Elephant declines imperil Africa's forests
Poaching and habitat loss have reduced forest elephant populations in Central Africa by 63 percent since 2001. This widespread killing poses dire consequences not only for the species itself but also…
Showing posts with the label Natural Heritage
North Pacific climate patterns influence El Nino occurrences
For decades, the world's leading scientists have observed the phenomena known as El Nino and La Nina. Both significantly impact the global climate and both pose a puzzle to scientists since they&…
Ancient farming techniques could help mitigate climate change effects
High technology is being deployed to uncover long-forgotten irrigation systems and other features concealed in landscapes that farmers developed hundreds of years ago to nurture their land. Geographi…
Oxygen loss could be a huge issue for oceans
A major study into an ancient climate change event that affected a significant percentage of Earth's oceans has brought into sharp focus a lesser-known villain in global warming: oxygen depletion…
Shifting tundra vegetation spells change for Arctic animals
For nearly two decades, scientists have noted dramatic changes in arctic tundra habitat. Ankle-high grasses and sedges have given way to a sea of woody shrubs growing to waist- or neck-deep heights. …
Previously unknown 'supercolony' of Adélie penguins discovered in Antarctica
For the past 40 years, the total number of Adélie Penguins, one of the most common on the Antarctic Peninsula, has been steadily declining -- or so biologists have thought. A new study led by researc…
Spring is springing earlier in polar regions than across the rest of Earth
Spring is arriving earlier, but how much earlier? The answer depends on where on Earth you find yourself, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis. Spring is springing earlier …
Capturing the balance of nature
In a study spanning twelve years, researchers from Kyoto University, and with Ryukoku University have developed a method to calculate the fluctuating stability of a natural ecological community in Ma…
New study confirms Cambodia’s last leopards on brink of extinction
A new study has confirmed that the world's last breeding population of leopards in Cambodia is at immediate risk of extinction, having declined an astonishing 72% during a five-year period. The p…
Rainforest regeneration rescues bat communities in aftermath of fragmentation
Rainforest loss is fuelling a tsunami of tropical species extinctions. However, not all is doom and gloom. A new study, conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, suggests that ecological cataclysms prompted…
King penguins may be on the move very soon
More than 70 percent of the global King penguin population, currently forming colonies in Crozet, Kerguelen and Marion sub-Antarctic islands, may be nothing more than a memory in a matter of decades,…
First evidence of surprising ocean warming around Galápagos corals
The ocean around the Galápagos Islands has been warming since the 1970s, according to a new analysis of the natural temperature archives stored in coral reefs. Diane Thompson (left), Roberto Pépolas …
New study brings Antarctic ice loss into sharper focus
A NASA study based on an innovative technique for crunching torrents of satellite data provides the clearest picture yet of changes in Antarctic ice flow into the ocean. The findings confirm accelera…
Land use change has warmed Earth's surface
Natural ecosystems play a crucial role in helping combat climate change, air pollution and soil erosion. A new study by a team of researchers from the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission&#…
Biodiversity loss raises risk of 'extinction cascades'
New research shows that the loss of biodiversity can increase the risk of "extinction cascades," where an initial species loss leads to a domino effect of further extinctions. Credit: Andre…
In 16 years, Borneo lost more than 100,000 orangutans
Over a 16-year period, about half of the orangutans living on the island of Borneo were lost as a result of changes in land cover. That's according to estimates reported in Current Biology showi…
Action plan released to conserve one of Africa's richest sites for biodiversity
A team of scientists led by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) has developed a conservation blueprint to protect one of the most biodiverse regions in Africa: the Albertine Rift, home to mountain an…