Large yearly production of phytoplankton in the Western bering strait

Production in the western Bering Strait is estimated at 324 grams of carbon per square meter per year over 2.12x 10(4) square kilometers. An ice-reduced growing season makes this large amount of primary production unexpected, but it is consistent with the area's large upper trophic level stocks. The productivity is fueled by a cross-shelf flow of nutrient-rich water from the Bering Sea continental slope. This phytoplankton production system from June through September is analogous to a laboratory continuous culture.     

Geological rhythms and cometary impacts

Time-series analysis reveals two dominant, stable long-term periodicities approximately equal to 33 +/- 3 and 260 +/- 25 million years in the known series of geological and biological upheavals during the Phanerozoic Eon. Because the cycles of these episodes agree in period and phase with the cycles of impact cratering on Earth, these results suggest that periodic comet impacts strongly influence global tectonism and biological evolution. These two periodicities could arise from interactions of the solar system with interstellar clouds as the solar system moves cyclically through the Galaxy.     

Leaf herbivores decrease fitness of a tropical plant

Damage by insect herbivores to neighboring individuals of the shrub Piper arieianum in a neotropical wet forest varies greatly. This differential damage has a genetic basis and results in a 2-year decrease in growth, seed production, and seed viability, with larger plants recovering before smaller plants. The results provide evidence that leaf herbivores represent a potentially strong selective force for the evolution of plant defenses.     

Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans in Sediments from Siskiwit Lake, Isle Royale

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans were found in sediment from Siskiwit Lake on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, a location which can receive only atmospheric inputs. The source of these compounds is the atmospheric transport of dioxins and furans formed by combustion of domestic and chemical waste.