BioScience articles from November 2007

BioScience archives from November 2007

The Earth above.(Editorial)
November 1, 2007... By the time you read this issue of BioScience, the California Academy of Sciences should have started moving its collections into one of the more startling architectural creations in North America. The academy's new building in San Francisco,...

Getting back to the garden.(Viewpoint)
November 1, 2007... Growing levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) emissions and related global warming are challenging the world to find new sources of energy that do not contribute to the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases. Ideally, such...

Mosquito modifications: new approaches to controlling malaria.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As daylight wanes on the island of Sao Tome, a team of biologists heads out to spy on one of the most important, but least studied, bits of natural history in Africa: the sex life of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae,...

Ocean acidification: the biggest threat to our oceans?(Washington Watch)
November 1, 2007... When it comes to the oceans and carbon dioxide, there's good news and bad news. To date, the world's oceans have absorbed nearly a third of the excess carbon dioxide emitted as a result of anthropogenic activities. That may be good news for the...

Green roofs as urban ecosystems: ecological structures, functions, and services.
November 1, 2007... Green roofs (roofs with a vegetated surface and substrate) provide ecosystem services in urban areas, including improved storm-water management, better regulation of building temperatures, reduced urban heat-island effects, and increased urban...

Sperm delivery in flowering plants: the control of pollen tube growth.
November 1, 2007... Although most people think of pollen merely as an allergen, its true biological function is to facilitate sexual reproduction in flowering plants. The angiosperm pollen grain, upon arriving at a receptive stigma, germinates, producing a tube...

The ecological significance of the herbaceous layer in temperate forest ecosystems.
November 1, 2007... Despite a growing awareness that the herbaceous layer serves a special role in maintaining the structure and function of forests, this stratum remains an underappreciated aspect of forest ecosystems. In this article I review and synthesize...

Soil sensor technology: life within a pixel.(Biologist's Toolbox)
November 1, 2007... Soil organisms undertake every major ecosystem process, from primary production to decomposition to carbon sequestration, and those processes they catalyze have a bearing on the management of issues from agriculture to global climate change....

Global conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.(Forum)
November 1, 2007... Habitat destruction has driven much of the current biodiversity extinction crisis, and it compromises the essential benefits, or ecosystem services, that humans derive from functioning ecosystems. Securing both species and ecosystem services...

Natural history museum visitors' understanding of evolution.(Education)
November 1, 2007... Natural history museums are the principal repositories of the collections that represent much of the objective evidence for evolution. With approximately 50 million visitors annually, US natural history museums can significantly influence the...

An angry indictment of mathematical modeling.(Books)(Book review)
November 1, 2007... Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmental Scientists Can't Predict the Future. Orrin H. Pilkey and Linda Pilkey-Jarvis. Columbia University Press, New York, 2007. 248 pp., illus. $29.50 (ISBN 9780231132121 cloth). On the basis of an analytic...

Why not teach "intelligent design"?(Books)(Book review)
November 1, 2007... Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools. Eugenie C. Scott and Glenn Branch, eds. Beacon Press, Boston, 2006. 184 pp. $14.00 (ISBN 9780807032787 paper). Not in Our Classrooms is a small, impressive book that...

A Collection of Computer-Intensive Methods.(Books)(Book review)
November 1, 2007... Introduction to Computer-intensive Methods of Data Analysis in Biology. Derek A. Roff. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2006. 376 pp. $65.00 (ISBN 9780521608657 paper). Technological advancements have allowed biologists and ecologists...

Historical journey in the evolution of soil science.(Books)(Book review)
November 1, 2007... Footprints in the Soil: People and Ideas in Soil History. Benno Peter Warkentin, ed. Elsevier, Burlington, MA, 2006. 548 pp. $75.00 (ISBN 9780444521774 cloth). Footprints in the Soil, edited by Benno Peter Warkentin, is a journey through...

New titles.(Books)
November 1, 2007... Agricultural Biotechnology and Intellectual Property: Seeds of Change. Jay P. Kesan, ed. CABI, Cambridge, MA, 2007. 416 pp., illus. $140.00 (ISBN 9781845932015 cloth). Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera. Brian L. Fisher and...

AIBS 2007 Board elections under way; polls close 9 November.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... Ballots for the AIBS Board elections have been mailed; members can also vote online at www.aibs.org/vote. At the end of 2007, the following positions become vacant on the 13-person AIBS Board of Directors for individual members to vote on...

Candidates for board member elected by the membership at large.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... The three candidates are listed alphabetically below; vote for two. Carol Brewer Carol Brewer, now associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of biology, joined the University of Montana faculty in 1993. She...

Candidates for AIBS board elected from the AIBS council of member societies and organizations.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... The four candidates are listed alphabetically. This election is under way with the Council through a separate online ballot. Charles Berry Charles Berry is an adjunct professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Science at...

AIBS welcomes new member, Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.(AIBS news)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... AIBS is pleased to announce that the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology (SBN) has recently joined AIBS. The SBN is an interdisciplinary scientific organization dedicated to the study of hormonal processes and neuroendocrine systems that...

USGS coalition holds Capitol Hill Reception.(AIBS news)(United States Geological Survey)
November 1, 2007... On 17 September, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Coalition held its fourth annual Capitol Hill reception. This event is an opportunity for supporters of the USGS, from government and from the scientific community, to recognize the...

AERC, with support from AIBS public policy office, sponsors bioenergy briefing on Capitol Hill.(AIBS news)(Association of Ecosystem Research Centers)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Concerns about energy security and climate change have motivated the public and private sectors to make or pledge to make significant investments in bioenergy research. Most of the recent national discussion of renewable or sustainable energy...

An update on NEON membership.(AIBS news)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... To date, 36 universities and research institutions have been accepted as founding members of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), and 4 as institutional members. The voting representative and chief research officer for...

NEON project office adds expertise.(AIBS news)(National Ecological Observatory Network)
November 1, 2007... The National Ecological Observatory Network is pleased to announce three key additions to its project office team: Christopher Winslow, chief financial officer; Eyvette Wright, procurement manager; and Robin Martin, director of human resources....

Executive director's recent blog entries online at http:// blogs.aibs.org/richardogrady.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... * A hard-won victory for science education in Louisiana * Student survey for science and technology policy guide * The power of We, 60 years on * ED/CEO blogging as a leadership tool * COPUS reaches 100 participating...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... Original article in English * "Pygmy Rabbits in Peril: Challenges in Conserving Species," by Lisa Shipley, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University Spanish translation of a...

Recent AIBS education reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... * Speakers confirmed for NABT symposium "Evolution: Applications in Human Health and Populations" * First student chapter newsletter issued * Science and Engineering Alliance presents to DIBS * COPUS membership surpasses 100...

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
November 1, 2007... Public Policy Report for 15 October 2007 * Feds consider security at US bio labs * NSB rolls out STEM education action plan * New law forgives some student loan debt for no-profit workers * New in BioScience: "Government Looks...

Calendar of meetings.(Calendar)(Calendar)
November 1, 2007... November 4-8 Soil Science Society of America, New Orleans, LA; www. acsmeetings.org 4-8 American Society of Agronomy, New Orleans, LA; www. acsmeetings.org 4-8 Crop Science Society of America, New Orleans, LA; www....

American chestnuts.(Fighting Forest Blights)(restorating plants)
November 1, 2007... Imagine redwoods disappearing completely from the coastal range of northern California and southern Oregon, and then imagine biologists on the verge of bringing them back a century later, when few can remember what it was like to walk among...

Oak woodlands.(Fighting Forest Blights)
November 1, 2007... What would happen if a similar blight were to invade forests today? Are we any better equipped to deal with invasive pathogens than we were a century ago? For an answer, we can look to the oak forests of California and Oregon, which are under...