The INHS Library News blog is to inform users of new resources, library events, library systems downtime, and library schedule changes.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Mammal database identifies species destined for trouble

Read the full story in New Scientist.

What would happen to polar bears if people built towns in the deep Arctic? Or to tiger populations, if India's grasslands turned to desert?

A new database that allows users to explore the factors that predispose different mammalian species to extinction – from human encroachment to slow reproductive rate – could be useful in planning conservation schemes, its developers say. Anyone can access the online system, YouTHERIA, which allows users to manipulate parameters including habitat ecology, litter size and diet, and test their own hypotheses.