BioScience articles from October 2008

BioScience archives from October 2008

Glimpses of a hidden realm.(Editorial)(Editorial)
October 1, 2008... Charismatic they are not, but fungi have a vastly larger impact on the flow of essential dements through ecosystems than do most more appealing organisms. Gaining an understanding of their diversity and spatial variability, and the implications...

The threshold of sustainability for protected areas.(Viewpoint)
October 1, 2008... In spite of the bumps in the road created by wars, emerging infections, and terrorism, international tourism to developing countries has increased enormously over the last 30 years. One in five international flights now goes to a developing...

[Cartoon].(Viewpoint)(Cartoon)
October 1, 2008... NICE RESEARCH. COME BACK AND SEE ME WHEN YOU'VE BOILED IT DOWN TO A 250 WORD ABSTRACT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Biodiversity hotspot: the Florida Panhandle: conservation in the Florida Panhandle, one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in North America, improves through major restoration efforts and new partnerships.(Report)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The reported recent sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Florida Panhandle spotlighted not only the reputedly extinct bird but also the rich biodiversity of the Choctawhatchee River. The focus on the...

Digital games: learning through play.(Eye on Education)
October 1, 2008... The Horizon Report, the go-to guide for emerging educational technology published by the New Media Consortium (www.nmc.org/horizon), projected in 2005 that educational gaming would become a significant learning tool within two or three years....

Climate, environment, and infectious diseases: a report from the AIBS 2008 annual meeting.(Special Report)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Report)
October 1, 2008... The American Institute of Biological Sciences dedicated this year's annual meeting to the challenge of Earth's changing climate and its effects on the environment, and the spread of infectious diseases. The conference, held in May in Arlington,...

Science advice for the next president.(Washington Watch)
October 1, 2008... Next month, voters choose the next president of the United States. Whether they elect Senator Obama or Senator McCain, the president's responses in coming years to national and global problems and opportunities will require access to scientific...

Fungal community ecology: a hybrid beast with a molecular master.(21st Century Directions in Biology)(Report)
October 1, 2008... Fungi play a major role in the function and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems, directly influencing the structure of plant, animal, and bacterial communities through interactions that span the mutualism-parasitism continuum. Only with the...

Consequences of more extreme precipitation regimes for terrestrial ecosystems.(Report)
October 1, 2008... Amplification of the hydrological cycle as a consequence of global warming is forecast to lead to more extreme intra-annual precipitation regimes characterized by larger rainfall events and longer intervals between events. We present a...

Modeling the developing Drosophila brain: rationale, technique, and application.(Report)
October 1, 2008... Digital three-dimensional models, besides representing helpful didactic tools, play an important role in the analysis of brain function and development. The fundamental idea of this approach is that patterns of neural connectivity and activity,...

Comparing ecosystem goods and services provided by restored and native lands.(Report)
October 1, 2008... We determined the relative benefits for eight categories of ecosystem goods and services associated with native and restored lands across the conterminous United States. Less than 10% of most native US ecosystems remain, and the proportion that...

Synergies between agricultural intensification and climate change could create surprising vulnerabilities for crops.(Report)
October 1, 2008... An inevitable consequence of global climate change is that altered patterns of temperature and precipitation threaten agriculture in many tropical regions, requiring strategies of human adaptation. Moreover, the process of management...

The Cambrian explosion: how do we use the evidence?(Teaching Biology)(Report)
October 1, 2008... The Cambrian explosion is an excellent example of a grand idea that has been tempered by the steady collection of data to test hypotheses. Historically, the idea of an "explosion" developed from an apparent lack of bilaterian animal fossils...

The science-policy interface: what is an appropriate role for professional societies?(Professional Biologist)(Report)
October 1, 2008... Scientists and their professional societies are seeking to increase their influence in shaping policy decisions. A recent call for natural resource professional societies to endorse position statements on economic growth raises questions about...

The resurrection initiative: storing ancestral genotypes to capture evolution in action.(Forum)(Report)
October 1, 2008... In rare circumstances, scientists have been able to revive dormant propagules from ancestral populations and rear them with their descendants to make inferences about evolutionary responses to environmental change. Although this is a powerful...

How to save a planet: a user's guide.(Fall Focus on Books)(Critical essay)
October 1, 2008... On a recent sultry July morning, about 100 townspeople from Cape Charles, Virginia (nearly 10 percent of the town's residents), gathered on the beach to cheer on Hampton's return to Chesapeake Bay. Hampton, a loggerhead sea turtle, had been...

Plants and invaders.(science books)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... Alien Invaders: Species that Threaten Our World. Jane Drake and Ann Love. Tundra Books, Plattsburgh, NY, 2008. 56 pp., illus. $19.95 (ISBN 9780887767982 cloth). Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems. Mary...

Mysteries of the deep.(science books for children)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... Coral Reefs. Gail Gibbons. Holiday House, New York, 2007. 32 pp., illus. $16.95 (ISBN 9780823420803 cloth). Discovering Underwater Secrets with a Nature Photographer. Patricia J. Murphy. Enslow, Berkeley Heights, NJ, 2007. 24 pp., illus....

Growing up green.(science books for children)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story. Robyn C. Friend and Judith Love Cohen. Cascade Pass, Marina del Rey, CA, 2007.48 pp., illus. $13.95 (ISBN 9781880599822 cloth). The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming. Laurie David and Cambria...

Evolution and adaptation for young scientists.(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... Adaptation. Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, and Laura Silverstein Nunn. Lerner (Twenty-First Century Books), Minneapolis, MN, 2007.112 pp., illus. $31.93 (ISBN 9780822534341 cloth). Finding Home. Sandra Markle. Charlesbridge,...

Microbiology for children: what are they learning?(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... Cells. Darlene R. Stille and Carol Ryback. Gareth Stevens, Strongsville, OH, 2008. 48 pp., illus. $27.00 (ISBN 9780836884371 cloth). Germ Stories. Arthur Kornberg. University Science Books, Herndon, VA, 2008. 84 pp., illus. $22.50 (ISBN...

A sense of the beautiful: life cycles and insects.(science books for children)(Viewpoint essay)
October 1, 2008... Bugs Up Close. Diane Swanson. Kids Can Press, Tonawanda, NY, 2007.40 pp., illus. $16.95 (ISBN 9781554531387 cloth). Face to Face with Caterpillars. Darlyne A. Murawski. National Geographic Children's Books, Washington, DC, 2007. 32 pp.,...

New titles.(Fall Focus on Books)(Bibliography)
October 1, 2008... Advances in Fisheries Bioengineering. Stephen V. Amaral, Dilip Mathur, and Edward P. Taft III, eds. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD, 2008. 256 pp., illus. $69.00 (ISBN 9781934874028 paper). Analyzing Animal Societies: Quantitative...

AIBS Board elections under way; polls close 10 October.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Ballots for the AIBS Board elections have been mailed; members can also vote online at www.aibs.org/vote. At the end of 2008, the following positions become vacant on the 13-person MBS Board of Directors: (a) president-elect and (b) one...

Free videos online: AIBS 2008 annual meeting lectures.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... The AIBS Media Library contains plenary lectures by some of the world's most eminent biologists recorded at AIBS annual meetings from 2000 onward. The free recordings offer synchronized video, audio, slides, transcripts, and MP3 podcast files...

AIBS to cosponsor the fifth annual evolution symposium.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... AIBS and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) are cosponsoring the fifth annual evolution symposium, organized by AIBS Immediate Past-President Douglas J. Futuyma. The theme for the symposium is "Illuminating Biology: The...

Graduate student policy fellow joins PPO for fall.(AIBS news)(Public Policy Office)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... This fall, the American Society of Mammalogists has teamed with AIBS to offer a mammalogy graduate student the opportunity to gain firsthand exposure to how science policy is developed in Washington, DC. This is the fourth consecutive year the...

ActionBioscience.org expands resource options for educators.(AIBS news)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... ActionBioscience.org, the AIBS education resource, has created a section on its Web site devoted exclusively to educators (www.actionbioscience.org/ educators/educator-resources.html). The "Educator Resources" menu offers an expanded array of...

NEON at ESA.(AIBS news)(National Ecological Observatory Network, Ecological Society of America)
October 1, 2008... Representatives of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) spent a busy week at the Ecological Society of America Conference in Milwaukee, 4-8 August 2008. NEON Chief Executive Officer David Schimel, Board Chair James A....

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(AIBS news)(Website overview)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Original article * "Tackling Climate Change Issues in the Classroom," by Michael J. Dougherty, director of education at the American Society of Human Genetics Spanish translations of previously posted articles * "Los Osos Polares...

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Public Policy Report for 2 September 2008 * AIBS cosponsors presidential surrogate debates on health, energy * AIBS requests extension for public comment on proposed Endangered Species Act rule change * McCain and Obama pick...

Calendar of meetings.(Calendar)
October 1, 2008... September 21-25 Radiation Research Society, Boston; www. radres.org/ECOM radres/timssnet/common/tnt_ frontpage.cfm 25-26 Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, Washington, DC;...

Underwater in Washington, DC.(BioBriefs)
October 1, 2008... The grandly named National Aquarium in Washington, DC, which claims to be the nation's oldest noncommercial aquarium, has long been one of the oddities of the city's tourist circuit. The address could hardly be more central, but the...