservation at Great Lakes)(Editorial)
June 1, 2006... With luck and considerable pushing by political leaders, efforts to alleviate some of the ecological stresses in the Great Lakes could make progress this year. A slew of recent reports, including one released last December by the Great Lakes...

Member societies and organizations.
June 1, 2006... Academy of Natural Sciences American Arachnological Society American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta American Bryological and Lichenological Society American Fern Society American Fisheries Society ...

Care needed in comparisons.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... In a recent letter to the editor (BioScience 55: 820), Alex Avery cites our research results--available only as an abstract at the time--to challenge the conclusions of an article entitled "Environmental, Energetic, and Economic Comparisons of...

DNA barcoding: an instance of technology-driven science?
June 1, 2006... The recent surge of interest in DNA barcoding as a rapid method for species identification is reminiscent of some recent trends in phylogenetics in which computer-based methods such as maximum likelihood, Bayesianism, and super trees have swept...

Sea sickness: the upsurge in marine diseases.
June 1, 2006... Most visitors to salt marshes along the southern California coast will spot Caspian terns, plovers, and sandpipers feasting on snails, crabs, and killifish at low tide. Only Kevin Lafferty and a few like-minded colleagues look at the same scene...

Kathleen K. Smith: integrating the levels of evolution.(Kathleen K. Smith-professor)(Interview)
June 1, 2006... Kathleen K. Smith, professor in the Department of Biology at Duke University, took over the directorship of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) from Clifford Cunningham this past January. NESCent is now hosting conferences,...

NSF's new strategic plan.(National Science Foundation)
June 1, 2006... The National Science Foundation is developing its latest strategic plan, which offers veteran NSF-watchers a window into basic priorities and senior-level policymaking at the agency, and also provides an opportunity for input by the scientific...

Restoring the Garden of Eden: an ecological assessment of the marshes of Iraq.
June 1, 2006... The Mesopotamian marshes of southern Iraq had been all but destroyed by Saddam Hussein's regime by the year 2000. Earlier assessments suggested that poor water quality, the presence of toxic materials, and high saline soil conditions in the...

Disentangling complex landscapes: new insights into arid and semiarid system dynamics.
June 1, 2006... Although desertification is a global phenomenon and numerous studies have provided information on dynamics at specific sites, spatial and temporal variations in response to desertification have led to alternative, and often controversial,...

Transgenic crops and crop varietal diversity: the case of maize in Mexico.
June 1, 2006... Transgenic crop varieties are a rapidly expanding and controversial technology. Their effects on biological and cultural diversity are a key issue in an often polarized debate. Here we provide answers to questions about one important example,...

Predicting invasion success: freshwater fishes in California as a model.
June 1, 2006... The location, size, and geography of California, combined with extensive knowledge of successful and failed fish invasions, provide an unusual opportunity to test predictors of invasion success. Our analyses show that different characteristics...

Ex situ plant conservation and beyond.(Professional Biologist)
June 1, 2006... In recent years, the mission of many botanic gardens and arboreta has expanded from a traditional focus on developing a horticultural collection to one that includes taking a proactive role in plant conservation. To use their limited resources...

Spatial heterogeneity and characteristic scales of species-habitat relationships.
June 1, 2006... Determining the characteristic spatial scales at which species respond most strongly to the amount of available habitat is crucial for developing cross-species scaling rules and for predicting species' responses to landscape modification. A...

Entomophiles, rejoice!(Evolution of the Insects)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Evolution of the Insects. David Grimaldi and Michael Engel. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2005. 755 pp., illus. $80.00 (ISBN 9780521821490 cloth). The field of entomology and the study of insects in general are fortunate to have a...

Sexual conflict: a new paradigm?(Sexual Conflict)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Sexual Conflict. Goran Arnqvist and Locke Rowe. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2005. 360 pp., illus. $39.50 (ISBN 0691122180 paper). I'm watching a breeding colony of southern elephant seals on a remote island in the Falklands....

An instruction manual for the Endangered Species Act.(Species at Risk: Using Economic Incentives to Shelter Endangered Species on Private Lands)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Species at Risk: Using Economic Incentives to Shelter Endangered Species on Private Lands. Jason E Shogren, ed. University of Texas Press, Austin, 2005. 283 pp. $21.95 (ISBN 0292705972 paper). Many biodiversity conservation efforts can be...

New titles.(Books)(Bibliography)
June 1, 2006... Developmental Biology. 8th ed. Scott F. Gilbert. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, 2006. 751 pp., illus. $112.95 (ISBN 087893250X doth). Dynamic Models in Biology. Stephen P. Ellner and John Guckenheimer. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ,...

NEON in transition.(Brian Wee and Bruce Leighty with new duties at National Ecological Observatory Network)
June 1, 2006... Two current NEON staff members, Brian Wee and Bruce Leighty, have taken on additional management duties for the National Ecological Observatory Network. Brian Wee has been named the NEON Project Management Office administrative director....

J. Michael Scott receives distinguished service award.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... AIBS is pleased to congratulate board member (and BioScience editorial board member) J. Michael Scott for garnering a Distinguished Service Award from the Department of the Interior. Scott was one of 27 to receive the honor on 4 May from Acting...

AIBS sends letter on evolution to Canadian grant-making body.(Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), a major government grant-making agency, recently rejected a grant proposal, in part because of the council's apparent doubts about the theory of evolution. Dr. Brian Alters,...

AIBS, Ecological Society of America comment on FY 2007 NSF appropriations.(American Institute Of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... On 3 May 2006, AIBS president Kent Holsinger and Ecological Society of America president Nancy Grimm sent a joint letter to members of the House Appropriations Committee. The letter encouraged members of the committee to do all in their power...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Original articles in English * "Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations," by Nicholas Agar, senior lecturer in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science, and International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington, New...

Recent AIBS public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(American Institute Of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Public Policy Report for 8 May 2006 * Members of Congress among those expressing concern with Smithsonian Showtime Networks partnership * EPA library network poised for cut * AIBS and Ecological Society of America send letter to...

Calendar of meetings.
June 1, 2006... June 17-21 American Arachnological Society, Baltimore, MD; www. americanarachnology.org/AAS_ Meetings/AAS_meetings.html 17-21 American Society of Mammalogists, Amherst, MA; http:// asm06.org; www.mammal society.org 18-21 Society...

Searching evolutionary pathways.
June 1, 2006... CONSTRAINTS ON BACTERIAL RESISTANCE Mutations are the stuff of evolutionary change, but whether a mutation is beneficial or not depends on its context. New evidence shows that some mutations may only confer fitness in certain genetic...