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biodiversity

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Abstractions blog

Complex Animals Led to More Oxygen, Says Maverick Theory

By Jordana Cepelewicz
March 21, 2018
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For decades, researchers have commonly assumed that higher oxygen levels led to the sudden diversification of animal life 540 million years ago. But one iconoclast argues the opposite: that new animal behaviors raised oxygen levels and remade the environment.

520px photo of phytoplankton
Abstractions blog

Evolution Saves Species From ‘Kill the Winner’ Disasters

By John Rennie
February 12, 2018
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Modelers find evidence that a combination of competition, predation and evolution will push ecosystems toward species diversity anywhere in the universe.

Sylvia Earle in one-person submersible DeepWorker
Abstractions blog

Sylvia Earle Is Not Done Exploring

By John Rennie
June 7, 2017
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The legendary marine biologist discusses why she’s excited about the coming era of ocean science, the shortsightedness of maritime exploitation and diving in the Arctic in her 80s.

Tidal pool with ocean life
Abstractions blog

Awash in Sea of Data, Ecologists Turn to Open Access Tools

By John Rennie
May 24, 2017
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To assess the ocean’s health, ecology’s “rugged individualists” learned to get with the big data program.

ecology

A Timely Fix for a Grand Theory of Nature

By Veronique Greenwood
March 11, 2016
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A disarmingly simple model of ecology does everything well — except predict how rapidly nature can change. Can it become more realistic while still avoiding all of biology’s messy complexities?

ecology

The Thermodynamic Theory of Ecology

By Veronique Greenwood
September 3, 2014
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Nature’s large-scale patterns emerge from incomplete surveys that borrow ideas from information theory.

Data Driven: The New Big Science

Imagining Data Without Division

By Thomas Lin
September 30, 2013
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As science dives headlong into an ocean of data, the demands of large-scale interdisciplinary collaborations are growing increasingly acute.


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