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Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation. Report of the NSF Task Force on Cyberlearning June 24, 2008

This animated special report by NSF profiles how scientists are using technology to track wildlife ranging from zebras to dragonflies.

"Multimedia resources explain little known societal benefits of biodiversity, bust myths and describe new, high-tech approaches for measuring impacts of environmental change on biodiversity"

Community mapping, a form of citizen science whereby local people participate in geographically defining an area, is increasingly taking on greater significance--especially during times of emergency and natural disaster. Director of the University of California, Santa Barbara's Center for Spatial Studies Michael Goodchild discusses "From Community Mapping to Critical Spatial Thinking: The Changing Face of GIS"

"Scientists peer into the next decades of environmental change on Planet Earth." Good news stories include ongoing recovery from effects of acid rain in the Adirondacks + new pathways to a sustainable future developed through modeling, ecological forecasting, and mapping responses to environmental change.

NSF Special Report - Science Nation

Animal species all follow the same rule for how common they are in an ecosystem, scientists have discovered. And the rule is simple. Everything from birds to fishes, crabs to snails to worms, and the parasitic animals that live inside or on them, follows it. "You can predict how common something might be just by knowing its body weight--how big an individual is--and how high up the food chain it is," says biologist Ryan Hechinger , lead author of a paper in this week's issue of the journal Science.

A new study by Kenyan and University of California at Davis researchers shows that grazing by wild animals doesn't always harm, and may sometimes benefit, cattle. The results are published in this week's issue of the journal Science.""Our findings provide further evidence that biodiversity conservation and economic development can be simultaneously achieved in human-occupied savanna landscapes.""

A new study published in Nature reveals how biodiversity helps remove excess levels of nutrients that commonly degrade water quality in streams. As the # of species of algae in a stream increases, their greater their geographical distribution and water cleaning capacity.

"large animals were once ubiquitous across the globe. They shaped the structure and dynamics of ecosystems. Their decline, largely caused by humans through hunting and habitat fragmentation, has far-reaching and often surprising consequences, including changes in vegetation, wildfire frequency, infectious diseases, invasive species, water quality and nutrient cycles."

I've got a pdf file of the actual article from 7/15 Science. Let me know and I'll gladly e-mail a copy to anyone interested.

Below the surface, thousands of marine creatures are still in danger from Gulf oil disaster

Plant and animal extinctions are detrimental to your health. That's the conclusion of a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Nature by scientists who studied the link between biodiversity and infectious diseases. Species loss in ecosystems such as forests and fields results in increases in pathogens, or disease-causing organisms, the researchers found.

"With the steep decline in populations of many animal species, scientists have warned that Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction like those that have occurred just five times during the past 540 million years."

Fostering Learning in the Networked World: Executive Summary

"Bird species in rainforest fragments in Brazil that were isolated by deforestation disappeared then reappeared over a quarter-century, according to research results published today in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) ONE. Scientists thought many of the birds had gone extinct."