�㽶��Ƶ News - Biology

What areas should Canada protect to save species at risk of extinction?

webfull — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 18:14:41 +0000

At the recent COP 15 conference in Montreal, Canada committed to protecting 30% of its land by 2030, but which areas are most crucial to protect for at-risk species such as the spotted turtles?

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, �㽶��Ƶ researchers overlayed maps of species at risk to find hotspots where many species live together. They found that hotspots often overlap.

Published: 11 April 2023

Setting Targets for Wetland Restoration to Mitigate Climate Change Effects on Watershed Hydrology

webfull — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 16:46:20 +0000

How much wetland we should protect or restore is not a simple question, such that conservation targets are often set according to political agendas, then standardized globally. However, given their key regulating hydrological functions, wetlands represent nature-based solutions to the anticipated, exacerbating effect of climate change on drought and flood events, which will vary at the regional scale.

Published: 10 January 2023

The three dimensions of a flower

webfull — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 17:08:59 +0000

To better understand the evolution of flowers, a research team in biology from Université de Montréal , the Montréal Botanical Garden, and �㽶��Ƶ (Daniel Schoen, Biology) have succeeded in using photogrammetry to quickly and precisely build, in three dimensions, a model of a flower from two-dimensional images.

Photogrammetry is commonly used by geographers to reconstruct the topography of a landscape. However, this is the first time that scientists have used the technique to design 3D models of flowers in order to better study them.

Published: 13 December 2022

McGill CRCs awarded in the 2020-2022 Cycle and NFRF-Transformation Results

webfull — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 15:00:45 +0000

On January 12, the Federal Government announced more than $295 million for science, research, and engineering in Canada through the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) 2020-2 cycle, the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) 2020 Transformation results, and the Tri-agency Scholarships and Fellowships.

Read the full story on the McGill Newsroom or the McGill Reporter.

Below is a list of all CRCs awarded in the 2020-2022 Cycle and McGill Co-PIs and Collaborators NFRF-T 2021-2027:

Published: 12 January 2022

CFI invests $3.9 M in McGill Research

webfull — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 20:34:04 +0000

Read the story on McGill Newsroom

Each McGill recipient will also receive matching funds from the Quebec government for their research endeavours, contributing to the total project funding noted below.

Complete list of CFI JELF-funded projects:

Oana Maria Balmau: Efficient Storage Systems for Real Time Edge Computing

CFI funding: $100,000

Total project funding: $317,032

Published: 11 August 2021

CTV NEWS | Some dinosaurs were flying before there were birds, new research suggests

webfull — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 23:28:36 +0000

Biologists now have a better idea of the origin of birds and the evolution of flight, two iconic events in the history of life on earth, thanks to work by a group of international scientists including a McGill professor. In updating the evolutionary tree, the team’s findings show some dinosaurs could fly before they evolved into birds, and many others were experimenting with powered flight.

Published: 13 August 2020

FRQS to fund new structural biology centre at �㽶��Ƶ

webfull — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 20:27:52 +0000

The health sciences research arm of the Quebec government [Fonds de recherche du Québec – santé (FRQS)] today announced it will provide $2 million to assist in the establishment of the Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale (CRBS) at �㽶��Ƶ. The new centre will become the premiere Structural Biology facility in Quebec and a leading centre in Canada, and aims to facilitate structural biology and biophysics for the broader scientific community for the next wave of scientific breakthroughs

Published: 8 April 2020

Fossilized wing gives clues about Labrador’s biodiversity during the Cretaceous

webfull — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 15:11:45 +0000

A fossilised insect wing discovered in an abandoned mine in Labrador has led palaeontologists from �㽶��Ƶ and the University of Gdańsk to identify a new hairy cicada species that lived around 100 million years ago.

Maculaferrum blaisi, described in a study published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, is the first hemipteran insect (true bug) to be discovered at the Redmond Formation, a fossil site from the Cretaceous period near Schefferville, Labrador.

Published: 21 February 2020

Are humans changing animal genetic diversity worldwide?

webfull — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 13:05:15 +0000

Human population density and land use is causing changes in animal genetic diversity, according to researchers at �㽶��Ƶ.

The findings reported in the journal Ecology Letters, show that environmental changes caused by humans are leading to changes in genetic variation in thousands of species of birds, fish, insects, and mammals. The evidence for human impacts was most clear for insects and fish species.

Published: 22 October 2019

Mapping global biodiversity change

webfull — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 18:04:45 +0000

A new study, published in Science, which focuses on mapping biodiversity change in marine and land ecosystems shows that loss of biodiversity is most prevalent in the tropic, with changes in marine ecosystems outpacing those on land. The research, led by scientists from the University of St Andrews, in collaboration with leading universities across Europe, the USA and Canada, including McGill, aimed at reaching a consensus about variation in biodiversity change.

Published: 17 October 2019