Conservation, Biodiversity & Oceans

Investment banks: An unlikely ally for conservation

Financial institutions like banks historically have played a critical role in the face of global challenges, from restructuring industry after World War II to the financing of the industrial revolutions. A new study argues that banks can play a similar role in helping society transition to a low-carbon footprint model.

Monday, May 23, 2016
Timila Dhakhwa

Can an invasive species actually help lemurs in Madagascar?

Tropical forests are being lost due to timber harvest and cultivation, and ecosystems are being threatened by the spread of exotic and invasive species that outcompetes native ones. A recent study shows how an exotic plant species can be beneficial in connecting forest fragments, which promotes healthy wildlife populations.

Monday, May 16, 2016
Kira McCall

As climate changes, butterflies find refuge in protected areas

As species shift out of their historic habitats in response to climate change, the role of protected areas is in question. Can the current global system of stationary bubbles of biodiversity protection help fauna on the move?

Monday, May 9, 2016
Nicole Wooten

Does your Colombian coffee endanger species?

What coffee did you choose this morning? A new study shows that shade coffee can help endangered monkeys conservation in the Colombian forests.

Thursday, May 5, 2016
Paloma Caro

What does ecology 'restoration' mean? It depends who you ask

Environmental science guides the design of environmental policies and regulations. But what  happens when science does not align with law and policy? A recent study shows that a mismatch between the science of ecological "restoration" and the policy mechanism of environmental interventions has unintended consequences.

Thursday, March 3, 2016
Yuqian Peng

Moths, bats, and climate change: How changing weather could threaten migration

Weather can change the day-to-day life of agricultural pests, like the corn earworm moth. But how do weather systems affect large groups of migrating moths and the migrating bats that prey on them? And how might shifts to those systems caused by climate change impact agriculture?

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Nicole Wooten

Taboo trade offs in ecosystem services and human well-being

Management of multiple ecosystem services involves balancing multiple stakeholders and their respective value systems. This involves making trade offs, but not all trade offs are equal. A recent article analyzes how these decisions affect management decisions in a small-scale tropical fishery.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Timila Dhakhwa

Simplifying nature: Human land use erodes biodiversity

Increasing intensity of human land-use makes ecological communities progressively more similar to one another, leading to an overall loss of diversity. Ecological metrics used to quantify diversity loss could provide helpful conservation benchmarks.

Friday, February 5, 2016
Meghna Krishnadas

Piecemeal nature: fragmented forests show long-term losses in biodiversity and ecosystem services

Analysis of global forest cover reveals that over 70 percent of remaining forests are within 1 kilometer of non-forest edge. Synthesis of long-term studies show that this will result in pervasive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Monday, December 28, 2015
Meghna Krishnadas

Lessons learned from large-scale river restoration

Public-private partnership approaches to natural resource management are on the rise. Members of the Dolores River Restoration Partnership share how they collectively work toward large-scale river restoration.

Monday, November 2, 2015
Lindsey Ratcliff
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