Federal and state researchers say they will perform the first continent-wide census of the American white pelican population conducted in about 25 years.
The mission was announced following a Jamestown, N.D., meeting last week of federal and state wildlife experts and researchers from Minnesota's St. Cloud State University and Canada's University of Regina.
The summit was prompted by mass pullouts of white pelicans from Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge north of Medina, N.D., the past two springs and summers, the Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune reported Thursday. The Chase Lake colony once was believed to be the largest in North America.
The white pelican census will be conducted next year.
White pelicans are one of North America's largest birds, with a length of about 5 feet and a nearly 10-foot wing span.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Protein complementarity may offer new insights into autoimmune diseases
The discovery of "complementary" antibodies against plasminogen in patients with blood vessel inflammation caused by anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCAs) may lead to new approaches to research, testing, and treatment of ANCA vasculitis and other autoimmune diseases, suggests a paper in the December
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (
JASN).
Venomous lionfish prowls fragile Caribbean waters
(AP) -- A maroon-striped marauder with venomous spikes is rapidly multiplying in the Caribbean's warm waters, swallowing native species, stinging divers and generally wreaking havoc on an ecologically delicate region.
Running slows the aging clock, researchers find
Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.
Researchers to begin study aimed at helping Latino HIV patients
Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center will soon begin researching how a lack of trust in formal medicine is contributing to disproportionately higher mortality rates in Latino HIV patients than in white HIV patients across the country.
Hormone level may reflect mortality risk among dialysis patients
A new study suggests that monitoring levels of a hormone called fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) may provide information crucial to the treatment of patients with kidney failure. In the Aug. 7
New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report that patients with elevated levels of FGF-23 when beginning hemodialysis had a significantly increased risk of death within the first year of treatment, regardless of whether they had other risk factors. The study also found evidence that FGF-23 levels may differ between racial groups, which may relate to observed disparities in survival of dialysis patients.
Whale playground offers glimpse into Russia's melting Arctic
A young whale pokes its melon-shaped head into the cool morning air near this remote island, a sign its herd is thriving despite mounting threats in Russia's melting Arctic.
Cancer researchers call for ethnicity to be taken into account
Breast cancer research needs to investigate how a person's ethnicity influences their response to treatment and its outcome, according to a new Comment piece in today's
Lancet (18 July) by researchers from Imperial College London.
Complexity of Crohn's disease revealed as 'gene' count tops 30
New research has trebled the number of genetic regions known to be implicated in Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, to over thirty. The research, published today in the journal
Nature Genetics, has identified a number of potential new targets for drug development as well as providing surprising new links between the condition and other common diseases including asthma.