FOTOGRAFÍAS: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC .- Revelados los finalistas del World Press Photo 2018

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., la Revista National Geographic, ha publicado las fotografías:  de los finalistas del World Press Photo 2018; tal como lo explica: "En 1955, un grupo de fotógrafos holandeses organizó un concurso de fotografía internacional para exponer su trabajo ante una audiencia mundial. Desde entonces, el concurso, el World Press Photo, se ha convertido en la competición de fotografía más prestigiosa del mundo y a través de un exitoso programa de exhibición ha hecho llegar miles historias a millones de personas en todo el mundo...."

Los invito a observar este maravilloso despliegue de fotografías finalistas, captadas en el mismo lugar de los hechos, gracias a la Revista National Geographic.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/fotografia/revelados-los-finalistas-del-world-press-photo-2018_12400
Revelados los finalistas del World Press Photo 2018

Rohingya Crisis

Fotografía nominada en la categoría: World Press Photographer of the Year

Los cuerpos de varios refugiados Rohingya después de que el barco en el que intentaban huir de Myanmar se hundiera a unos ocho kilómetros de la playa de Inani, cerca de Cox's Bazar, en Bangladesh. Alrededor de 100 personas estaban en el bote antes de hundirse. Hubo 17 supervivientes.

Foto: Patrick Brown / World Press Photo 2018

Boko Haram Strapped Suicide Bombs to Them. Somehow These Teenage Girls Survived

Fotografía nominada en la categoría: World Press Photographer of the Year

Aisha, de 14 años, representa un icono en Maiduguri, estado de Borno, Nigeria. Después de ser secuestrada por Boko Haram, a Aisha se le asignó una misión de bombardeo suicida, pero logró escapar y encontrar ayuda en lugar de detonar las bombas.

Foto: Adam Ferguson /World Press Photo 2018

The Battle for Mosul

Fotografía nominada en la categoría: World Press Photographer of the Year

Un niño no identificado, que fue llevado fuera del última área controlada por ISIS en la Ciudad Vieja de Mosul por un hombre sospechoso de ser un militante, es cuidado por soldados de las Fuerzas Especiales iraquíes.

Foto: Ivor Prickett / World Press Photo 2018

Venezuela Crisis

Fotografía nominada en la categoría: World Press Photographer of the Year

José Víctor Salazar Balza, de 28 años, arde en llamas durante los violentos enfrentamientos con la policía antidisturbios venezolana durante una protesta contra el presidente Nicolás Maduro, en Caracas, Venezuela.

Foto: Ronaldo Schemidt / World Press Photo 2018

The Battle for Mosul

Fotografía nominada en la categoría: World Press Photographer of the Year

Civiles que se habían quedado en el oeste de Mosul después de la batalla para tomar la ciudad en busca de ayuda en el barrio de Mamun.

Foto: Ivor Prickett / World Press Photo 2018

 

Witnessing the immediate aftermath of an attack in the heart of London

Fotografía nominada en la categoría: World Press Photographer of the Year

Un transeúnte consuela a una mujer herida después de que Khalid Masood condujera su automóvil contra peatones en el puente Westminster en Londres, Reino Unido, matando a cinco e hiriendo personas a otras muchas.

Foto: Toby Melville / World Press Photo 2018

North Korea

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Contemporary Issues

Una multitud espera el inicio de la maratón de Pyongyang en el estadio Kim Il-sung, mientras que un oficial vigila la salida, en Pyongyang, Corea del Norte.

Foto: Roger Turesson / World Press Photo 2018

More than a Woman

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Contemporary Issues

El Dr. Suporn Watanyusakul muestra a la paciente Olivia Thomas su nueva vagina después de la cirugía de reasignación de género en un hospital en Chonburi, cerca de Bangkok, Tailandia

Foto: Giulio di Sturco / World Press Photo 2018

Lagos Waterfronts under Threat

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Contemporary Issues

Un barco con expatriados de Lagos Marina se dirige a través de los canales de la comunidad de Makoko, un antiguo pueblo de pescadores que se ha convertido en un enorme asentamiento informal, a orillas de Lagos Lagoon, en Lagos, Nigeria.

Foto: Jesco Denzel / World Press Photo 2018

Attack of the Zombie Mouse

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Environment

Un albatros juvenil de cabeza gris en la Isla Marion, Territorio Antártico Sudafricano, resulta lesionado después de un ataque de ratones de una especie invasora que comenzó a alimentarse de polluelos y juveniles de albatros vivos.

Foto: Thomas P. Peschak / World Press Photo 2018

Back in Time

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Environment

Una fotografía histórica de una colonia de pingüinos africanos, tomada a fines de la década de 1890, es un marcado contraste con la disminución de los números vistos en 2017 en el mismo lugar, en la isla de Halifax, Namibia. La colonia una vez contó con más de 100,000 pingüinos.

Foto: Thomas P. Peschak / World Press Photo 2018

Waiting for Freedom

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Environment

Un joven rinoceronte blanco, drogado y con los ojos vendados, a punto de ser liberado en el delta del Okavango, Botswana, después de su traslado desde Sudáfrica para protegerlo de los cazadores furtivos.

Foto: Neil Aldridge / World Press Photo 2018

Not my Verdict

John Thompson es abrazado en St Anthony Village, Minnesota, EE. UU., después de hablar en una manifestación conmemorativa por su amigo cercano, Philando Castile, dos días después de que el oficial de policía Jerónimo Yáñez fuera absuelto de todos los cargos en el tiroteo de Castilla.

Foto: Richard Tsong-Taatarii / World Press Photo 2018

Dumpster Diver

Fotografía ganadora en la categoría: Nature
Un águila calva se deleita con restos de carne en los contenedores de basura de un supermercado en Dutch Harbor, Alaska, EE.UU.
Foto: Corey Arnold / World Press Photo 2018

Flying Fish in Motion

Fotografía ganadora en la categoría: Nature

Un pez volador nada bajo la superficie en la corriente del Golfo a altas horas de la noche, en alta mar desde Palm Beach, Florida, Estados Unidos.

Foto: Michaek Patrick O´Neill / World Press Photo 2018

Galapagos: Rocking the Cradle

Fotografía ganadora en la categoría: Nature

Cuatro grandes corrientes oceánicas convergen a lo largo del archipiélago de Galápagos, creando las condiciones perfectas para una extraordinaria diversidad de vida animal. D

Foto: Thomas P. Peschak / World Press Photo 2018

Earth kiln

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: People

Dos hermanos viven en un yaodong tradicional tallado en una ladera en la meseta de Loess en el centro de China. Las paredes revestidas de tierra tienen buenas propiedades aislantes, lo que permite a los residentes sobrevivir a los inviernos fríos.

Foto: Huaifeng Li / World Press Photo 2018

Manal, War Portraits

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: People

Manal, de 11 años es víctima de una explosión de misiles en Kirkuk, Irak. Usa una máscara durante varias horas al día para proteger su rostro, después de una extensa cirugía plástica, en el Hospital Al-Mowasah, Amman, Jordania.

Foto: Alessio Mamo / World Press Photo 2018

Resignation Syndrome

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: People

En Horndal, Suecia, Djeneta -a la derecha- ha estado postrada en cama y no ha respondido a ningún estímulo durante dos años y medio. Su hermana Ibadeta tampoco lo ha hecho durante más de seis meses. El uppgivenhetssyndrom conocido como síndrome de resignación es una condición que se cree que existe solo entre los refugiados en Suecia.

Foto: Magnus Wennman / World Press Photo 2018

 

Marathon des Sables

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Sports

Corredores en el Maratón de Sables -Maratón de las Arenas- en el Desierto del Sahara, Marruecos.

Foto: Erik Sampers / World Press Photo 2018

Streaming Scrum

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Sports

Los Leones británicos e irlandeses y los Maori All Blacks participan en un partido en el Rotorua International Stadium en Rotorua, Nueva Zelanda.

Foto: Stephen McCarthy / World Press Photo 2018

Royal Shrovetide Footbal

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Sports

Los miembros de los equipos oponentes, los Up'ards y Down'ards, luchan por el balón durante el histórico y anual Torneo de Fútbol Royal Shrovetide en Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Reino Unido.

Foto: Oliver Scarff / World Press Photo 2018

Car atrack

Fotografía finalista en la categoría: Spot News

Un coche se estrella contra un grupo de manifestantes que se contramanifiestan ante la marcha Unite the Right en Charlottesville, Virginia, EE. UU.

Foto: Ryan Kelly / World Press Photo 2018

Mideast Crisis Iraq Mosul

Fotografía Finalista en la categoría: Spot News

Un soldado de las fuerzas especiales iraquíes momentos después de matar a tiros a un presunto terrorista suicida, durante la ofensiva para volver a tomar Mosul, en Irak

Foto: Goran Tomasevic / World Press Photo 2018

Héctor Rodríguez

16 de febrero de 2018

 

En 1955, un grupo de fotógrafos holandeses organizó un concurso de fotografía internacional para exponer su trabajo ante una audiencia mundial. Desde entonces, el concurso, el World Press Photo, se ha convertido en la competición de fotografía más prestigiosa del mundo y a través de un exitoso programa de exhibición ha hecho llegar miles historias a millones de personas en todo el mundo.

Más información

Estas son las imágenes ganadoras del World Press Photo 2017

Durante 6 décadas, la World Press Photo Foundation ha estado trabajando desde su sede en Amsterdam como una organización creativa, independiente y sin fines de lucro. Desde sus comienzos el mundo ha cambiado continuamente, y la nueva manera de entender el periodismo, los medios emergentes y la tecnología han transformado el modo de contar historias. Sin embargo desde la organización declaran que poco ha cambiado para ellos: "nuestra misión se ha ampliado, y aprovechamos nuestra experiencia para guiar a periodistas visuales, contadores de historias y audiencias de todo el mundo a través de este entorno cambiante, desafiante y emocionante."

Más información

¡Paisajes que quitan el aliento!

Para seleccionar a los finalistas del 61º concurso mundial de fotografía de prensa más famoso de la actualidad, los jueces han revisado un total 73. 044 fotografías enviadas por más de 4,500 fotógrafos procedentes de 125 países diferentes durante un período de tres semanas que comenzó el 13 de enero de 2018.

Los ganadores se darán a conocer el próximo 12 de abril de 2018 en una celebración exclusiva que tendrá lugar en Amsterdam.

 

Noticias relacionadas:

Estas son las fotografías ganadoras del World Press Photo 2017

Conoce a los ganadores del Landscape International Photographer of the Year 2017

Las mejores fotografías del 2018 tomadas con un teléfono móvil

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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ESA : Deforestation in Rio Branco .- Deforestación en Rio Branco...

http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2017/03/Deforestation_in_Rio_Branco

Watch in:

DOWNLOADMP4(3.01 MB)
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Details

• Title Deforestation in Rio Branco
• Released: 21/03/2017
• Length 00:12:00
• Language English
• Footage Type Animation
• Copyright USGS/ESA/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016), processed by ESA
• Description
  Deforestation near the northwestern Brazilian city of Rio Branco has made its mark on the rainforest over the last 30 years. By comparing a Landsat-5 image from 1985 with a Copernicus Sentinel-2 image from 2016, we can see where vegetation has been cleared away for logging, farming and other activities.
  Rainforests worldwide are being destroyed at an alarming rate. This is of great concern because they play an important role in global climate, and are home to a wide variety of plants, animals and insects. More than a third of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest.
  Unlike other forests, rainforests do not grow back when they are destroyed and, owing to their composition, their soils are not suitable for long-term agricultural use.
  With their unique view from space, Earth observation satellites have been instrumental in highlighting the vulnerability of the rainforests by documenting the scale of deforestation, particularly in remote areas.
  In these false-colour images, vegetation appears red to help us better distinguish between vegetated and non-vegetated areas.

TAGS

• Click on the tags to find the matching videos.
• Activity Observing the Earth a vuelo
• Mission Sentinel-2
• System Copernicus, Landsat-5
• Location Amazon Rainforest, Brazil
• Keywords Agriculture, Deforestation, Earth observation , Earth views (taken by satellites ), Environment , Forest, Forests and deforestation, Vegetation monitoring

ESA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) : Against the tide: Fish quickly adapt to lethal levels of pollution .- Contra la marea: los peces se adaptan rápidamente a los niveles letales de contaminación

https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=190457&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click


What's its secret?

New Bedford Harbor in Massachusetts is contaminated with PCBs from decades of industrial pollution. Credit and Larger Versión

December 12, 2016

Evolution is allowing some urban fish to survive in a lethal, human-altered environment, according to new results published in the journal Science.

While environmental change is outpacing the rate of evolution for many other species, Atlantic killifish living in four polluted East Coast estuaries turn out to be remarkably resilient. These fish have adapted to levels of highly toxic industrial pollutants that would normally kill them.

The killifish is up to 8,000 times more resistant to this level of pollution than other fish, scientists found. While the fish is not commercially valuable, it is an important food for other species and an indicator of environmental health.

"This study shows that different populations of Atlantic killifish exposed to toxic pollution evolve tolerance to that pollution through changes in one molecular pathway," said George Gilchrist, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the study. "This pathway may play a similar role in many animals exposed to pollutants, with slightly different adaptations in response to different toxins."

Genetic diversity speeds evolution

 

What makes Atlantic killifish so special? Extremely high levels of genetic variation, higher than any other vertebrate -- humans included -- measured so far. The more genetic diversity, the faster evolution works. That's one reason insects and weeds can quickly adapt and evolve to resist pesticides, and pathogens can evolve quickly to resist drugs created to destroy them.

Not all species are so lucky, however.

"Some people will see this as a positive and think, 'Hey, species can evolve in response to what we're doing to the environment!'" said lead author Andrew Whitehead of the University of California-Davis. "Unfortunately, most species we care about preserving probably can't adapt to these rapid changes because they don't have the high levels of genetic variation that allow them to evolve quickly."

 

Killifish genomes

The scientists sequenced complete genomes of nearly 400 Atlantic killifish from polluted and non-polluted sites at New Bedford Harbor in Massachusetts; Newark Bay in New Jersey; Connecticut's Bridgeport area; and Virginia's Elizabeth River.

The sites have been polluted since the 1950s and 1960s by a complex mixture of industrial pollutants including dioxin, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and other chemicals.

At the genetic level, the tolerant Atlantic killifish populations evolved in very similar ways. This adaptation suggests that these fish already carried the genetic variation before the sites were polluted, and that there may only be a few evolutionary solutions to pollution.

The study lays the groundwork for future research that could explore which genes confer tolerance of specific chemicals. Such work could help better explain how genetic differences between humans and other species may contribute to differences in sensitivity to environmental chemicals.

"If we know the kinds of genes that can confer sensitivity in another vertebrate animal like us, perhaps we can understand how humans, with their own mutations in these important genes, might react to these chemicals," Whitehead said.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences also funded the research. The study's co-authors are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington University School of Medicine, University of Birmingham, Indiana University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and University of Miami.

--	Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734   cdybas@nsf.gov
--	Kat Kerlin, UC-Davis (530) 752-7704   kekerlin@ucdavis.edu

Investigators Andrew Whitehead

Related Institutions/Organizations University of California-Davis

Related Awards #1265282 Collaborative Research: The genomic basis of dramatic, rapid, convergent evolution in the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus

Total Grants $159,459

This good killifish habitat near New Bedford Harbor is relatively devoid of chemical pollution.
Credit and Larger Version

The Atlantic killifish, subject of the researchers' study.
Credit and Larger Version

Virginia's Elizabeth River is contaminated with creosote, which contains toxic PAHs.
Credit and Larger Version

The scientists collected fish in a minnow trap. A sheen from creosote contamination is visible.
Credit and Larger Version

Killifish are raised in the lab for multiple generations and tested for tolerance to pollutants.
Credit and Larger Versión
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui a vuelo
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NSF awards $20.4 million for research on how humans, environment interact .- NSF premia con U$ 20,4 millones a la investigación de como interactúan los seres humanos en el medio ambiente.

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido información de la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias de Los Estados Unidos, quienes premiarán a la investigación de como los seres humanos interactúan en el medio ambiente.

More information.....

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=136047&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

 

Studies continue mission of Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems program

NSF CNH grantees will study how predators like American kestrels help crops in fruit-growing areas. Credit and Larger Version

September 11, 2015

How do predators contribute to reducing crop losses in agricultural ecosystems? By consuming crop-eating insects and rodents, according to Catherine Lindell of Michigan State University.

Lindell is one of 16 recipients of grants made in 2015 by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) program.

She and colleagues are investigating whether predatory bird populations, in this case American kestrels, increase when researchers provide nest boxes in fruit-growing regions--and whether these predators reduce crop damage.

The scientists are also studying factors that may influence fruit growers' decisions about the use of predator nest boxes, including economic and consumer-preference considerations. The project addresses how humans and the environment interact--and where predators such as American kestrels fit into the picture.

Another new CNH project, by Andrew Ashton of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, looks at how coastlines are influenced by physical processes. Project researchers are developing a set of integrated models to better understand shoreline evolution in different geologic settings, development scenarios, legal and regulatory regimes, and with different climate variables and strategies for coastal protection and response.

 

Studying Complex Interactions

 

Total funding for the 2015 CNH grants is $20.4 million; the program has been issuing awards since 2001.

CNH is co-funded by NSF's Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO); Geosciences (GEO); and Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE).

"Past CNH-supported research has examined the complex and often unanticipated ways human actions interact with biophysical processes," says Tom Baerwald, CNH program director for SBE. "The 2015 awards will lead to new insights into and perspectives on linked human and natural systems that are important at local, regional, national and global scales."

This year's grantees will look at ways in which people deal with environmental processes in a range of settings, including cities, mountains, grasslands and forests.

Findings from the projects, scientists believe, will enhance society's understanding of environmental quality and the well-being of people.

The 2015 research subjects include: community management of tropical forests; links between ecosystem services and governance of water resources in urbanized landscapes; humans and wildlife as coupled systems; social and ecological consequences of conservation easements; and globally driven subsistence changes in rural Alaska.

"As human populations expand and the environment changes, that creates complex environmental issues that are best investigated by multi-disciplinary teams," says Betsy Von Holle, CNH program director for BIO. "CNH provides support for natural and social scientists to work together to examine these complex human-environment interactions. The results can then be applied to other regions experiencing similar issues."

The CNH program considers humans and the environment as one interconnected system.

"CNH brings together expertise in physical, biological, and social science to solve real and complex problems affecting people," says Richard Yuretich, CNH program director for GEO. "These range from sustaining fisheries for local communities, to examining the practical aspects of shoreline erosion, to determining how human behavior and environmental factors interplay in the spread and prevention of water-borne disease. Every CNH project considers humans as an integral of part of the functioning of this planet, which indeed we are."

2015 NSF CNH Awards:

Kathleen Alexander, Virginia Tech:

The Coupled Dynamics of Human-Dryland River Systems: Linkages and Feedbacks Between Human and Environmental Drivers of Water Quality and Human Health
Andrew Ashton, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:
 Coastal Processes and Human Response to Shoreline Change
Jay Banner, University of Texas at Austin:
 The New 100th Meridian: Urban Water Resiliency in a Climatic and Demographic Hot Spot
Todd Brinkman, University of Alaska Fairbanks:
Adaptive Coupling of Human Environment Linkages in Response to Globally Driven Changes in Subsistence in Rural Alaska
Catherine Cardelus, Colgate University:
 Understanding the Effective Processes by Which Communities Manage Tropical Forests
Kelly Cobourn, Virginia Tech:
 Linking Land-Use Decision Making, Water Quality, and Lake Associations to Understand Human-Natural Feedbacks in Lake Catchments
Caitlin Dyckman, Clemson University:
Coupled Social and Ecological Consequences of Conservation Easements
Sarah Glaser, University of Denver:
 The Potential for Aquaculture in Lake Victoria and Implications for Wild Fisheries and Fish Commodity Markets
Heather Leslie, Brown University:
 Resilience and Adaptive Capacity of Small-Scale Fishing Communities and Coastal Marine Ecosystems to Environmental and Economic Variability
Catherine Lindell, Michigan State University:
Linkages Among Farmer Decision Making, Beneficial Bird Species, and Pest Management in Fruit-Growing Systems
Jianguo Liu, Michigan State University:
 Complex Dynamics of Telecoupled Human and Natural Systems
Laura Lopez Hoffman, University of Arizona:
 A Telecoupling Model to Account for Spatial Subsidies of Ecosystem Services Provided by Transboundary Migratory Species in North America
Brenda McCowan, University of California, Davis:
 Processes and Factors Affecting Humans and Wildlife As Coupled Systems
Daene McKinney, University of Texas at Austin:
 Science-Driven, Community-Based Approach to Reducing Glacier Lake Outburst Flood Risks
Thomas Meixner, University of Arizona:
Linking Ecosystem Services and Governance of Water Resources in Urbanized Landscapes
Emi Uchida, University of Rhode Island:
 Poverty Traps and Mangrove Ecosystem Services in Coastal Tanzania

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, cdybas@nsf.gov

Related WebsitesNSF News (2014 CNH Awards): National Science Foundation awards $9.47 million for research on coupled natural and human systems:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=132412
NSF News (2013 CNH Awards): National Science Foundation awards $19.4 million for research on coupled natural and human systems:
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=129178
NSF News (2012 CNH Awards): National Science Foundation Awards Grants for Research on Coupled Natural and Human Systems:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=125578
CNH Discovery Article: Summertime: Hot Time in the City: http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128204
CNH Discovery Article: Cooking Up Clean Air in Africa: http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126403
CNH Discovery Article: Studying Nature's Rhythms: Soundscape Ecologists Spawn New Field: http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123046

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2015, its budget is $7.3 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 48,000 competitive proposals for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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Coastal processes and human responses to shoreline change are the subject of a CNH award.
Credit and Larger Version

CNH researchers will study how communities manage tropical forests.
Credit and Larger Version

The effect of human behavior on lake catchments is an area CNH scientists will explore.
Credit and Larger Version

CNH scientists will conduct research on globally driven changes in subsistence in rural Alaska.
Credit and Larger Version

The resilience of urban water resources is the subject of a CNH grant.
Credit and Larger Version
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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nsf.gov - National Science Foundation - Data-intensive ecology needed to understand what makes the biosphere tick

Journal special issue reports new findings on macrosystems biology: biological sciences writ large

This special issue highlights research conducted through NSF's MacroSystems Biology program. Credit and Larger Version

February 3, 2014

Have you looked closely at a local pond, meadow or forest--or at nature in your suburb or city--and observed changes in it over time? That's exactly what scientists are trying to do on a larger, regional to continental scale--a macrosystems biology scale.

Macrosystems biology might be called "biological sciences writ large."

Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) MacroSystems Biology Program are working to better detect, understand and predict the effects of climate and land-use change on organisms and ecosystems at regional to continental scales.

The researchers have published new results in this month's special issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, published by the Ecological Society of America.

The ecologists are asking questions such as: How are regional-scale processes in plant and animal invasions, and in disease transmission, shaped by continent-wide environmental and land-use patterns? How can continent-wide data lead to better forecasts of disease outbreaks? How do invasive species and infectious diseases arrive at new locations, sometimes across great distances?

"Scientists conducting macrosystems biology research are working to find answers to these complex questions," says John Wingfield, NSF assistant director for Biological Sciences.

"Current knowledge of the biosphere is largely based on research in small plots of land and on satellite-scale remote sensing," says Wingfield. "But the insights needed to answer critically important questions about the biosphere's future can't always be extrapolated from such studies. They require new approaches."

Now macrosystems biologists are entering a new realm: that of big data.

"Ecologists can no longer sample and study just one or even a handful of ecosystems," says Patricia Soranno, a scientist at Michigan State University and co-editor of the special issue with David Schimel of the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Lab.

"We also need to study lots of ecosystems and use lots of data to tackle many environmental problems--such as climate change, land-use change and invasive species--because such problems exist at larger scales than other problems we have faced in the past."

Soranno and Schimel worked with many researchers, all funded by NSF's MacroSystems Biology Program, to produce the special issue.

"Data-intensive science is being touted as a new way to do science of any kind, and we think it has a lot to offer ecology," says Soranno.

"Traditionally, ecologists are trained to study and take samples from the field in places like forests, grasslands or wetlands, and measure things in the lab.

"In the future, many ecologists will also need to be trained in advanced computational methods that will allow them to study complex systems using big datasets."

Researchers have accumulated decades and decades of data. The sources include small, individual projects by university biologists; government agency scientists monitoring natural resources; terabytes of data from new or existing field sensors and observation networks; and millions of high-definition satellite images.

Easier access to supercomputers is paired with a near-endless deluge of data. Analyses that once took months or years can now be conducted in hours or days. Scientists also have access to the latest statistical modeling and geographic information system tools, says Soranno.

"Ten years ago, it would have been much harder to take this approach," she says. "We didn't have the intersection we have today of great tools, volumes of data, sufficient computing power and a growing understanding of natural systems at broad scales."

The makeup of macrosystems biology research teams should reflect the demands of data-intensive ecology, these researchers believe. Groups should include database managers, data-mining experts, GIS professionals and others, they say.

"An important question we're facing is how ecologists can best solve many of today's top environmental problems, challenges that need a broad-scale approach," Soranno says.

"From the research that has already been conducted by macrosystems biologists, evidenced by the papers in this special issue, we think we're on the right path."

It's where science needs to go, say these papers' authors, to understand what makes Earth's biosphere tick.

The research papers in the special issue can be accessed online at the Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment website.

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, cdybas@nsf.gov
Layne Cameron, MSU, (517) 353-8819, layne.cameron@cabs.msu.edu
Liza Lester, ESA, (202) 833-8773 x 211, llester@esa.org

Related Websites2013 NSF MacroSystems Biology Awards:

 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=129239
2011 NSF MacroSystems Biology Awards:

 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?org=NSF&cntn_id=121279&preview=false
Special Issue: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment:

 http://www.frontiersinecology.org/

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2014, its budget is $7.2 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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Useful NSF Web Sites:
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Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/

View Video
View an animation of ecology in a world of big data.
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Thousands of lakes are being compared through a macrosystems biology grant from NSF.
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The ecological homogenization of urban America is the subject of an NSF macrosystems biology award.
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Macrosystems biologists are entering the realm of "big data;" here a visualization of street trees.
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NSF-supported macrosystems biologists are studying agricultural landscapes in North Dakota.
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Macrosystems biologists are conducting research on the resilience of river basins.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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