Agricultural advances draw opposition that blunts innovation

(Science) Anne Q. Hoy, June 29

Scientists are using technology to expand global food production and ease its environmental impact, but advances are being challenged by claims that lack scientific evidence and raise public distrust and concern, a leading agricultural scientist told an American Association for the Advancement of Science audience.

Alison Van Eenennaam traced the advent of campaigns against agricultural innovations related to areas from cattle and chicken production systems to plant biotechnology. The impact such efforts are having on agricultural advances was the focus of the ninth annual AAAS Charles Valentine Riley...

Unprecedented Study Discovers what Urban Coyotes Really Eat

(Care2) Laura Goldman, March 30

Hiking boots, avocados, candy wrappers and fast-food containers. These aren't a few of my favorite things, but they are some of the items found inside the stomachs of dead urban coyotes in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

…Since the study began over a year ago, the researchers, led by Dr. Niamh Quinn, the human-wildlife interactions advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension, have discovered that cats make up only about eight percent of a coyote's diet.

Shoes with rubber soles, western cottontail rabbits, birds, avocados, oranges, peaches, candy wrappers and fast-food cartons were among the contents that UC Cooperative Extension human-wildlife interactions advisor Niamh Quinn has found inside the stomachs of urban coyotes, reported Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times.

Quinn is working with Cal State Fullerton graduate student Danielle Martinez to get a clear picture of what is sustaining coyotes that died across Los Angeles and Orange counties.

"This much is clear: coyotes aren't struggling in our...

Feral cats are thought to be responsible for the extinction of no less than 20 native Australian mammal species, reported Weston Williams in the Australia edition of the Christian Science Monitor. The population density is smaller than the density in North America and Europe, but their impact on the wildlife Down Under is of grave concern.

Australia is not alone. A 2013 study found that cats kill as many as 3.7 billion birds and 20.7 billion small mammals in the U.S. every year.

"All outdoor cats can pose risks to wildlife," said Niamh Quinn, UC Cooperative Extension...