Environmental sciences

A new study suggests that the extinction of North America’s largest mammals was not driven by over-hunting by rapidly expanding human populations following their entrance into the Americas. Instead, the findings, based on a new statistical modelling approach, suggest that populations of large mammals fluctuated in response to climate change, with drastic decreases of temperatures around 13,000 years ago initiating the decline and extinction of these massive creatures.

When it comes to saving endangered species of a certain size, conservationists often have to think outside the box. This was reinforced by a recent study which analyzed the effects of hanging tranquilized black rhinoceroses upside down by their feet.

Plant researchers have investigated the transport of compounds in maize. They focused on the mechanism used to transport the products of photosynthesis for further distribution in the plant through its phloem loading pathways. They describe how this mechanism has potentially created a special evolutionary advantage for maize.

Since 2006, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has caused sharp declines in bat populations across the eastern United States. The fungus that causes the disease, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, thrives in subterranean habitats where bats hibernate over the winter months.