Ecology - Page 4

New research has assessed the ecological impact of returning Tasmanian devils to the mainland and the results show that doing so would improve Australia’s biodiversity.

An international team of wildlife ecologists, led by Oregon State University, conducted a comprehensive analysis of data on the world’s largest herbivores

Although habitat loss is still the largest threat to amphibians worldwide, habitat protection is now no guarantee of survival, because the spread of a deadly fungus is reaching even the most secluded habitats.

Recognition of the valuable role it played here, mainly as a predator of deer, has led to calls for the lynx to be reintroduced to the UK.

Even though the last reliable evidence of the presence of the cat on the island was from a 1910 diary entry, biologists suspected that the notoriously elusive animal had avoided extinction for many years.

It is the last living representative of a 3 million year old evolutionary lineage, but is critically endangered.

Habitat fragmentation and loss have played their part, but the main threat the giraffes currently face is poaching.

Once found across the UK, wildcats are now confined to north of the Central Belt in Scotland. They are so rare and elusive that population estimates have been as low as 35, making them 70 times rarer than the giant panda.

A large proportion of trees in Madagascar’s rainforest have fruits that are eaten by lemurs and for some species, lemurs are the primary or only animal that can distribute their seeds