Fishing for Mammals
An innovative new technique has been developed to survey for animal species. Scientists have used environmental DNA shed by animals in water to provide a snapshot of the local mammal community.
Articles Tagged with “conservation”
46 Articles found tagged with “conservation”.
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Improved Assessments of Asiatic Lions
An alternative method for monitoring Asiatic lions using whisker patterns and body markings to identify individual lions has been demonstrated. This could lead to improved population estimates and help inform conservation policy.
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Habitat Conservation Affects Insect Predators
Natural habitats are being converted to agriculture or urban landscapes all too rapidly. A ground-breaking study has shown that it will be small invertebrate predators that will be most affected by this.
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Severe Weather Impacts Wildlife
In 2017, Hurricane Irma offered scientists the chance to study the impact of a severe weather event on white-tailed deer. They discovered that the deer changed their movement rate and their habitat selection, thus are able to alter their behaviour in order to survive.
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Humanity’s Footprint is Squashing Biodiversity
Using the most comprehensive dataset on the ‘human footprint,’ which maps the accumulated impact of human activities on the land’s surface, researchers have documented intense human pressures across the range of a staggering 20,529 terrestrial vertebrate species.
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Platypus on Brink of Extinction
Australia’s devastating drought is having a critical impact on the iconic platypus. With increasing reports of rivers drying up and platypuses becoming stranded, it is feared that local populations are declining rapidly.
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Deforestation Changing Communication
A new study on how animal communication is affected by deforestation shows that male howler monkeys howl for longer in forest interiors and natural forest edges than at man-made forest edges. This is because there are fewer resources at these edges and has implications for conservation.
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Koloa Conservation Succeeds
The koloa, the only endemic duck remaining on the main Hawaiian Islands, is threatened by inbreeding with feral mallards. But a new study has found that its genetic diversity is high and conservation efforts have been successful.
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Connecting Corridors
The creation of corridors between restored patches of declining longleaf pine habitats in South Carolina has resulted in an increase in number of plant species within the fragments and a drop in number of species disappearing from them.
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Ancient DNA Giving Fresh Insights
Scientists trying to save endangered species are finding help in museum collections. It has been shown that using DNA specimens from old specimens to understand evolution and threats to their survival.