Norman, Okla.–Biodiversity in freshwater systems is impacted as much or more by environmental change than tropical rain forests, according to University of Oklahoma Professor Caryn Vaughn, who serves as director of the Oklahoma Biological Survey. “When we think about species becoming extinct, we don’t necessarily think of the common species in freshwater systems, many of […]
Published on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 by Environment News Service QUITO, Ecuador – Yasuní National Park, located in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is the most biodiverse area in all of South America, a team of Ecuadorean, American, and European scientists concludes in the first major peer-reviewed study of life forms in the park, […]
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website The decline of honeybees seen in many countries may be caused by reduced plant diversity, research suggests. Bees fed pollen from a range of plants showed signs of having a healthier immune system than those eating pollen from a single type, scientists found. Writing in the journal […]
Human expansion is wiping out species at about 1,000 times the “natural” or “background” rate and something must be done to slow the decline, according to the United Nations. The UN will launch the International Year of Biodiversity today, warning that the on-going loss of species around the globe will seriously affect the future of […]
Polar bears, long recognized as the poster child for climate change, are not the only species feeling the impacts of climate change. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has released a list of animals facing a host of related threats, in some strange and unexpected ways. In a new report titled “Species Feeling the Heat: Connecting […]
By Staff WritersSydney (AFP) Dec 3, 2009 The rotting carcasses of thousands of wild camelswho have died of thirst in Australia’s desert Outback are polluting vital waterholes and sacred sites, a report said Thursday. The Central Land Council, which administers Aboriginal land in the nation’s arid centre, said the corpses were poisoning water supplies, describing […]
By TOM ARUP ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENTNovember 13, 2009 AUSTRALIA and the world must make prevention of the rapid rate of species extinction a political priority or face an environmental catastrophe, the head of an international biodiversity convention has warned. In an interview with the Herald, the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological […]
By JUDITH KOHLER, Associated Press Writer Judith Kohler, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 5, 4:51 pm ET DENVER – Airborne nitrogen pollution from vehicle exhaust and farm fertilizer is turning algae in the alpine lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park into junk food for fish, a study says. A similar phenomenon is occurring in […]
Conservation groups warn of ‘alarming’ loss of biodiversity as thousands of animals face imminent extinction By Andy McSmith, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 Six years ago, these tiny mustard-coloured toads could be found in their thousands, living under the spray from an African waterfall. No one even knew they existed until 1996. Yet today the Kihansi […]
A global campaign will make young people aware of the danger the illicit drug trade represents to hundreds of species in Colombia’s rainforests By Jamie Doward, The Observer, Sunday 25 October 2009 Until recently, the Gorgeted Puffleg was rather obscure – in fact, until four years ago it did not officially exist. But although the […]
