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Tag: ecology

How lynx hide their dinner from scavengers

Many predators leave decomposing carcasses behind, allowing scavengers a meal. Eurasian lynx, however, have a trick for how to keep their dinners all to themselves.

Wolves won’t save the forest

Wolves have returned to Norwegian forests in greater and greater numbers in recent years. Although wolves mainly prey on moose, researchers have found that the presence of more predators hasn’t cut back on the damage caused by hungry moose.

What use are biting horseflies?

All animals, birds and insects have their place in the ecosystem, scientists say. But what good is a horsefly, really?

What happens to flowers and birds when we massacre mosquitoes with modern traps?

It’s only recently that people have thought that eradicating mosquitoes might be a bad thing, a mosquito researcher says.

An ageing population is good for us and the planet

Western society should embrace ageing and declining population growth, argue ecologists in a new scientific opinion article.

Scientists want to make holes in Norwegian fjords

Norway doesn’t know nearly enough about their fjords, say scientists.

The riddle of rodents

Last year so many rodents roamed Norwegian forests that residences were overrun, from mountain cabin attics to house basements. This summer in southern Norway, rodent numbers have plummeted to roughly one-hundredth of what they were just a year ago. Yet no one really knows what’s powering these enormous population swings.

Rodent population swings remain a mystery

They’re small and almost unnoticeable, until their population explodes. Now recent swings in Norway’s small rodent populations have underscored the importance of these creatures for the health of the entire natural community.

Wolves love and fear forest roads

In recent years we have become far more likely to encounter wolves on the Scandinavian Peninsula. A major reason is that Homo sapiens and Canis lupus lupus both like to get from point A to point B as quickly and effortlessly as possible.

Zebras attracted to lethal anthrax grass

Grazing zebras in Namibia fall for a deadly temptation. Grass and vegetation grows better at spots where anthrax infections have caused animals to fall down, die and decompose.

Mice population explodes

The mouse population has spiked in southern Norway this year. Scientists have rarely seen such increases.

Puffin chicks die of hunger

For seven years now, Atlantic puffins have been abandoning chicks and eggs in their nesting colonies because they cannot find enough food. The ocean is teeming with mackerel which consume the small fish that puffins normally feed to their offspring.

Students tote ecosystems in rucksacks

What key discoveries do researchers make about climate change when they use students as sherpas to shuffle ecosystems around on Norway’s west coast fjord landscapes?

Parks stimulate public health

When green areas disappear we lose venues for being physically active. Youth are hit hardest by a loss of parks and undeveloped lots.

Soviet Cold War oceanographic surveys opened up to western scientists

A treasure trove of Barents Sea fisheries data stored for decades in Murmansk can help determine the fate of future offshore oil and gas exploitation in the region.

Mountain plants crowd at the peaks

A warmer climate is enabling hardy lowland vegetation to ascend mountains and thrive at higher altitudes. When they can’t get any higher, they’ll crowd together on peaks.

Salmon becomes what it eats

The diet of farmed salmon is no small-fry issue. The quality of the fats and proteins in feeds has quite an impact on the taste of the fish.

Falling lemming populations

Due to irregular winters, the lemming cycle has stopped. This might in time change the whole ecosystem in the Arctic.

Wolves endangered by illegal hunt

Poaching is the biggest threat to wolves in Norway and Sweden and can account for half of their deaths.