Biodiversity

"Members of Congress are pushing to stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving genetically engineered salmon, saying not enough is known about a fish they say could harm fishery businesses in coastal states. It appeared last year that the FDA might approve the engineered salmon quickly. But the congressional pushback and a lack of action by the FDA could mean the fish won't be on the nation's dinner tables any time soon."

"Ancient Andean crops and farming methods are revived as Peruvians struggle to deal with the effects of climate change."

"EAST SAND ISLAND, Wash. — It's been a dozen years since the federal government moved thousands of black-capped squawking seabirds here to reduce their diet of endangered fish. Things haven't exactly gone as planned."

"A team of researchers from the University of Colorado has concluded that the hamster-sized mammal is doing better than previously believed, finding the population is holding its own in the southern Rocky Mountains."

"The state of Alaska filed notice on Friday that it will appeal a federal judge's ruling upholding the listing of polar bears as a threatened species."

The white-nose syndrome that is decimating bat populations from New Brunswick to Oklahoma -- and spreading -- is "the most devastating wildlife disease in recorded history," according to one biologist. Despite a growing understanding of the complex fungal disease process, scientists are still looking for answers that will help bats survive.

Janet Raloff reports for Science News in the issue cover-dated September 10, 2011.

"Widely grown corn plants that Monsanto Co. genetically modified to thwart a voracious bug are falling prey to that very pest in a few Iowa fields, the first time a major Midwest scourge has developed resistance to a genetically modified crop."

"The discovery raises concerns that the way some farmers are using biotech crops could spawn superbugs.

A rash of rhino horn thefts, "as many as 30 so far this year, have been reported in museums, galleries, antiques dealerships, auction houses and homes across Europe as criminals try to feed a growing demand in China and other Asian countries, where medicine made from ground rhino horns is believed to act as an aphrodisiac and to cure cancer and other diseases."

"In the American Corn Belt this year, the weather has already felt apocalyptic at times. In the last six months, the Midwest has seen record-breaking floods, devastating twisters, unseasonable cold snaps and late heat waves. Now, add insect swarms to these forces of nature."