By Alexander Holmgren 1 August 2013 (mongabay.com) – Conservationist’s faced a crushing blow last month as two butterfly species native to Florida were declared extinct. “Occasionally, these types of butterflies disappear for long periods of time but are rediscovered in another location,” said Larry Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife state supervisor for ecological services. We […]
30 July 2013 (mongabay.com) – Oil palm plantations have extinguished the last habitat of a rainforest tree in Malaysia, reports the New Straits Times. Last week the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), a state agency, announced that the last stands of keruing paya (Dipterocarpus coriaceus) in Peninsular Malaysia were wiped out when Bikam Forest Reserve […]
Watchlist Indicator showing the average population trend for 77 moths, 19 butterflies, 8 mammals and 51 birds listed as UK BAP priorities, 1968-2010. Species are weighted equally. The indicator starts at 100; a rise to 200 would show that, on average, the populations of indicator species have doubled, whereas if it dropped to 50 they […]
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS 28 July 2013 (Concord Monitor) — In 1950, New Hampshire was home to just 50 moose. Today, the count is near 5,000, but state biologists fear that climate change – by way of winter ticks and other parasites – is threatening the herd. “Shorter winters are a problem for moose because they […]
By Scott Sutherland26 July 2013 (Geekquinox) – Scientists’ eyes have been glued to the Arctic this past week, as a summer cyclone has been tearing through the sea ice at the north pole. Ice melting at the North Pole during the summer months isn’t exactly a rare occurrence, but what’s remarkable is the speed and […]
By Oliver Milman 23 July 2013 (The Guardian) – Revelations of koalas suffering graphic injuries and death in Victorian timber plantations are evidence of a long-standing failure to properly protect the iconic Australian marsupials, according to a leading conservation organisation. Footage on Monday night’s 7.30 report showed koalas, including babies, lying dead on the floor […]
By Andrew Freedman 22 July 2013 (Climate Central) – In a sign of how swiftly and extensively climate change is reshaping the Arctic environment, a new study has found that the region’s mighty boreal forests — stands of mighty spruce, fir, and larch trees that serve as the gateway to the Arctic Circle — have […]
By Becky Oskin 23 July 2013 (LiveScience) – Instead of snow and ice whirling on the wind, a foot-deep aquamarine lake now sloshes around a webcam stationed at the North Pole. The meltwater lake started forming July 13, following two weeks of warm weather in the high Arctic. In early July, temperatures were 2 to […]
TOKYO, 22 July 2013 (AFP) – The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Monday admitted for the first time that radioactive groundwater has leaked out to sea, fuelling fears of ocean contamination. The admission came the day after Japanese voters went to the polls in an election for the upper house, handing the […]
By Bary Alyssa Johnson21 July 2013 (Latinos Post) – The Iberian lynx has seen severe population decline over the past hundred or so years and now the species faces extinction as a very real future possibility. This species of lynx, which now numbers only 250 in the wild, has been decimated in southern Europe over […]
