News by Subject Agriculture

Chemical additives used in plastic production have been found in herring gull eggs, new research shows.

Microplastic pollution of waterways has become a huge concern, with the tiny pieces of plastic entering food webs and potentially having harmful effects on animals and people. In addition, microplastics can act as breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Now, researchers reporting in Environmental Science & Technology have analyzed antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) on five types of microplastics at different locations along the Beilun River in China, finding much higher abundances in urban than rural regions.

What will the Earth be like for our children and grandchildren, as temperatures continue to rise? We can be fairly certain of some things: Some regions will become inhospitable, as heat drives their inhabitants away or causes massive declines and changes in their ecosystems. Many other physical, chemical and biological processes will also be affected by rising temperatures that threaten critical ecosystem services such as food production, biodiversity and energy security.

Conditions during Baltic herring spawning may have cascading effects on the whole Baltic ecosystem.

Just two weeks of citalopram exposure caused changes in crayfish behavior, with the potential to disrupt stream ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling, oxygen levels, and algal growth.

Killer whales have complex social structures including close "friendships", according to a new study that used drones to film the animals.