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From the College of Natural Sciences
Tree of Life Revealed for Flowering Plants
AUSTIN, Texas—The evolutionary Tree of Life for flowering plants has been revealed using the largest collection of genomic data of these plants to date, report scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and University of Florida. The scientists, publishing two papers in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week online, found...Marine Scientists Funded to Study 'Dead Zone'
PORT ARANSAS, Texas— University of Texas at Austin marine scientists have been awarded $781,000 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to better understand how nutrient pollution from the Mississippi River affects the large area of low oxygen water called the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, and consequently its impact on comm...
Low Oxygen in Coastal Waters Impairs Fish Reproduction
Low oxygen levels in coastal waters interfere with fish reproduction by disrupting the fishes’ hormones, marine scientist Peter Thomas has found.
Global Warming Increases Species Extinctions Worldwide, University of Texas at Austin Researcher Finds
AUSTIN, Texas—Global warming has already caused extinctions in the most sensitive habitats and will continue to cause more species to go extinct over the next 50 to 100 years, confirms the most comprehensive study since 2003 on the effects of climate change on wild species worldwide by a University of Texas at Austin biologist. Dr. Camille Parmesa...
Fire ant-attacking fly spreading rapidly in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas—Parasitic flies introduced to control red imported fire ants have spread over four million acres in central and southeast Texas since the flies’ introduction in 1999, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered using new flytraps they developed. Researchers at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (BFL) have released...Fire ant lab celebrates 20 years of research
AUSTIN, Texas—The red imported fire ant laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin Brackenridge Field Lab (BFL) is celebrating 20 years of research this month. Dr. Larry Gilbert, director of BFL and professor of integrative biology, first initiated fire ant research at the university in 1986 by bringing to the university two young researchers...Evolution of complex calls and unusual male vocal cords in túngara frogs
AUSTIN, Texas--Male tropical túngara frogs have evolved masses on their vocal cords that help them woo females with complex calls, show scientists working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. Dr. Mike Ryan, Clark Hubbs Regents Professor of integrative biology at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Marcos Gridi-Papp, ...Global warming's impact on U.S. plants, animals determined from review of dozens of studies
AUSTIN, Texas—Global warming has forced U.S. plants and animals to change their behavior in recent decades in ways that can be harmful, according to a new report prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. The Pew Center review of more than 40 studies is co-authored by Camille Parmesan, integrative biologist at The University of Texas at...Strongest evidence of global warming provided in new research study
AUSTIN, Texas—A biologist at The University of Texas at Austin has teamed up with an economist to provide the strongest statistical evidence yet that global warming is affecting the natural world. Even when the pair considered habitat destruction or other possible underlying causes for behavior changes in plants, animals and other wildlife, the ana...Read It Now
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