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Discovery of critically endangered bat in Rwanda leads to conservation talks
- Bats are one of the most diverse orders of mammals and represent an important component of ecological balance. They may make up a large portion of the mammal diversity — including in countries like Rwanda where much of the natural forest and savannah habitats have been lost, changed or degraded.
- Researchers recently discovered two rare bat species in Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park, and the IUCN lists 54 species of bats as occurring in the country.
- Research shows that killing bats to control zoonotic diseases can make things worse.
- Several studies show that bats are important predators of insects and are, therefore, a natural asset for agrarian productivity, suppressing pest populations.
The wisdom of the elders: Why the oldest animals matter
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the twilight of their lives, the world’s oldest creatures carry the weight of wisdom, experience, and resilience. Yet, these elders — fish that spawn in abundance, coral that shelters marine life, or elephants that guide their herds […]
New research finds substantial peat deposits in Colombia’s conflicted Amazon
- A new study of Colombia’s lowland forests and savannas finds that the nation may have extensive peatlands — organic wetland soils formed over thousands of years — holding as much as 70 years’ worth of Colombia’s carbon emissions. Protecting them from agricultural development is essential to preventing greenhouse gas releases.
- Researchers made peatland estimates by taking sediment cores in 100 wetlands, quantifying peat content, then building a model to predict locales for other peat-forming wetlands using satellite imaging. Peat was found in unexpected ecosystems, such as nutrient-poor white-sand forests, widespread in northern South America.
- Sampling in many locations was only possible due to the ongoing but fragile peace process between the Colombian government and armed rebel groups. In some places, security has already deteriorated and further sampling is unsafe, making this study’s scientific estimate a unique snapshot for now.
- Most Colombian peatlands are remote, but deforestation is intensifying along the base of the Andes, putting some wetlands at risk. Colombia’s existing REDD+ projects have been controversial, but opportunities may exist to combine payments for ecosystem services with peacebuilding if governance and security can be improved.
Global agarwood trade heavily dependent on wild, threatened trees: Study
- The global agarwood trade heavily depends on wild-harvested endangered tree species, despite international regulations for protection, with significant volumes going undocumented in official trade records, a new study reveals.
- About 70% of the trade depend on Aquilaria filaria and Aquilaria malaccensis, both threatened species, sourced from the wild, raising major sustainability concerns. Meanwhile, there are some tree species that are not even covered by CITES, the global wildlife trade convention.
- Due to discrepancies between CITES and customs data, along with weak enforcement and outdated regulations, researchers suggest the illegal trade is far larger than reported.
- Researchers urge stronger monitoring, updated data, expanded species protection, and a shift to cultivated sources. They also call on consumers and wealthy importers to support conservation and governments to promote sustainable practices.
Pangolins help biodiversity recover after fires
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. A forest may burn to the ground, but beneath the ashes, a pangolin is already rebuilding. Pangolins are best known for their misfortune. As the world’s most trafficked mammal, their numbers have been decimated by poaching for scales […]
Loss of great white sharks triggers domino effect down food chain, study shows
- A new study shows how the disappearance of an apex predator, the great white shark, from South Africa’s False Bay triggered changes throughout the food chain.
- With the loss of the top predator in the area, populations of its prey species, such as fur seals and sevengill sharks, increased; the latter’s prey, meanwhile, small fish and smaller benthic sharks, declined.
- The changes also coincided with shifts in the behavior of animals that live in the orbit of great whites.
- Over a 20-year period, the authors observed a significant drop in numbers of great white sharks beyond the study area, raising concern that the overall population of the protected species might be in decline.
Why captive elephants formed a circle during the San Diego earthquake
When a 5.2-magnitude earthquake shook the U.S. city of San Diego on April 14, a video showing five African elephants huddling together in the middle of their enclosure at San Diego Zoo Safari Park made headlines. It showed three older female elephants, Ndlula, Umngani and Khosi, moving quickly to protect 7-year-old calves Zuli and Mkhaya. […]
Ecologists are spending less time in the field. That could be a problem.
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. There was a time when an ecologist’s education was not complete without the mud of a marsh on their boots or the scent of damp earth after a rainforest downpour. Increasingly, however, the discipline is moving indoors. A […]
Vital Mekong fish corridors tracked for first time, but funding cuts threaten future research
- By implanting fish with small electronic transmitters, researchers were able to track key migration corridors in the Mekong River.
- The findings underscore the threat that dozens of planned dams along the Mekong will cut off these vital migratory paths.
- The study, which the lead author describes as a “pilot effort,” was funded by USAID; the funding gap caused by the U.S. foreign aid freeze leaves the future of such research in question.
Locals, researchers race to save unique biodiversity of PNG’s Torricellis
Torricelli Mountains, a tiny mountain range in northern Papua New Guinea, is estimated to host roughly 4% of the world’s known species, many found nowhere else on Earth, Mongabay’s John Cannon reported in March. “I mean, for 0.003% of the world’s land area — it’s a ‘wow’ factor for me,” Jim Thomas, CEO of the […]
AI uncovers how birds remix their songs over time
- A new study has confirmed the belief that birdsongs evolve as a result of age, population dynamics and movement of the birds.
- Researchers gathered thousands of hours of audio of great tits (Parus major) and used artificial intelligence to analyze songs in the data.
- They found that birds that move around a lot tended to know the popular songs, while the ones that didn’t had pockets with unique songs.
- While older birds were found to act as repositories of old songs, mixed-age bird communities were found to have more song diversity.
Africa’s growing cities are endangering birdlife (commentary)
- In Africa, urban land cover is expected to triple by 2030, and the potential impact on birds and biodiversity is particularly alarming, a new op-ed argues.
- A recently published study used citizen science data from Kenyan and Nigerian bird-mapping projects to uncover insights into how urbanization affects birds, their diversity and ecological functions in these nations.
- “As urbanization has intensified, the variety of bird species and their roles in the ecosystem shrinks, resulting in more uniform communities with generalist species,” author Bello Adamu Danmallam writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Plastic-eating seabird chicks show signs of organ failure and cognitive decline
- Seabirds and other marine wildlife are ingesting an increasing amount of plastics as pollution in the ocean rises.
- A recent study finds that sable shearwater chicks that consume high levels of plastics have abnormal levels of certain proteins in their blood, including some that suggest tissue damage, multiple organ failure and cognitive decline, despite showing no signs of obvious ill health.
- Conservationists say the study’s findings in young chicks show plastics could threaten entire populations of sable shearwaters.
- Although the study’s findings are limited to a single species, they raise concern for other marine life, say conservationists, who urge immediate action to reduce marine plastic pollution.
Why conservation research findings are rarely surprising
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. “We already knew that.” I frequently receive complaints from readers about findings in scientific papers being commonsense or obvious. And yes, it’s true: science often confirms what we’ve long suspected or seen in practice. By its nature, science […]
Diverse forests and forest rewilding offer resilience against climate change
- Recent studies from two long-running planted forest experiments in China and Panama find that increasing tree diversity in reforestation efforts can boost resilience in the face of climate change, among other benefits.
- Researchers elsewhere propose a “rewilding-inspired forestry” approach that aims to restore biodiversity, aid climate mitigation and bolster forest ecosystems — an approach that requires a significant shift from current forestry practices.
- However, scientists underline that while reforestation and forest rewilding can contribute to curbing climate change, they have their limits and must be combined with deep carbon emissions cuts and conservation of existing forests.
Giant rats trained to sniff out illegal wildlife trade
From land mine detection to sniffing out illegally trafficked wildlife parts, a group of trained African giant pouched rats in Tanzania is proving a valuable partner for humans, Mongabay’s Lucia Torres reported in February. In the 1990s, Belgian industrial engineer Bart Weetjens was exploring ways to detect land mines when he thought of rats: they’re […]
Even the Gulf of Aqaba’s ‘supercorals’ bleached during 2024 heat wave
- Scientists have long considered the corals in the Gulf of Aqaba in the northern Red Sea to be uniquely resilient to extreme temperatures.
- For the first time on record, however, the heat wave of 2024 bleached some of these super-resilient corals in Israeli and Jordanian waters, according to scientists.
- Scientists studying the episode’s severity and extent estimate that perhaps 5% of the corals in their study area in Israeli waters bleached during the oppressive Northern Hemisphere summer; a small fraction died, but most recovered over the relatively cooler months that followed.
- Tackling threats like pollution that could reduce the corals’ ability to withstand extreme heat is the best way to protect them from rising marine temperatures, and scientists say an oil terminal that sits barely half a kilometer from some of the “supercorals” poses an imminent threat.
Outlook improves for wattled crane in South Africa
In what’s being hailed as a conservation success, the wattled crane has seen its conservation status in South Africa improve from critically endangered to endangered. Globally, the wattled crane (Bugeranus carunculatus) is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with an estimated population of 6,000 mature individuals in the wild as of a 2018 […]
How is conservation preparing for a much hotter world? Experts share
- Fifty years from now, in 2075, the world will be considerably hotter, perhaps as much as 3-5° Celsius (4.5 to 9° Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.
- Experts say we need to focus on building greater resilience into ecosystems now to help species get through the next half century.
- We should be protecting large landscapes, including altitudinal gradients, according to experts.
- We should also be focusing on good management, community relations, rewilding and restoration.
Dugong numbers plummet amid seagrass decline in Thailand’s Andaman Sea
- Thailand’s dugongs are disappearing fast, reflecting an unfolding crisis in the region’s seagrass ecosystems.
- Seagrass beds on Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast that support one of the world’s most significant populations of dugongs have died off in recent years, creating an increasingly challenging environment for the charismatic marine mammals.
- Scientists point to a combination unsustainable coastal practices and climate change as the main factors driving the decline.
- Government agencies, marine scientists and volunteers are taking emergency steps to save the remaining dugongs, but experts warn their long-term survival in Thailand depends on fixing the root causes of the seagrass loss.
Thailand’s ‘second’ tiger population stable, but barriers to expansion persist
Populations of the critically endangered Indochinese tigers in eastern Thailand’s forest reserves remained stable between 2018 and 2021, but a shortage of prey and the presence of highways prevented their expansion to promising habitat, a recent study has found. Scientists have been monitoring Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) populations across the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) […]
122 companies responsible for a third of present day sea-level rise: Study
What’s new: Almost half of global average temperature rise and a third of sea-level rise can be attributed to the “carbon majors,” the world’s 122 largest fossil fuel and cement producers, a recent paper shows. What the study says: Research from U.S.-based science advocacy NGO Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) used climate-carbon cycle models, and […]
Bonobos combine calls in ways that resemble human language, study finds
Bonobos, one of humanity’s closest relatives, appear to string together vocal calls in ways that mirror a key feature of the human language, a new study carried out in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has found. While bonobos (Pan paniscus) produce grunts, peeps, whistles and hoots, they also combine these calls […]
Conserving vultures in Southern Africa may provide substantial economic gain: Report
- A new report has found that conserving vulture populations in Southern Africa could have potentially huge economic value. Many vulture populations in Africa are in sharp decline, the authors highlight.
- The report, published by the NGO BirdLife, attached a value to a range of ecosystem services — including an important sanitation role and their existence for future generations — at $1.8 billion for the region.
- This illustrates the importance of conserving vultures and addressing the multitude of threats facing them, the NGO says.
- But other vulture experts say caution is needed in interpreting some of their findings, as assigning an economic value to traditional medicine and belief-based use could lead to the demise of entire populations.
What do CITES data tell us about the legal wildcat trade?
- All 40 species of wildcats are traded globally, both legally and illegally, posing conservation concerns for big and small cats.
- Wildcats are listed on CITES, the global international wildlife trade agreement, and analysis of data on wildcats for the last 25 years shows that most trade permits are issued for lions, followed by leopards, bobcats, Canada lynx and tigers.
- Although drivers of the trade vary for each species, data show a demand for body parts such as skin, claws and bones, and live animal trade is common for the most-traded wildcat species.
Lithium Triangle mining may strain water sources more than expected, study says
- Measuring water availability for lithium extraction can still be unpredictable, especially in the high-altitude Lithium Triangle in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.
- Current models can overestimate how much water is available, potentially exacerbating scarcity for local communities, according to a new study in Communications Earth and Environment.
- The study suggests using a more accurate model as well as improving transparency and resources for gathering observational data where lithium is being extracted.
Study delves into increase in humpback whale sightings in UK and Ireland
Earlier this year, U.K. media reported an increase in humpback whale sightings in British and Irish waters. Between December 2024 and January, The Guardian reported some 17 sightings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the Isles of Scilly in southwest England. Meanwhile, the nonprofit Sussex Dolphin Project reported more than 50 sightings from Sussex in […]
Amid fuzzy data, scientists urge monitoring of Hong Kong’s tokay gecko trade
- Thousands of tokay geckos (Gekko gecko), native to South and Southeast Asia, are sold each year in Hong Kong’s traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmacies.
- Recent studies have raised questions on the sustainability of this trade and the origins of the geckos, as vendors’ claims don’t agree with data in the CITES database, exposing data discrepancies in legal trade.
- Without stricter oversight, these discrepancies could result in unsustainable trade and facilitate illegal trafficking of tokay geckos in the region, say conservationists, who urge countries and CITES to better monitor the trade.
Traffic noise turns Galápagos warblers into angry birds
Traffic noise isn’t just unpleasant; in the Galápagos Islands, it can also make songbirds aggressive, a recent study has found. Once famed for their undisturbed natural ecosystems, the Galápagos Islands have seen a rise in road infrastructure and traffic in recent decades. Researchers wanted to understand how birds react to the increased noise. So they […]
Innovators battling wildfires with AI, drones & fungi get $50k grants to scale up
To address the devastating effects of wildfires in Western North America, the nonprofit Conservation X Labs (CXL) and its partners have awarded $50,000 each to 12 shortlisted teams seeking to scale up novel technologies and processes to lower wildlife risk and increase ecosystem and community resilience. CXL announced the 12 finalists of its first Fire […]
Rare polar bear cub footage offers crucial conservation insights
- Scientists have captured rare footage of female polar bears and their newborn cubs emerging from maternal dens in the Arctic.
- Using remote cameras and satellite collars, researchers were able to track down polar bear dens in Norway’s Svalbard region and get insights into their behavior.
- On analyzing the data, researchers found that the bears typically stayed in and around the dens for 12 days after first emerging from them; they were also found to abandon the dens earlier than previously thought.
- Polar bear denning and the subsequent den emergence is a crucial period during which cubs transition from the warm environment of the dens to the harsh environment outside; the amount of time cubs spend in the dens is believed to have implications for their survival.
The vast venomous world of plants, fungi, bacteria: Study
Venom isn’t just a feature of some animals; it’s found across the living world, from plants and fungi to bacteria and viruses, says a new study. Lead author William Hayes, an ecologist at Loma Linda University, U.S., has long studied venomous rattlesnakes. It was while teaching a course on the biology of venom that he […]
Colombia’s coffee farmers try to balance innovation and tradition to adapt to climate change
- Researchers and coffee farmers in Colombia are trying to find strategies to adapt to unpredictable weather, rising temperatures and erratic rainfall, which are disrupting Colombia’s coffee industry by fueling pests and diseases like the coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust.
- Cenicafé, the national coffee research center, is continuously developing new hybrid coffee varieties that are resistant to diseases and climate change for farmers, but pests are evolving, requiring more research and genetic diversification.
- Some farmers are restoring the much slower traditional shade-grown coffee practices through reforestation and agroforestry, which help them access premium high-end coffee markets while tackling and adapting to climate change.
- With the limited options presented, some researchers say coffee growers must at times choose between high-yield hybrids or eco-friendly organic farming, weighing sustainability against economic survival.
For wandering elephants, path of least resistance could help map out safe corridors
A new study reveals how African elephants plan their elaborate journeys: they strategically choose the least energy-consuming routes to reach food sources. These findings, researchers say, can help conservationists design elephant corridors to connect fragmented habitats. African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), considered endangered, can travel vast distances for water, food or mates. Some landscapes they […]
Life on Earth is changing — not just in numbers, but in essence
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Human activity is reshaping life on Earth in profound and alarming ways. A landmark study published in Nature offers the most comprehensive synthesis to date of how five primary anthropogenic pressures — habitat change, pollution, climate change, resource […]
Huge iceberg breaks from Antarctica, revealing a rich seafloor ecosystem
A massive iceberg broke off from the George VI Ice Shelf in Antarctica in January, giving researchers a rare opportunity to observe a part of the planet never before seen by humans. Coincidentally, a team of researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California, U.S., happened to be nearby when the ice spanning 510 square […]
Polar sea ice continues steep decline; but will a troubled world notice?
- Polar sea ice has reached record, and near-record, lows for this time of year, pushing the pace of global warming and alarming scientists. The just declared 2025 Arctic sea ice extent winter maximum is the lowest on record, at 14.33 million km² (5.53 million mi²). That’s 80,000 km² (31,000 mi²) below the previous low seen on March 7, 2017.
- The 2025 Antarctic sea ice extent summer minimum on March 1 tied for the second lowest on record, at 1.98 million km² (764,000 million mi²). The all time record Antarctic summer low was 1.79 million km² (691,000 million mi²) reached on February 21, 2023. Polar ice satellite records have been continuous since 1979.
- Sea ice loss is expected to continue its slide based on climate models, with scientists warning that the Arctic landscape is likely to be transformed beyond recognition within decades. Sweeping changes will devastate Indigenous polar communities, disrupt Arctic ecosystems, and ultimately lead to the demise of iconic polar wildlife.
- Inhospitable polar conditions continue challenging scientists’ ability to gather data and make precise polar forecasts vital for knowing our climate future. But it may be even more challenging to raise public awareness and political will to reduce carbon emissions and reverse polar ice loss before it passes dangerous tipping points.
Researchers find new killifish species in Kenya
- According to a new study, a new species of killifish, Nothobranchius sylvaticus, has been found in seasonal swamps in the ephemeral marshes of Kenya’s historic Gongoni Forest at the coast.
- Scientists from Canada, France, Kenya and South Africa report that the severely restricted habitat of the seasonal Mkurumudzi River in southeastern coastal Kenya is threatening the survival of the fish species.
- The killifish, a unique species with iridescent blue scales, red markings and vibrant fins, has been deposited at the National Museums of Kenya and the Royal Museum for Central Africa.
- An expert is calling for the formal designation of the Gongoni Forest as a key biodiversity area and local communities’ engagement to protect the small freshwater fish, ensuring its recovery and avoiding threats.
Peru’s rare peatland swamps at risk as illegal gold mining expands
- Gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru, is destroying rare peatland swamps that serve as critical carbon sinks, a new study found.
- The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, used 35 years of NASA Landsat satellite data to track the spread of gold mining.
- It found that more than 550 hectares (1,360 acres) of peatland have been destroyed by mining over the last 35 years, with over half of it occurring in the last two years.
- At least 63 out of 219 peatland areas have been affected by mining, putting more than 10,000 hectares (about 25,000 acres) at immediate risk, with the possibility that as much as 14.5 million metric tons of carbon could be released into the atmosphere, the study said.
A century later, a rare mushroom with a curious shape emerges in Sri Lanka
- Documented just once in 1919 at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sri Lanka, an elusive mushroom has resurfaced more than a hundred years later, causing excitement among mycologists and nature lovers alike.
- The fungus is known for its phallic shape and foul-smelling spore mass, which attracts insects for spore dispersal — a unique strategy among fungi, which otherwise mostly use wind to disperse the spores.
- After the publication of a research paper, at least five separate observations from different parts of the country were reported highlighting that the mushroom may survive in many places.
- Mycologists call for greater attention to fungi in biodiversity research and conservation, as many species may remain hidden — or risk disappearing unnoticed.
Surgically implanted tags offer rare insight into rehabilitated sea turtles
In 2021, the New England Aquarium in the U.S. state of Massachusetts began surgically implanting acoustic tags in rescued loggerhead sea turtles before returning them to the ocean. Four years on, these tags are providing a rare peek into where rehabilitated turtles travel. “Surgically implanted acoustic transmitters have been used for many years in many […]
Hotter weather threatens heart health, Australian study warns
Extreme heat is putting people in Australia at serious risk of heart problems and premature deaths, according to new research. As the climate warms, rising temperatures could more than double Australia’s burden of cardiovascular diseases by 2050, unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, and people take measures to adapt to the heat, researchers found. Cardiovascular […]
As apes adapt to human disturbance, their new behaviors also put them at risk: Study
- Worldwide, the most frequent causes of disturbances to ape habitats are land conversion for agriculture or logging, a recent study concludes.
- The study found that the most common ways apes adapted to habitat change included foraging for human crops, changing nesting patterns, and traveling along human-made paths.
- These changes can help apes survive in the short term, but can increase long-term risk, especially when behaviors like crop foraging bring them into conflict with humans.
- While some patterns were observed worldwide, human responses to behaviors like crop foraging varied widely, highlighting the need for local voices and priorities to be a central part of conservation planning.
Plastic pollution cuts into fishers’ livelihoods in Ecuador and Peru
- A new study in Peru and Ecuador has found that artisanal fishers are losing revenue due to prolific plastic pollution in the ocean.
- Researchers surveyed 1,349 artisanal fishers in Ecuador and Peru and found that the more waste generated locally, the greater the financial losses.
- This is reflected in the national economy, with losses in Ecuador and Peru’s domestic product from fisheries.
- The study is part of the Pacific Plastic: Science to Solutions initiative, which is represented on an intergovernmental committee currently negotiating a treaty on plastic pollution.
Africa’s last tropical glaciers are melting away along with local livelihoods
- Africa’s remaining tropical glaciers are rapidly disappearing as greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming.
- New maps published by Project Pressure show the Stanley Plateau glacier, in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains, lost nearly 30% of its surface area between 2020 and 2024.
- The Rwenzoris’ glaciers are a vital source of water for more than 5 million people living in the plains below the mountain range; they also have cultural significance.
- Project Pressure’s ongoing surveys, carried out in collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, are intended to provide local authorities with data needed to adapt to the loss of the glaciers and other impacts of climate change.
An arachnid in your orchid? Ornamental plant trade risks spreading invasive species
What’s new: Your recently imported ornamental tree might have a stowaway spider or lizard hidden in its branches, a recent study warns. What’s more, these accidentally transported wildlife can turn into invasive pests in their new environment, researchers say. What the study says: The increasing popularity of imported ornamental plants has resulted in a multibillion-dollar […]
With climate change, cryosphere melt scales up as a threat to planetary health
- Earth’s cryosphere — comprised of ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost and snowfall — is in a rapid state of flux due to escalating climate change, with numerous studies underlining the grave risks posed by the thaw.
- Today, that worldwide meltdown poses new threats to human lives — endangering freshwater supplies and food security while increasing the risks of natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Cryosphere loss poses immense dangers to the environment, agriculture, economy and society according to a new report.
- If emissions continue unabated, these problems will only worsen. Scientists warn of compounding risks as cryosphere melt escalates, including sea level rise, the slowing of ocean currents, and the triggering of feedbacks that will add to climate change.
- 2025 is designated the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Experts are calling for drastic cuts to carbon emissions because each fraction of a degree of warming avoided counts toward the preservation of the cryosphere along with the ecosystem services that ice, snow and permafrost provide.
Fish-tracking robot aims to make fishing more sustainable in developing nations
- Israeli scientists have developed a solar-powered underwater robot called SOUND that can roam autonomously for five days at a stretch, counting fish and communicating its findings back to observers onshore.
- The goal is to help local fishers in developing countries understand their fish populations so they can avoid overfishing and the capture of unwanted species.
- They tested the system in Malawi, among other locations, where fishers are facing a myriad of problems related to uncontrolled fishing.
Housing affordability through sustainability? Mongabay podcast explores
Countries all over the world face huge deficits in affordable housing today. But pursuing a circular economy, or the practice of making a good’s life cycle less resource-intensive, can pave the way for less expensive and longer-lasting houses, Mongabay’s Mike DiGirolamo found in an episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast published last December. In the episode, DiGirolamo talks […]
Microplastic within humans now a health crisis: Interview with ‘Plastic People’ filmmakers
- The documentary ‘Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics’ reveals microplastics have been found in human brains, placentas, and virtually every organ, highlighting a global environmental and health crisis.
- Executive producers Rick Smith and Peter Raymont explore how humans are becoming “plastic people” with microplastic contamination beginning before birth and persisting after death.
- Nations are negotiating a UN treaty on plastic pollution to address the estimated 400 million tons produced annually, with experts calling for eliminating unnecessary plastic use and banning toxic formulations.
- The film will be screened in Washington, DC, on March 29 at the 2025 DC Environmental Film Festival, where Mongabay is a media partner.
Seal ‘oceanographers’ reveal fish abundance in Pacific Ocean’s twilight zone
- The open ocean’s twilight zone, a vast deep ecosystem rich in fish biomass, is poorly understood because it is expensive and challenging for humans to reach its depths 200–1000 meters (660–3,280 feet) below the surface.
- A new study used northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) — marine predators that forage in the twilight zone — to help understand fish abundance deep down, both five decades into the past and two years into the future.
- The findings illustrate how apex marine predators, such as elephant seals, can serve as sentinels in understanding how fish abundance cascades through marine food webs.
- Given increased interest in fishing in the twilight zone and the unfolding effects of climate change, seals and other deep-diving marine predators could help keep an eye on changes in the oceans’ depths.
Counting whales by eavesdropping on their chatter, with help from machine learning
- Scientists have combined passive acoustic monitoring, machine-learning tools and aerial surveys to estimate the population of North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay.
- Using the method, researchers from Cornell University in the U.S. were able to estimate the daily population of the whales over a period of four months.
- While passive acoustic monitoring has helped scientists around the world detect the presence of whales, it’s often challenging to estimate population numbers from the data, especially for species like North Atlantic right whales that have highly variable call rates.
In a land where monkeys are seen as pests, Sri Lanka’s white langurs are winning hearts
- A rare population of leucistic, or partially white, purple-faced langurs near Sri Lanka’s Sinharaja Forest Reserve has attracted ecotourism interest, even as monkeys in general are perceived by farmers as crop-raiding pests.
- Unlike albinism, leucism causes a partial loss of pigmentation, and researchers have documented around 30 white langurs in the area.
- The unique langurs have helped transform the village of Lankagama into an ecotourism hub, benefiting the local community and conservation efforts.
- The presence of white monkeys across Sri Lanka, including rare cases of albino primates, highlights the island’s rich biodiversity and the need for further research and protection.
‘Sham’ federal firings suspended, but NOAA’s future remains uncertain
On March 13, U.S federal Judge James Bredar issued an order requiring the Trump administration reinstate thousands of probationary federal employees recently fired as part of government downsizing. The reinstatement order applies across 18 agencies including the Department of Commerce, which administers the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA, which had already fired roughly […]
One in five butterflies lost in the US since 2000, study finds
A study in the United States found a dramatic 22% decline in butterfly populations between 2000 and 2020. Previous research has focused on a specific butterfly species or regions of the country. For this study, researchers wanted to understand overall butterfly population trends across the U.S. They gathered records of 12.6 million individual butterflies across […]
A closer look at the unknown Brazilian fox
CORUMBAÍBA, Brazil — The hoary fox (Lycalopex vetulus) is a small canid found only in Brazil. Although commonly seen running across the open grasslands of the Brazilian Cerrado, surprisingly little is known about the species. Researchers Fernanda Cavalcanti and Frederico Lemos have spent the past two decades working to change that. Their shared passion for […]
Whale songs rise and fall with food supply, study finds.
Each year, during summer and fall, large groups of baleen whales gather off the coast of California, U.S., to feast on krill and fish before heading south to breeding areas in the tropics. It’s a crucial time for whales to fatten up, and a new study suggests some whale species announce an abundance of food […]
Sri Lanka calls for five-minute surveys to identify crop-raiding animals
- Sri Lanka’s agriculture suffers significant losses due to crop-raiding wildlife, especially elephants, monkeys, wild boars, giant squirrels, porcupines, and peafowls.
- An island-wide, citizen-assisted count of wild animals on agriculture land and in home gardens is planned for Mar. 15, lasting five minutes starting 8 a.m.
- Crop-raiding wild animals remain a significant challenge in Sri Lanka as cultivations suffer but the problem is exacerbated by limited scientific data, prohibitive costs and public opposition to certain solutions like culling.
- The forthcoming survey excludes major nocturnal raiders such as elephants, wild boars, and porcupines, raising questions on the effectiveness of the exercise, while some consider it a step in the right direction.
Breast milk contamination exposes Africa’s ‘forever chemicals’ problem
- Researchers warn that synthetic chemicals in various products, including carpets, clothes, furniture, adhesives, food packaging, and nonstick cookware, pose a significant threat to infants in Africa.
- Over the past two decades, the chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” have become a significant public health concern in Europe and North America. Emerging data from African countries point to the pervasive nature of the problem in the continent.
- PFAS exposure is linked to liver damage, thyroid diseases, cancer, and reproductive health problems, and can be especially dangerous for infants and children, experts say.
- Countries like the U.S. are beginning to pass laws to control PFAS levels in drinking water systems. Still, regulations that target PFAS are “rare across African countries,” a recent study notes.
Dry season predictability and temperature drive dengue cases: Study
What’s new: Rising temperatures and variation in the length of dry seasons appear to influence the prevalence of dengue fever, according to a recent study conducted in the Philippines. What the study says: Cases of dengue fever are rising globally; in the Americas, they more than doubled from 4.6 million cases in 2023 to 10.6 […]
Ugandan researcher wins ‘Emerging Conservationist’ award for work on golden cats
- Ugandan conservationist Mwezi Badru Mugerwa has been awarded the Indianapolis Prize’s Emerging Conservationist Award for 2025.
- Mugerwa has dedicated the past 15 years working with local communities to stop the poaching of the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), a species endemic to West and Central Africa.
- He and his team at conservation organization Embaka are also using camera traps and artificial intelligence tools to monitor and survey the population of the species, and to gauge the impact of their work.
In the drylands of northern Kenya, a ‘summer school’ for young researchers
- In northern Kenya’s Isiolo county, young researchers who study pastoralism gathered for a week of training and lectures.
- Most of the researchers were from East Africa; many were themselves raised in pastoralist communities.
- Isiolo county, a semiarid rangeland where most people make their living herding livestock, has been hit hard by drought in recent years.
- The researchers said they wanted to change the “old narrative” about pastoralist communities and their relationship to the environment.
‘Misguided & lazy’ staff cuts at NOAA will hurt global science, experts warn
The Trump administration recently fired roughly 800 probationary employees from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Former NOAA workers warn that these cuts will have global repercussions, affecting nations and industries that rely on NOAA’s freely available data. NOAA collects and shares data, from the depths of the ocean to outer space and […]
Male African elephants develop distinct personality traits as they age, study finds
- Male elephants have distinct characters, and certain individuals within the society are influential and can have a positive psychological impact on the group, according to new research.
- The study also showed that adult males are positively influenced by the presence of younger and socially well-connected males.
- Male elephant societies are dynamic and consist of dominant hierarchies and complex social networks, which contribute to the expression of consistent behaviors.
- Understanding elephant personalities is critical for improved wildlife management and conservation, researchers say.
Study confirms that ant-eating aardvarks have a craving for buried melons
A new study has used camera-trap footage and scent analysis to confirm the unusual relationship between an African melon and the aardvark, an elusive ant-eating mammal found in sub-Saharan Africa. Cucumbers and similar melon-like plants generally display their fruits aboveground, but an African melon (Cucumis humifructus) buries its fruit about 20 centimeters (8 inches) underground, […]
Mangrove deforestation for commodities limits conservation funding in SE Asia
- Southeast Asia’s mangrove forests are still at risk of conversion for oil palm, rice and aquaculture, despite their immense potential for mitigating global biodiversity and climate goals.
- Commodity-driven deforestation and a range of climate change-related risks threaten the long-term survival of 85% of the region’s mangrove forests that could feasibly host carbon credit projects, a new study finds.
- The long-term risks undermine the integrity of blue carbon credits as a potential source of much-needed conservation funding, the study says, ultimately jeopardizing the capacity of mangroves to sequester carbon and provide ecosystem benefits.
- The authors recommend a diverse suite of conservation funding mechanisms rather than relying solely on blue carbon credits, and also urge greater investments in community-led mangrove initiatives.
Aiding natural pollination can boost cacao yields & climate resilience
- Climate change and rising temperatures pose a major threat to cacao production across the globe, with those impacts already felt in major producers such as Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
- A new study highlights several low-cost, low-tech solutions that support natural pollination, building climate change resilience and increasing cacao yields up to 20%.
- Those methods include upping amounts of leaf litter to improve insect pollinator propagation, increasing the density of cacao tree plantings, utilizing taller native shade trees and limiting agrochemical use.
- Separate research underlines how these agroforestry methods used on farms can be supported by nearby natural forests, further aiding farm productivity.
An Ecuadorian hotspot shows how forests can claw back from destruction
- The Ecuadorian Chocó Forest is a little-known biodiversity hotspot, under immense pressure from deforestation.
- A joint German-Ecuadorian team is studying how this tropical forest ecosystem rebounds after clearing.
- The project, called the Reassembly Research Unit, is based out of a lab in the Jocotoco Foundation’s Canandé Reserve.
- The findings so far indicate that tropical forests have a remarkable capacity to heal, given suitable conditions. The findings can inform vital regeneration strategies.
Study links African lion survival to prey availability
- A recent study finds that African lion populations are declining as their herbivore prey are as well, prompting a need to protect these prey species to reverse the trend.
- Preventing prey depletion can help improve lion reproduction and population growth in areas prone to poaching for bushmeat, a leading cause of the species’ decline, the study notes.
- “In areas with high protection, the annual probability of [lion] population growth was 89.3%, but in areas with low protection the probability of growth was only 30.2%,” the study reads.
- The study underscores the importance of conservation programs that consider surrounding communities as crucial allies in species protection, says an expert.
Pangolin burrows are biodiversity magnets in burnt forests, study shows
- As insectivorous, burrowing mammals, pangolins play a key role in our ecosystem by controlling insect populations, recycling soil nutrients and sheltering other animals in their abandoned burrows.
- A recent study provides the first evidence of Chinese pangolins’ role as ecosystem engineers, whose burrows help restore biodiversity in forest patches gutted by fires.
- Over a two-year period, the study found that areas with pangolin burrows had more plant and animal species richness and diversity compared to sites without burrows, proving that pangolins accelerate ecosystem recovery.
- Experts say the study’s findings serve as another reason to conserve the scaly mammals and reintroduce them back into the wild.
Vicuña poop creates biodiversity hotspots as glaciers retreat rapidly
- The vicuña, a wild relative of the llama, could help reestablish plants in barren areas where glaciers have melted, according to a recent study in the high Andes of Peru.
- As vicuñas tend to poop in the same places, they establish communal latrines where soils have much higher moisture, organic matter, nutrients and microorganisms than surrounding areas formerly covered by ice.
- Researchers say they believe these more nutrient-rich soil patches can speed up plant colonization by as much as a century and provide refuge for plant species moving uphill as temperatures increase.
- Peru is losing its glaciers at a worrying speed, with research pointing out that in the Central Andes, between 84% and 98% of their glaciers might disappear by 2050.
Bangladeshi researchers pin hopes on irrigation method with real-time methane monitoring
- Bangladeshi rice researchers’ concern over a Bloomberg report about methane emission resulted in the installation of a real-time data-providing GHG emission measurement laboratory.
- The new lab aims to refine Bangladesh’s piloting of the Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method, which reduces methane emissions from rice fields.
- Researchers expect the precise data to improve AWD adoption to help meet Bangladesh’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments.
Only 17% of peatlands, vital to curbing climate change, are protected, study finds
- Just 17% of peatlands worldwide are protected, according to a new study, despite the fact that they hold more carbon than all the world’s forests.
- Peatlands are waterlogged accumulations of dead, partly decomposed vegetation, and are scattered widely from the northern latitudes through temperate zones to the equatorial tropics.
- The new maps show that more than 25% of peatlands overlap with Indigenous territories, an area of some 1.1 million square kilometers (about 425,000 square miles); much of that land doesn’t overlap with other forms of protection, providing an opportunity to keep peatlands intact through the strengthening of Indigenous land rights.
- Conservation scientists see targeting peatlands for protection as “low-hanging fruit” to deal with climate change because they’ve stockpiled so much carbon on only about 3% of land on Earth.
Indigenous people cut down trees as solar energy remains inaccessible and costly in DRC
- Solar energy, which researchers say offers much potential to meet the Democratic Republic of Congo’s energy needs, remains largely unaffordable and out of reach for Indigenous Batwa people and rural residents.
- Mongabay visited villages off the power grid in the DRC’s Tanganyika province, where Indigenous people and local communities aspire to have access to electricity and embrace a new way of life.
- As electricity remains out of reach, despite a handful of solar panels, most rely on cutting wood from forests and savannah for firewood and charcoal — spiking deforestation in the region.
- Researchers and environmentalists suggest government subsidies, favorable taxes, and investing in cheaper Chinese solar panels to make solar energy more accessible and affordable for Indigenous and rural communities. Hydropower dams, say some, also offer cheaper long-term solutions but can come with environmental costs.
Small-scale fishers’ role in feeding the planet goes overlooked: Study
- A new study found that small-scale fishing accounts for at least 40% of catch worldwide and provides employment for 60 million people, more than a third of whom are women.
- Small-scale fishing could provide a significant proportion of the micronutrient intake for the 2.3 billion people on Earth who live near coastlines or inland bodies of water, the study found.
- More than 60% of small-scale fishing catch in the studied countries came from places where small-scale fishers had no formal rights to participate in management and decision-making processes.
- “We wanted to have a paper that provided key findings at the global level for each of these dimensions, so that it will be clear for governments that small-scale fishing cannot continue to be overlooked in terms of policymaking,” one of the study authors told Mongabay.
‘Truffle dogs’ help sniff out two new truffle species
Two dogs specially trained to sniff out truffles have helped researchers identify two new-to-science truffle species in the U.S., according to a recent study. Truffles, synonymous with luxury fine dining, are the fruiting bodies of fungi belonging to the genus Tuber, which grow underground in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of trees like oak, […]
Mammals, birds in Vietnam’s rare coastal forests revealed by camera traps
- A new camera-trapping study has found several rare and threatened species in Vietnam’s Nui Chua National Park, home to one of mainland Southeast Asia’s last remnants of dry coastal forest.
- However, the findings also indicate intense pressure on wildlife populations within the reserve from habitat fragmentation and snaring.
- The study found a relatively high diversity of species in transitional habitats between different types of forest, indicating a need for more nuanced conservation planning to target localized measures, the authors say.
- The findings reaffirm the importance of Vietnam’s dry coastal forests for biodiversity and the need for strengthened protection to reduce pressure on wildlife from snaring and habitat degradation.
Singing lemurs found to be dropping beats just like King Julien
The indri, a critically endangered lemur only found in Madagascar’s rainforest, might hold clues about the human knack for musicality, a Mongabay video explains. Indris (Indri indri) are one of the largest living lemurs, and among the few primates that sing. Researchers studied 15 years’ worth of recorded indri songs, and found that these songs […]
AI can already identify species in photos. Can it extract even more data?
- Researchers have developed a new data set and evaluation tool to gauge how artificial intelligence models can analyze wildlife images beyond just identifying species.
- The tool, named INQUIRE, found that AI models didn’t perform well when asked to analyze more nuanced details from images captured by citizen scientists.
- The team that developed the tool, however, said that vision-language models have the potential to extract more data from wildlife photos, if trained extensively in the future.
Researchers find microplastics for the first time in the Finnish Sámi waters
- Scientists and Indigenous Skolt Sámi knowledge holders have detected microplastics in the lakes and rivers that the Indigenous Sámi communities have used for generations.
- The concentration of microplastics was small, researchers found, but it was still higher than the quantity expected, given that the area is thought to be pristine.
- The average size of the microplastics was 100 micrometers and concentrations ranged from 45 to 423 microplastic particles per cubic meter.
- While the source of the microplastics is unknown, researchers say one of the sources could be from the transboundary pollution accumulated in fish that come from the ocean to the freshwaters for spawning.
Study highlights effects of habitat fragmentation on Sri Lankan specialist birds
- A research study focusing on the endemic brown-capped babbler (Pellorneum fuscocapillus) and Tickell’s blue flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) shows that forest specialist birds fail to return to disturbed lands, and even forest generalists tend to avoid these areas, causing delays in their return.
- Researchers employed a method called “experimental translocation” to understand how species interact with new environments by releasing the birds at various distances in different habitats, monitoring whether the birds returned to their original locations.
- A global review by the same researchers identifies 32 instances in which the experimental translocation method was used to study birds worldwide. The Sri Lankan experiment is the first of its kind in South Asia.
- The research highlights that even highly mobile creatures like birds are affected by forest fragmentation, underscoring that the impact can be even worse for less mobile creatures.
Researchers make the case for shift from economic growth to human well-being within planetary limits
- New research concludes that humanity would benefit more if it aims for ecological sustainability and stays within the limits of what Earth can provide, rather than pursuing relentless growth.
- The success of capitalism depends on the push for growth, which requires the use of resources and energy, and comes at the cost of ecological damage.
- Economists have proposed alternatives that focus on staying within a set of planetary boundaries that define the safe operating space for humanity.
- The review, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, draws on more than 200 resources from the scientific literature.
Underwater volcano in Barents Sea reveals diverse marine life, study finds
What’s new: Following the discovery of the underwater Borealis Mud Volcano on the Arctic seabed in 2023, researchers have now confirmed that the methane-spewing volcano is home to a diverse array of marine life thriving in the unique habitat. What the study says: In 2023, scientists from UiT The Arctic University of Norway discovered the […]
How to tell if mangrove restoration is working? Listen to the birds
- Mangrove restoration is often motivated by the desire to bring back biodiversity to degraded coastlines, but it’s difficult to know exactly when that objective has been achieved.
- Researchers in Malaysia say that monitoring mangrove-dwelling bird communities using bioacoustics could be a game-changer for managers tracking mangrove ecosystem recovery.
- Bioacoustics, the use of audio recording devices to listen to animals in their natural habitats, is increasingly being used as a rapid and relatively cost-effective way of measuring ecosystem health.
- The new study found bird species richness increases across a range of mangrove forest characteristics, including greater canopy cover, tree height and ground cover, indicating birds could serve as useful indicators of mangrove health.
As global genetic diversity declines, conservation efforts offer some hope
Genetic diversity within many species is declining globally, according to a recently published study. “Any threat that reduces the size of a population, or which causes a larger population to become fragmented into two or more smaller populations, can cause a loss of genetic diversity,” lead researcher Catherine Grueber, from the Conservation Genetics Specialist Group […]
Lures that attract seed-dispersing bats could aid tropical reforestation
- Fruit-eating bats play an important role in maintaining forest health by being seed dispersers. For decades, researchers have explored ways to harness this capacity as a reforestation tool.
- One method has been to use fruit-derived essential oils to attract bats to deforested sites, where their seed-loaded feces may help stimulate regrowth.
- A recently published study goes one step further by using chemical compounds derived from those oils to attract bats. This new way of making lures could prove less expensive, so cheaper to scale up. But before such reforestation tools are widely implemented, more research and evidence are required.
- Long-term testing is needed to show that bat lures, and the seed dispersal they bring, markedly aid regrowth — a complex process that can fail due to seed competition with grasses and seed predation. Some experts say planted tree patches are better attractants; others say combined methods may work best.
Uganda’s tree-climbing lions grow scarce amid nationwide decline of the big cat
- Lion populations in six protected areas across Uganda have declined markedly over the past decade, a recent survey shows.
- The researchers attribute this decline, in some cases of nearly 50%, to poisoning of the big cats by livestock farmers, snaring by poachers, and habitat loss.
- They’ve called for greater community engagement in conservation efforts, including monitoring lion populations; for their survey, they trained more than 100 lodge guides, trophy hunters, university students and government rangers to help with monitoring.
- Another potential solution could be the adoption of AI to boost monitoring, not just of lions but also other large African carnivores, and understanding of the challenges faced by animals and people across a landscape.
Do cheetahs scavenge? Yes, research says, but also not really
- Recently published research finds that cheetahs aren’t above scavenging other predators’ kills, contrary to the conventional wisdom that they only eat what they kill.
- Direct observations and by-catch data from carnivore research projects in three locations in South Africa and Malawi were used to gather information on cheetah scavenging.
- The researchers say that understanding these behavioral shifts is crucial for cheetah conservation, as successful reintroduction efforts depend on the ability of cheetahs to adapt to new environments and food acquisition strategies.
- However, other cheetah experts question how common this phenomenon is, given that the researchers only recorded three scavenging events between 2019 and 2023.
Scientists are tracking global wildlife’s contributions to humanity
- New research assesses in detail the contributions of wildlife to people.
- Humanity relies on an array of ecosystem services for well-being and survival, but the provision of these services rely not just on vegetation but also the wild animals that inhabit the same ecosystems.
- They found that vertebrate wildlife on land and in freshwater and marine environments support 12 of the 18 categories of nature’s contributions to people set forth by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
- The authors say that accounting for wildlife along with measures of ecosystems such as vegetation cover will provide a more complete picture of their health and help guide decision-making aiming to ensure that those ecosystems continue to provide critical services to people.
A venomous Australian spider turns out to be 3 species, not 1
The Sydney funnel-web spider, a highly venomous arachnid found crawling in and around Australia’s most populous city, was long thought to be a single species. But it’s actually three different species, a new study has found. One of these, called “Big Boy” for its unusually large size, is new to science. “You would think we […]
‘LIFE’ scores map out where habitat loss for crops drives extinction
- Altering natural habitats for agriculture is the single biggest driver of extinctions.
- Land conversion is contributing to what scientists call Earth’s sixth mass extinction.
- Now, new maps link the conversion of landscapes to the risk of extinction for species; they also help identify places where restoration could increase the probability that species will survive.
- The tool works accurately on areas of land ranging from 0.5-1,000 km² (0.2-386 mi²), and could be used by consumers and conservation groups to identify key areas to prioritize for conservation or restoration.
Smart tags reveal migratory bats are storm-front surfers
What’s new: Some bats, like birds, migrate long distances. But these long-distance bat migrations have been somewhat of a mystery to researchers, especially since only a few species embark on them. Now, in a new study, researchers have mapped the odyssey of common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) using innovative tiny trackers. And the results have […]
1 in 4 freshwater species worldwide at risk of extinction: Study
The most extensive global assessment of freshwater animals to date has revealed that a quarter of all freshwater animal species on the IUCN Red List are threatened with extinction. The largest number of these threatened species are found in East Africa’s Lake Victoria, South America’s Lake Titicaca, Sri Lanka’s Wet Zone, and India’s Western Ghats […]
Bonobo numbers in DRC park stable, but signs of decline appear
Bonobo populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Salonga National Park remained steady between 2002 and 2018, but there are worrying signals of decline, a recent study has found. For decades, Salonga has been known to host the largest known population of bonobos (Pan paniscus), an endangered great ape found only in the DRC. However, […]
New evidence spells massive trouble for world’s sharks, rays and chimaeras
- A third of the world’s sharks, rays and chimaeras are threatened with extinction, and their numbers have dwindled since 1970, finds a new IUCN report and a study.
- Overfishing is the biggest threat to these marine fish, halving their populations in five decades, followed by the international trade in shark parts, habitat degradation and pollution.
- Scientists call for immediate actions to prevent extinction, regulate trade and manage shark fisheries to promote sustainability.
‘Wild Frequencies’: Podcast miniseries from India explores wild animal sounds
Watching wild animals can be exhilarating, educational and a richly rewarding experience. But spotting wildlife and keeping them in sight is often challenging. So wildlife researchers are increasingly turning to learning about animals through the sounds they produce. A new podcast series by Mongabay India titled “Wild Frequencies” explores this emerging science of bioacoustics in […]
Unboxed: New lipstick vine revealed in Philippine expedition with Banao tribe
In 2020, a group of botanists and members of the Indigenous Banao community were macheting their way through a rainforest in the Philippines in search of a rare flower called Rafflesia banaoana. Just a few hours after setting off, however, they stumbled upon a plant they hadn’t planned on finding: a vine with purple-spotted white […]
Golden jackals thrive in mangroves of Indian megacity Mumbai: Study
The wolf-like golden jackal still thrives in some parts of India’s financial capital, Mumbai, according to a new study, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. Historically, the golden jackal (Canis aureus) could be spotted in several areas of southern Mumbai, study co-author Nikit Surve, research manager at Wildlife Conservation Society-India told Mongabay India. “Today, […]
Photos: Top new species from 2024
- Scientists described numerous new species this past year, from the world’s smallest otter in India to a fanged hedgehog from Southeast Asia, tree-dwelling frogs in Madagascar, and a new family of African plants.
- Experts estimate that fewer than 20% of Earth’s species have been documented by Western science, with potentially millions more awaiting discovery.
- Although such species may be new to science, many are already known to — and used by — local and Indigenous peoples, who often have given them traditional names.
- Upon discovery, many new species are assessed as threatened with extinction, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts.
Amazon’s Boiling River gives scientists a window into the rainforest’s future
- Scientists studying Peru’s Boiling River found 11% fewer tree species for every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperature, offering insights into how climate change might affect the Amazon Rainforest.
- The research team discovered that hotter areas not only had fewer species overall but were dominated by heat-tolerant trees that typically grow in the warmest parts of South America.
- The study site is protected by Indigenous Asháninka people as sacred land, but the forest still faces threats from nearby deforestation and fires, reflecting broader challenges across the Amazon.
- The Amazon is experiencing climate pressures, with fire-affected areas in the Brazilian Amazon increasing 18-fold in September 2024, covering a combined area nearly the size of the Netherlands.
Electrochemical removal of ocean CO2 offers potential — and concerns
- Stripping seawater of carbon dioxide via electrochemical processes — thereby prompting oceans to draw down more greenhouse gas from the atmosphere — is a geoengineering approach under consideration for largescale CO2 removal. Several startups and existing companies are planning projects at various scales.
- Once removed from seawater, captured carbon dioxide can be stored geologically or used commercially by industry. Another electrochemical method returns alkaline seawater to the oceans, causing increased carbon dioxide absorption over time.
- In theory, these techniques could aid in carbon emission storage. But experts warn that as some companies rush to commercialize the tech and sell carbon credits, significant knowledge gaps remain, with potential ecological harm needing to be determined.
- Achieving the scale required to make a dent in climate change would require deploying huge numbers of electrochemical plants globally — a costly and environmentally risky scenario deemed unfeasible by some. One problem: the harm posed by scale-up isn’t easy to assess with modeling and small-scale projects.
As lithium mining bleeds Atacama salt flat dry, Indigenous communities hit back
- The Council of Atacameño Peoples filed a complaint in October 2024 against lithium mining companies operating in Chile’s Atacama salt flat, accusing them of causing the land to sink around their extraction wells.
- The complaint was based on findings from a study published in July that revealed portions of the salt flat are subsiding by up to 2 centimeters, or nearly an inch, per year.
- Scientists warn that one of the main consequences could be the loss of the aquifer’s storage capacity.
- They also point out that since the salt flat lies on a tectonic fault, the subsidence could spread further, including to two protected areas in the region that are home to flamingos and other rare wildlife.
Counting Crows (and more) for Audubon’s Christmas bird count
One of the longest-running citizen science projects in the world has kicked off its 125th annual event. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC), administered by the U.S.-based nonprofit National Audubon Society, takes place each year from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5. The annual bird census collects valuable data that scientists use to track the health and […]
From Bhutan to Nigeria & Kenya, women endure climate change differently than men
- Research shows that globally, women and girls suffer greater effects of climate change and environmental disasters than men; at the same time, women environmental journalists often face greater obstacles on the job, and women’s voices are often missing from stories about climate change.
- Three recent Mongabay fellows, all women, report on specific examples from their home countries (Bhutan, Nigeria, Kenya) in which women disproportionately experience the effects of climate change and extreme weather.
- In all three examples, women exhibit a perseverance that ensures their own and their families’ survival — and sometimes aids their own independence and resourcefulness.
For ecological restoration, evidence-based standards deliver better outcomes (commentary)
- The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration has triggered a global movement to rally individual action, financial investment, and political backing to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of nature.
- Evidence-based standards can help meet restoration targets and improve general compliance with laws and regulations while delivering social, environmental and economic net gain for people and nature.
- “As we near the halfway point of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration [the] global application of effective restoration through the use of standards provides a path forward that can help slow climate change and recover ecosystem processes and biodiversity for the future of life on Earth,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Unlike: Brazil Facebook groups give poachers safe space to flex their kills
- A new study shows how openly poachers in Brazil are sharing content of dead wildlife, including threatened and protected species, on Facebook.
- It found 2,000 records of poaching on Brazilian Facebook groups between 2018 and 2020, amounting to 4,658 animals from 157 species from all over the country.
- Data suggest there were trophy hunts, meant only to show off hunting hauls rather than being done for subsistence or a consequence of human-wildlife conflict.
- The study highlights the impunity for environmental crimes and the easy dissemination of content related to illegal practices on social media networks in Brazil.
New frog species show how geology shapes Amazon’s biodiversity
- DNA testing of two new-to-science frog species has shown they share a common ancestor — a species that lived 55 million years ago in the mountains of what is today Brazil’s Amazonas state.
- The multidisciplinary study drew together biologists and geologists to map how geological changes in the mountain range shaped not just its geography but also the diversity of species in the region.
- The two endemic species were collected on two separate peaks — Neblina and Imeri — and their discovery has led to further understanding of the origins and evolution of biodiversity in the Amazon.
- Another expedition to the Tulu-Tuloi Range, located 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Imeri, is scheduled for 2025.
Next-gen geothermal offers circular promise, but needs care and caution
- Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and other next-generation geothermal tech show promise as a relatively clean, reliable renewable energy source for a post-fossil fuels future.
- Next-gen geothermal uses a variety of engineering techniques, including hydraulic fracturing borrowed from the oil and gas drilling industry, to create conditions for successful subsurface energy production beyond traditional locations, such as hot springs.
- Enhanced geothermal’s promise of a reliable source of power is huge around the globe, but so far has barely been tapped, say experts. Companies are starting to develop commercial-scale projects, aiming to harness this potential.
- But next-gen geothermal is not without risk. There are concerns, for example, that this tech can induce seismicity. In the past decade, earthquakes shut down two EGS projects in South Korea and Switzerland. Yet, experts say this concern and other environmental impacts, such as pollution, can be controlled and mitigated.
Greater Mekong serves up 234 new species in a year, from fanged hedgehog to diva viper
- Researchers and local nature enthusiasts described 234 new-to-science species across the Greater Mekong region in 2023.
- Among the new assortment of critters are sweet-smelling plants, glamorous snakes, a dragon lizard, a psychedelic-orange crocodile newt, and several new mammals, including a mole shrew and a fanged hedgehog.
- The Greater Mekong is a fast-developing region of Southeast Asia, characterized by intensive agriculture, internationally significant inland fisheries and rapid urban expansion.
- As such, the newly described species and their habitats are under pressure from multiple threats, not least from the illegal wildlife trade that also flourishes in the region. Experts say consistent and concerted action is required to secure their future.
Foreign investor lawsuits impede Honduras human rights & environment protections
- Foreign investors in Honduras have “extraordinary privileges,” allowing them to sue the government for reforms that affect their investments, hindering public interest legislation, a recent report has found.
- Honduras faces billions of dollars in lawsuits from corporations, many tied to controversial investments made after the 2009 coup, creating a deterrent effect on the government’s ability to make sovereign decisions and making it the second-most-sued country in Latin America over the period of 2023 to August 2024, after Mexico.
- Some local communities in Honduras are divided over foreign investment projects, with several expressing resistance due to concerns about their impact on the environment and land rights.
- Honduras’ recent energy reforms and mining bans are facing backlash and legal challenges, as foreign corporations resist changes aimed at protecting natural resources and human rights.
Philippines’ ‘extraordinary’ typhoon season was climate-fueled: Scientists
From late October to November this year, six consecutive tropical cyclones battered the Philippines, affecting 30 million people. Data analyses from two separate organizations now show they were intensified by human-induced climate change. International scientific collective World Weather Attribution (WWA) released a study on Dec. 12 showing that climate change has made conditions conducive to […]
Research vessel E/V Nautilus spots multiple nautiluses for the first time
The crew of the research vessel E/V Nautilus erupted in excited chatter as they watched live video from a remotely operated vehicle traversing the German Channel in the Pacific island state of Palau. “It’s finally happened!” someone could be heard saying as the camera on board the ROV Hercules zoomed in to reveal a lone […]
Brazil natural landscape degradation drives toxic metal buildup in bats
- Bats play a crucial role in tropical regions as pollinators, seed dispersers and agricultural pest controllers. But they are exposed to a wide range of threats, pollution among them.
- Two recent papers show how natural landscape transformation and degradation, due to pasture and crop monoculture creation and mining in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, can increase bioaccumulation of toxins and heavy metals in bat populations, leading to potential health impacts.
- Over time, this toxic accumulation could increase the likelihood of local bat extinctions and the loss of vital ecosystem services. The toxic contamination of these landscapes also poses a concern for human health, researchers say.
- These findings are likely applicable to bats living in other highly disturbed tropical habitats around the world, researchers say.
After historic 2024 coral bleaching, hope remains for Mesoamerican Reef
- The Mesoamerican Reef, the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, stretches 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.
- The latest instalment of the Mesoamerican Reef Report Card, a periodic health assessment, finds that in 2024, the worst coral bleaching event on record reduced the reef’s coral cover.
- Although the overall health of the Mesoamerican Reef remains “poor,” according to the report, its health actually improved for the first time in five years.
- The report attributes this positive development to an increase in fish populations due to effective enforcement of fisheries rules by regional authorities.
Pesticide exposure drives up rural women’s cancer risk in Brazil farming belt
- A study has found that women exposed to pesticides during farm work in Brazil’s Paraná state have a 60% higher risk of developing breast cancer, and a 220% higher risk of metastasis.
- While they don’t typically spray the pesticides, these women are responsible for cleaning the equipment and clothing used to do it, during which they rarely wear personal protective equipment.
- The study found glyphosate, atrazine and 2,4-D in urine samples from rural women; health and regulatory agencies consider these three pesticides as possibly or probably carcinogenic.
- Brazil has one of the most permissive pesticide markets in the world, where levels of exposure to chemicals like glyphosate are several times higher than in more strictly regulated jurisdictions such as the European Union.
Clouded leopard sighting raises questions about conservation and research in Bangladesh
- Clouded leopards occur in some South and Southeast Asian countries, but have fast been losing their habitat and, in 2021, IUCN declared the carnivore a vulnerable species.
- In Bangladesh, where there is no official record of the species, wildlife researchers studying other wildlife recently spotted clouded leopards in their camera trap footage, raising hope for their habitat conservation.
- Researchers have expressed concern about the lack of intensive research and conservation strategies for endangered species in Bangladesh.
Climate funds barely reaching small-scale farmers, report finds
Farmers’ organizations globally are having difficulty accessing climate funds, according to a report published last month. Produced by Netherlands-based think tank Climate Focus on behalf of the Family Farmers for Climate Action, an alliance representing 50 million farmers globally, the report analyzed spending by two of the biggest U.N. funds offering finance for environment and […]
Climate financing should come from oil and gas ‘super’ profits, study says
- Oil and gas companies have the ability to become a significant source of climate financing, a new study in Climate Policy argues.
- The study looked at oil and gas profits from 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine spiked energy prices across the globe, boosting realized companies’ earnings by 65%, or around $495 billion.
- If governments had imposed an additional 30% tax on the profits of private oil and gas companies, it would have raised $147 billion, the study said.
- Climate financing was the focus of the COP 29 climate conference, which only managed to come up with $300 billion in annual support for developing countries.
No deal to curb plastic production as latest negotiations fizzle
Negotiations for a global plastics treaty ended on Dec. 2, without a consensus on how to curb plastic pollution despite its increasing negative impacts on people and nature. The fifth meeting of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea was expected to produce a legally binding global treaty covering the […]
Teamwork makes the dream work for orcas hunting world’s biggest shark
Orcas, or killer whales, are the apex predator in the ocean when they work together. A new study documents how a pod of orcas is able to hunt and kill the largest fish in the world, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), which can be twice the size of an individual orca (Orcinus orca), though the […]
Study finds rare wolf feeding on nectar and spreading pollen
What’s new: One of the world’s rarest carnivores, the Ethiopian wolf, enjoys snacking on flower nectar, a new study has found. This wolf is, in fact, the first large carnivore documented feeding on nectar and leaving with a pollen-laden nose and mouth, possibly making it the only large meat-eating predator that also serves as a […]
Camera traps, drones meant for wildlife can ‘spy’ on women: Study
Technologies like camera traps and drones have made monitoring wildlife in forests easier than ever. However, a new study has found that in a protected area in northern India, these devices also end up watching and harassing women who use those forest spaces. “These findings have caused quite a stir amongst the conservation community,” Chris […]
Citizen scientists can boost IUCN species assessments, but need better guidance from ecologists
- More than 100,000 Australian citizen scientists are contributing crucial biodiversity data about species at risk, helping improve conservation efforts in ways that can enhance IUCN Red List decisions.
- Citizen science projects like Fungimap and FrogID showcase how such observations have influenced threat assessments and conservation outcomes.
- Researchers stress the need for clear goals, standardized protocols, and expert oversight to maximize the impact of citizen science.
Researcher discovers new role played by manatees, ‘the gardeners of the Amazon’
- According to a new study, the Amazonian manatee is a seed disperser; a researcher found germinating grasses in its feces.
- The discovery was made in Lake Amanã, in the Amazon, where 96 samples of manatee feces were collected; surprisingly, they contained 556 intact seeds.
- Manatees eat 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of aquatic plants a day and migrate long distances. This finding shows that the manatee is a crucial vector for dispersing seeds between fertile areas such as floodplains and nutrient-poor areas such as the swamp forests known as igapós; this activity enhances biodiversity in Amazonian environments, especially in times of climate change and environmental degradation.
- Despite its vital ecological function, the manatee is listed as vulnerable to extinction; Illegal hunting, facilitated by periods of extreme drought, is one of the main threats, along with climate change, which affects both their diet and their migratory routes.
‘Old’ animals offer wisdom and stability, need protection: Study
In many animal societies, elderly individuals are critical contributors to their species’ survival, a new study has found. That’s why wildlife conservation must account for older animals, researchers say. Keller Kopf, lead author and ecologist at Charles Darwin University, Australia, told Mongabay he wanted to counter the idea that “getting old is always a bad […]
Overuse of antibiotics in Bangladesh aquaculture raises health concerns
- A recent study in Bangladesh reveals high rates of antibiotic resistance in pabda fish (Ompok pabda) bred by farmers through aquaculture.
- Consumption of antibiotic-resistant pabda fish may lead to the development of antibiotic resistance in humans as it exposes the food chain to multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria.
- Pabda aquaculture in Bangladesh produces around 20,000 metric tons annually, some of which is exported.
- Researchers are advocating educating farmers on the correct usage of antibiotics with the intervention of fisheries experts.
Slender-billed curlew, a bird last photographed in 1995, is likely extinct
For decades, the slender-billed curlew, a grayish-brown migratory wetland bird with a long, arched bill, has evaded detection, prompting speculation about whether the species is still out there. Now, a new study has confirmed that the species is indeed most likely extinct. “Speaking personally it’s a source of deep sadness,” Geoff Hilton, conservation scientist at […]
Five-year rainforest tech competition culminates with four winners
- Limelight Rainforest, a team of ecologists, robotics engineers and Indigenous scientists, has won first place in a $10 million rainforest tech competition.
- At the finals in Brazil in July, the team deployed canopy rafts, drones and artificial intelligence models to identify and detect the highest amount of biodiversity from a forest plot within 24 hours.
- Three other teams were also recognized for their work in developing tech solutions to monitor rainforests around the world.
- The five-year XPRIZE Rainforest competition was launched in 2019 to identify solutions to automate rainforest monitoring.
Camera traps reveal little-known Sumatran tiger forests need better protection
- A new camera-trapping study in Indonesia’s Aceh province has identified an ample but struggling population of Sumatran tigers, lending fresh urgency to calls from conservationists for greater protection efforts in the critically endangered subspecies’ northernmost stronghold forests.
- The study focused on the Ulu Masen Ecosystem, an expanse of unprotected and little-studied forest connected to the better-known Leuser Ecosystem, the only place on Earth that houses rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutans.
- The big cat population and its prey likely contend with intense poaching pressure, the study concludes; their forest home is also under threat from development pressure, illegal logging, rampant mining and agricultural encroachment.
- As a key part of the Leuser–Ulu Masen Tiger Conservation Landscape, experts say Ulu Masen merits more conservation focus to protect the tigers, their prey populations and their habitats.
‘Scratching the surface’ of Nepal butterfly research: Interview with Sanej Suwal
- With 692 identified species, including more than two dozen endemic, Nepal is an important habitat for butterflies. However, research is in its infancy due to insufficient funding, limited public interest and a lack of cultural emphasis on butterfly conservation.
- Sanej Suwal is one of a handful of researchers dedicated to butterfly research in Nepal, balancing species studies with public awareness initiatives. He organized Nepal’s first Big Butterfly Count, a citizen science initiative.
- Butterflies in Nepal likely face threats from climate change, habitat loss and urbanization. Despite their importance, butterfly research struggles with minimal funding and institutional recognition, requiring more researchers and global support to expand knowledge and conservation efforts.
Easy to catch, yet little known: Meet the Chinese mountain cat
- The Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti) is a little-known felid found only on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in northwestern China.
- The species was first photographed in the wild in 2007, and until recently, very little has been known about its distribution and basic ecology.
- Researchers collected vital data on an active Chinese mountain cat den in 2018, while a recent study in Menyuan county, Qinghai province, managed to GPS-collar Chinese mountain cats for the first time.
- Recent genetic research highlights the growing threat posed by hybridization with domestic cats.
Controversial study finds cattle and wildlife can co-exist in Kenya’s Maasai Mara
A new study conducted in Kenya is challenging the conventional wisdom that cattle are inherently bad for wildlife, reports Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo. In contrast to previous research, the recent study found that a limited number of cattle — grazing illegally in one portion of Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) — had a negligible effect […]
Shipping emissions reduction sheds light on marine cloud geoengineering
- Unprecedented marine heat waves in the North Atlantic have been driven in part by a recent drop in shipping emissions, leading to a reduction in highly reflective marine clouds that had previously masked some of the warming from humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, studies find.
- New limits on sulfur dioxide emissions from shipping, introduced by the International Maritime Organization in 2020, created an inadvertent “natural experiment” that is helping to improve models of the interaction between atmospheric aerosols, clouds and climate.
- The sulfur dioxide emissions reduction also provides the clearest test to date of marine cloud brightening (MCB) — a controversial geoengineering approach proposed to mitigate climate change. It shows that to be effective and avoid a dangerous termination shock, MCB would need to be continuous and sustained.
- Reducing atmospheric aerosol pollution has major benefits for human health, but will also inevitably lead to an unmasking of more dangerous climate warming. This means that improvements in air quality must simultaneously be coupled with decarbonization, experts say.
New ‘Cali Fund’ plans to make companies pay for benefiting from nature
A new global fund for conservation seeks to make corporations share part of their profits of benefiting from using genetic data from animals, plants or microorganisms in nature. Named the Cali Fund, the new finance mechanism was born out of the recently concluded United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit, or COP16, held in Cali, […]
African elephants declining — but some areas show promise
Across the African continent, elephant populations have largely declined over the past several decades, but some areas show hopeful signs of recovery, according to a new study. Researchers have monitored the numbers of forest and savanna elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis, L. africana) in different parts of Africa since the 1960s. However, few studies have compiled all […]
Long-running tropical forest research stalls amid Venezuelan crisis
- Venezuela’s economic, institutional and economic collapse has put at risk a long-standing forest plot research network.
- With highly biodiverse forests covering about half of Venezuela’s total area, the country has some of the longest-running forest monitoring projects in the tropics, which represented a pioneering effort in understanding old-growth forest dynamics in the Amazon Basin.
- Falling budgets, a humanitarian crisis affecting personnel and logistics, the rise of armed gangs, and encroachment of logging and agriculture are some of the key factors threatening to halt research in the field.
- 2016 was the last year with still significant measurements in the field; today, projects lack permits to apply for international funding, but scientists continue to advocate for keeping efforts ongoing.
Gibbons found to perform dance routines akin to ‘the robot,’ but why?
- Scientists have documented scores of animal species that perform elaborate dance displays for a variety of purposes: from courting cranes to pair-bonding penguins and waggle-dancing honeybees.
- New research and video evidence show that adult female crested gibbons also perform captivating dances in both captive and wild settings.
- The funky sequences of rump, arm and leg twitches have in the past been likened to the human “robot dance” and hypothesized as fulfilling a role in gibbon courtship.
- Experts say improved understanding of the dance brings new insight into small ape cognition and social structures, which will ultimately help conservationists better design and implement interventions to protect them.
Animals consume alcohol more often than previously known: Study
What’s new: Humans know a thing or two about drinking alcohol, but accounts of animals turning to booze have often been discounted as accidental, unnatural or rare. Researchers now argue in a new study that animals drinking alcohol, or more specifically ethanol, might be more commonplace in the natural world than previously thought. “We’re moving […]
Camera trap survey in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains finds 108 species
What’s new: The first ever camera trap study from Cambodia’s Central Cardamom Mountains has captured footage of 108 wildlife species, including 23 that are threatened with extinction. This survey confirms the area’s importance as a biodiversity hotspot, a recent report says. What the study says: The Central Cardamom Mountain Landscape (CCML), part of the Indo-Burma […]
Atmospheric methane removal: A promising but challenging climate solution
- Methane is currently responsible for about one-third of global warming. This greenhouse gas is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its ability to heat up the climate system, though methane molecules only persist in the atmosphere for seven to 12 years before breaking down.
- Methane emissions are a major cause for concern, as they’ve been increasing at record speeds the past five years. At least two-thirds of annual methane emissions now come from human activities, including livestock, agriculture, fossil fuels, and landfills and other waste. Climate change is also increasing methane releases.
- Removing atmospheric methane is a tempting prospect as a climate change-curbing strategy. Multiple geoengineering approaches are being considered, but research remains limited and largely theoretical, while environmental impacts largely remain unknown and underexplored.
- Researchers say methane removal technologies, such as the iron salt method, should be investigated to break down atmospheric methane molecules. But scientists interviewed for this story repeatedly emphasized the most urgent need is to simultaneously make rapid deep cuts to human-caused methane emissions.
Forest fires outside tropics drove 60% CO2 surge since 2001: Study
Global carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have soared by 60% since 2001, driven largely by the burning of forests outside the tropics, according to a new study. There are now, in fact, more emissions from forests located in higher northern latitudes compared to tropical forests, the researchers found. In some areas, such as the […]
Mountain highland bats lack data, face climate threats: Study
Bats in mountainous regions are facing more threats and lack of data compared with their lowland counterparts, a recent study showed. Lead author Rohit Chakravarty in an interview with Mongabay said there is much to be learned about bats dwelling in mountains, which are known to host one-third of the world’s biodiversity and half of […]
Mining drove 1.4m hectares of forest loss in last 2 decades: Report
Global mining activity is increasingly destroying forests, including protected areas, according to a recent analysis. Between 2001 and 2020, nearly 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of tree cover, an area a third the size of Denmark, was lost from mining-related activity, the analysis from the World Resources Institute (WRI) found. The associated greenhouse gas […]
Study finds bonobos more diverse, and more vulnerable, than previously thought
- Recently published research finds that bonobos show a much deeper degree of genetic diversity than previously thought, with the species split into three distinct subgroups that diverged tens of thousands of years ago.
- The study is based on a detailed analysis of the genomes of 30 wild-born captive bonobos, cross-referenced with more limited data from 136 wild bonobos.
- Separation into three genetically isolated groups means that each group is more vulnerable than a single unified population would be, and that loss of any of these groups would result in a significant loss of the species’ genetic diversity.
Exposure to slow-moving landslides increases with migration: Study
A growing number of displaced people are settling in mountain regions prone to slow-moving landslides, those that move between 1 millimeter (.04 inches) and 3 meters (9.8 feet) per year. A new study offers a global assessment of how the pressures of human settlement increase exposure to such landslides. As people migrate from rural to […]
Karachi expected to receive 2.3 million climate migrants by 2050: Report
A new study finds that Karachi — Pakistan’s most populous city, home to more than 20 million people — could get an influx of 2.3 million climate migrants by 2050. According to a recent report, only Dhaka, Bangladesh, is expected to receive more migrants. If the world fails to meet the Paris Agreement target to […]
Canopy bridges serve a lifeline for Sumatra’s tree-dwelling primates
- An NGO is working with local authorities in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province to build canopy bridges for primates to safely cross roads that fragment their forest habitats.
- Pakpak Bharat district has seen rapid growth of new roads to improve communities’ access to schools and hospitals, with the trade-off being that many of these roads disrupt wildlife connectivity.
- The bridges, designed to meet the needs of different species, have been used by various wildlife, though not yet the critically endangered orangutans that the designers had in mind, and are monitored regularly through camera traps and maintenance checks.
- Conservationists highlight the bridges’ role in preventing inbreeding among isolated populations and sustaining the ecosystem’s biodiversity, with hopes to expand the initiative across Sumatra.
Calls for caution as enhanced rock weathering shows carbon capture promise
- Natural rock weathering is a fundamental part of Earth’s carbon cycle but occurs over thousands of years. Enhancing this cycle by spreading fine volcanic rock on agricultural land is a form of geoengineering that could speed up this process and permanently lock away carbon dioxide within decades.
- Startups and research programs are underway across the globe to explore the effectiveness and risks of this climate solution. Spreading rocks such as basalt can sequester carbon and benefit soils, with some studies showing crop yield increases.
- If scaled up, enhanced rock weathering could store gigaton levels of carbon in the future, according to early research. But myriad challenges and uncertainties remain, not least of which is how to accurately calculate and verify how much carbon is being stored, and for how long.
- Some companies are already pushing ahead with deployment, with the idea of profiting from carbon credits, but experts caution that long-term studies are needed to ensure the technique’s efficacy, sustainability and environmental safety.
Startups replace plastics with mushrooms in the seafood industry
- A handful of startups in the U.S., Europe and Asia are helping the seafood industry fight plastic pollution by creating equipment made from fungi.
- Efforts are currently focused on replacing plastic foam, a polluting component of numerous elements of the seafood supply chain, with mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi.
- A company in Maine makes mycelium-based buoys for the aquaculture industry, for example.
- Elsewhere, projects are seeking to create biodegradable mycelium-based coolers for transporting fish.
Women-led groups remain ‘severely underfunded’ for climate action: Report
Women-led Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local community grassroots organizations struggle to access global funding to fight climate change impacts due to structural barriers and stereotypes, a recent report shows. Total government aid, or official development assistance (ODA), for NGOs and women’s rights organizations declined from $891 million between 2019-2020 to $631 million between 2021-2022, according to […]
Six months after its worst floods, Rio Grande do Sul works to bounce back
- A combination of wet El Niño weather and human-induced climate change were key drivers of the worst flooding event in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state earlier this year.
- The flooding affected 90% of the state and displaced more than half a million people.
- Poor land management is also responsible for the region’s vulnerability to floods, as current agricultural practices in the highlands favor runoff and reduce the soil’s ability to soak up water, with lowlands particularly exposed to high waters.
- While some scientists are still deciphering the causes and behavior of the floodwaters, other experts are working to rehabilitate farmland, tackle soil erosion, and source native seeds for ecological restoration.
Chilean Indigenous association participates in key study for lawsuit against mining
- In a unique model for Latin America, a council of Lickanantay people in northern Chile created an environmental unit made up of hydrogeologists, engineers and environmental monitors from the territory’s communities to monitor the territory.
- Their study with a national university shows that the La Brava lagoon, located on the edges of the Atacama salt flat, is fed in part by the salt flat’s brine, which makes it vulnerable to mining activities established in the heart of the salt flat.
- Findings from the study were key in a lawsuit brought by the state defense council against three mining companies for irreparable damage to the Monturaqui-Negrillar-Tilopozo aquifer, the main water source for these lagoons.
50 years of geographic insight: In interview with Jack Dangermond on Esri’s journey and the future of GIS
- The digital mapping platforms developed by Esri, including ArcGIS, have revolutionized conservation and environmental planning, management and policymaking. Esri co-founder Jack Dangermond calls geographic information systems (GIS) “a sort of intelligent nervous system for our planet at a time when humanity desperately needs one to address the environmental and humanitarian crises at hand.”
- He credits Esri’s success to a sustainable trajectory of heavy investment in R&D, not being beholden to outside investors, and providing discounted and free use of its software to environmental nonprofits.
- In this interview with Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler, Dangermond says that technology, amid the current fractured political climate, should be employed to encourage understanding rather than dwell on divisions.
- The text of the interview has been edited for clarity and flow.
Protecting coral reefs boosts fish numbers by 10%: Study
- New research has found that the protection of coral reefs has boosted the amount of fish they harbor by around 10%.
- The study used survey data from about 2,600 reefs with varying levels of protection from overfishing.
- The team then built a statistical model to predict what would have happened if all reefs had not been protected, and the biomass, or collective weight of the resident fish, dropped by more than 10%.
- The scientists note their findings demonstrate that protections like marine protected areas are working and that greater coverage could lead to even more gains in fish biomass.
Polar bears are suffering paw injuries likely driven by the warming Arctic: Study
What’s new At least two populations of polar bears in the high Arctic are developing paw injuries, possibly because of shifting sea ice conditions in a warming environment, according to a new study. Such injuries have not been reported in these areas previously, the study’s authors write. What the study says Between 2012 and 2022, […]
New survey puts human face on pollution caused by U.S. wood pellet mills
- A new groundbreaking survey highlights the human toll from pollution and other quality of life impacts connected to those living near the forest biomass industry’s wood pellet mills in the U.S Southeast.
- Door-to-door interviews were conducted by a coalition of NGOs, with 312 households surveyed in five mostly poor, rural and minority communities located near pellet mills operated by Drax and Enviva, two of the world’s largest pellet makers.
- In four of the five newly surveyed communities, 86% of households reported at least one family member with diseases or ailments, which they say are related to, or made worse by, pellet mill pollution. 2023 research found that pellet mills emit 55 toxic pollutants that largely impact environmental justice communities.
- The wood pellet industry says the survey was not scientifically rigorous and that its members strive to control pollution and improve the local economies in communities where they work.
Researchers track koalas using innovative airborne DNA detection tool
What’s new: Researchers have successfully detected the presence of koalas and other threatened wildlife species using new tools that allow easy collection of airborne environmental DNA, according to a recent study. What the study says: It’s often difficult, time-consuming and expensive to collect data and observe threatened wildlife like koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), small marsupials that […]
Botanical gardens play key role in biodiversity & climate conventions (commentary)
- “As world leaders and scientific institutions from across the globe gather to discuss the biodiversity crisis at COP16 and climate change at COP29 this fall, it’s critical that they do not neglect the important work that is already being done by one of the world’s key stewards of nature – botanical gardens,” a new op-ed argues.
- Botanical gardens have an important role to play in the overall effort to combat the dual climate and biodiversity crises and can offer important solutions, but they are often underutilized, despite housing a wide array of experts on plants and fungi.
- “At the rate the planet is warming, there is no time to leave their untapped potential behind,” writes the CEO of The New York Botanical Garden.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Elusive wildcats may hold the key to healthier forests in Africa
- Sarah Tossens, a Ph.D. researcher at Belgium’s University of Liège, is studying forest ecosystems in the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon to learn about the presence of leopards and golden cats and how they influence the ecosystem.
- Photographs from her camera traps have helped demonstrate where golden cats and leopards are living and where they’ve been lost, suggesting that sustainably managed logging concessions can be good habitat for these two cats — when poaching is controlled.
- Though her results are preliminary, experiments show that prey species may respond to the smell of wild cats, suggesting that animals in these forests eat fewer seeds when they think these predators are around. This finding could suggest wildcats help forests regenerate.
New study upends common belief that birds escape winter to save energy
- Scientists have found Eurasian blackbirds migrating to warmer regions in winter didn’t save more energy compared to members of the same species that stayed behind.
- A recently published study used surgically implanted biologgers to measure the birds’ heart rate and body temperature over the course of the winter.
- The study also found that migrating birds started saving energy for migration by lowering their heart rate and body temperature almost a month before their departure.
- The research raises important questions on why birds migrate if there’s no energy benefit, and where the unaccounted energy is being used instead.
Four of a kind: King cobra is a quad of species, not one, study finds
For a long time, the king cobra, the world’s largest venomous snake, was thought to be a single species. A new landmark study has concluded it’s not: the snake is actually four different species. “I feel like we created history,” study lead researcher P. Gowri Shankar, founder of the India-based Kalinga Foundation, told Mongabay by […]
Climate change and agrochemicals pose lethal combo for Amazonian fish
- A recent study evaluates the impacts on the Amazonian tambaqui fish from simultaneous exposure to a mix of pesticides and an extreme climate change scenario.
- Researchers subjected the fish to higher temperatures and higher atmospheric CO2 levels, as well as a cocktail of two pesticides, a herbicide and a fungicide, all of which are commonly used in farms throughout the Brazilian Amazon.
- The tambaqui’s capacity to metabolize the agrochemicals was found to be compromised in warmer water, and they suffered damage to their liver, nervous system and DNA.
- The study also points to the risks to food safety in the region, where fish are the main protein source: some 400 metric tons of tambaqui are eaten every year in the city of Manaus alone.
The disappearing red ghost crabs of Cox’s Bazar, a conservation crisis in Bangladesh
- Cox’s Bazar Beach in southeast Bangladesh is known for its vibrant red crab population, which creates a stunning spectacle in the early mornings and late afternoons. However, this natural wonder is now threatened by human activities and environmental degradation.
- Red ghost crabs benefit coastal ecosystems by aerating sand and improving water infiltration, and also as prey species. Their decline threatens the ecosystem health.
- Researchers say a beach management plan is crucial for their protection and restoration. Protected areas like in Kuakata have shown effectiveness in conserving ghost crabs. Raising awareness among local communities is also crucial for successful conservation efforts in Bangladesh.
As 25 Earth vital signs worsen, scientists warn of ‘irreversible climate disaster’
- Earth is inching closer to irreversible climate change according to a recent report by an international group of climate researchers and Earth System scientists.
- Tracking 35 planetary vital signs — used to gauge Earth’s response to human activities — researchers found 25 are at record risk levels, including greenhouse gas concentrations, fossil fuel consumption, rising temperatures, forest loss, and biodiversity decline.
- The authors underline the immediate need for wide-ranging climate action to rein in fossil fuel use and control emissions, alongside other measures to stave off a deepening climate crisis. “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” they wrote.
Scientists use fake dolphin carcasses to study real dolphin strandings
Stranded dolphins can tell researchers a lot about the health of dolphin populations and potential dangers to human health. But figuring out how many wash ashore is difficult because scientists rely heavily on the public to report sightings. To better understand how and where ordinary citizens are most likely to report the beached mammals, researchers […]
West Africa’s forgotten felines endangered by conflict and research gaps
- The WAP Complex of protected areas that straddles the border region of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger is one of West Africa’s most important protected areas and a haven for many iconic endangered species.
- Servals, caracals and African wildcats are also found in the WAP Complex, but almost nothing is known about their status, distribution, ecology or threats.
- Covert surveys of medicine markets in the region have found serval and caracal skins, though it’s not known if the skins originated within the WAP Complex.
- The presence of jihadist militants in the region severely impacts conservation and research, particularly in the Niger and Burkina Faso portions of the complex.
Climate change drives rise in rainfall, ‘Christmas typhoons’ in Philippines
The Philippines experienced an increase in “Christmas typhoons” and tropical cyclone-induced rainfall over the last couple of decades, according to the country’s latest climate report.
Climate change is turning Antarctica green, but not in a good way: study
What’s new: A recent study reveals that the icy Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica, has experienced a nearly twelve-fold increase in plant cover over the last 35 years. The greening, driven primarily by the spread of mosses, has accelerated notably since 2016, researchers found. “The landscape is still almost entirely dominated by […]
Ant queens cannibalize their sick young to prevent disease outbreak
Ant queens practice a grim but effective form of childcare, eating their own sick larvae to recycle them into new, healthier eggs. A new study shows that by consuming their infected offspring, the queens protect the rest of their colonies from deadly infections while boosting their egg production with the influx of nutrients. Researchers behind […]
Controversial US marine geoengineering test delayed until next year
- The first-ever field test of ocean alkalinity enhancement in the United States was pushed back to 2025 due to shipping issues. But the geoengineering experiment has also run into public opposition from local environmentalists, commercial fishers and others.
- The test would dump sodium hydroxide (commonly called lye) off the New England coast to study its dispersal as a potential tool for sequestering CO₂.
- Opponents allege this small-scale geoengineering test could harm local wildlife, but researchers say the material will disperse within minutes.
- The scientists say they will also continue to reach out to local communities to alleviate fears over the study.
High CO2 levels are greening the world’s drylands, but is that good news?
The increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times isn’t just driving climate change — it’s also making much of the world’s drylands greener with increased plant growth. This is known as the CO2 fertilization effect, and politicians sometimes cite it to rhetorically downplay the negative global impacts of climate change, saying it’s […]
Ever-smarter consumer electronics push world toward environmental brink
- Semiconductor microchips are the beating heart of the digital age — processing vast, ever-growing volumes of data on our smart phones, computers and other electronic devices, and on data center servers worldwide.
- As manufacturers compete to produce the ever-smaller, more powerful electronic devices consumers want, new state-of-the-art silicon chips must be designed to handle exponentially advancing computing challenges.
- But the sourcing and manufacture of these increasingly complex silicon chips is material-, energy- and water-intensive, doing major environmental harm — producing major carbon emissions and polluting with PFAS and other toxins.
- Also, the smaller and more integrated chips become, the harder they are to recycle, creating vast sums of e-waste. Experts say governments need to ensure companies embrace environmental stewardship and circular economy standards.
Jumbo collaring effort reveals key elephant movement corridors
- Scientists and conservationists have collaborated to create what is possibly the largest database of GPS-collared elephants.
- The database contains 4 million GPS data points that were collected by collaring 300 African elephants in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, home to the largest population of African elephants in the world.
- Based on the movement of elephants, the team assessed the landscape to identify key areas and corridors for conservation purposes.
- The findings have already been used to identify small-scale movement corridors for elephants in Zambia.
People hugely underestimate carbon footprint of the wealthy, study shows
A recent study reveals that the majority of people, regardless of how much they earn, greatly underestimate the personal carbon footprint of the richest members of their society, while overestimating that of the poorest. This suggests that “most people, including the wealthiest, are largely unaware of the profound inequality in personal carbon footprints within their […]
Arctic sea ice hits summer minimum; Antarctic hovers at new winter lows
- The Antarctic winter sea ice maximum is on track to be the second lowest on record, at 17.15 million square km² (6.62 million mi²), close to the 2023 record low of 16.96 million km² (6.55 million mi²). Some scientists see this as anomalous. Others see it as a shift in the southern polar environment, maybe triggered by climate change.
- The Arctic summer sea ice minimum also stayed low this year, at 4.28 million km² (1.65 million mi²), making it the 7th lowest minimum in the satellite record. So far, 2012 saw the record minimum of 3.41 million km² (1.32 million mi²).
- Polar sea ice losses have global impacts. In one analysis, researchers estimated the planetary cooling effects of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice during 2016-2023 were about 20% and 12% less, respectively, than they were during 1980-1988, leading to almost 15% less cooling power for the planet.
- With about 12% declines of Arctic Ocean ice each decade, researchers predict a nearly ice-free Arctic summer by 2050, allowing more shipping through the Northwest Passage but threatening this unique polar ecosystem. Studies also show the Antarctic ice sheet to be increasingly at risk, particularly Western Antarctica.
Five times more marine fish may be at risk of extinction: study
What’s new: The number of bony marine fish species at risk of extinction could be five times higher than previously estimated by conservation scientists, a recent study suggests. What the study says: Bony fish, or teleosts, represent some 96% of the world’s marine fish species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global reference […]
Inaugural Planetary Health Check finds ocean acidification on the brink
- A first of its kind Planetary Health Check by an international team of scientists indicates that six of nine planetary boundaries are not only transgressed, but are moving further into zones of risk. In addition, recent research shows that a seventh boundary, ocean acidification, is on the verge of transgression.
- Intensifying ocean acidification spells problems for marine life, fisheries and economies. Based on current human CO₂ emission trajectories, this boundary may be breached in a few years, say experts. Others argue this threshold may already have been crossed, with regional acidification above safe limits.
- Together, the nine planetary boundaries identify limits within which Earth systems can operate safely to maintain the planet’s habitability. Transgressing boundaries heightens risks of breaching tipping points that would bring about irreversible shifts to the planet, threatening humanity and life as we know it.
- This inaugural Planetary Health Check is the first of yearly scheduled reports on the wellbeing of Earth systems. Annual reports are now needed due to humanity’s rapid crossing of planetary boundaries, and due to the urgency of providing up to date scientific data to policymakers.
‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains
- The mountainous forests of the eastern DRC are home to a strikingly beautiful bird: the yellow-crested helmetshrike.
- The species was considered lost to science until late last year, when an expedition of U.S. and DRC scientists spotted flocks of the birds gliding through the forests of the Itombwe mountains and snapped the first photo.
- Their observations will help to fill in some key knowledge gaps on this little-known species, which faces threats from habitat destruction and climate change.
Lab-grown corals resisted bleaching during Caribbean’s worst marine heat wave
- In 2023, the Caribbean Sea experienced unprecedented heat: Beginning in March, sea surface temperatures throughout the region ranged from 1°-3°C (1.8°-5.4°F) warmer than normal.
- This unprecedented heat brought the worst coral bleaching event in the Caribbean’s recorded history, bleaching 60-100% of some reefs, and killing many patches.
- A new study found that certain species of coral propagated in the lab and then outplanted to restore reefs in five countries showed few signs of bleaching despite the prolonged marine heat wave, faring better than wild corals or corals propagated from fragments.
We know how many okapi live in zoos. In the wild? It’s complicated
- The okapi, an endangered species that looks like a cross between a large antelope and a zebra, but is most closely related to the giraffe, is found only in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is considered an important cultural icon.
- The elusive ungulate faces more threats today than a decade ago, which was the last time a conservation assessment for the population was carried out.
- Armed militia groups, illegal mining, and a new trade in okapi oil for medicinal use have kept the species under threat and prevented scientists from being able to properly assess its population status.
- With scientists lacking reliable population estimates, a specialist group is now working to produce an updated conservation assessment within the next year.
Aluminum and steel vital to energy transition, but need circular solutions
- Aluminum and steel are in high demand today and increased volumes will be needed to achieve the energy transition and future infrastructure development.
- But mining, outdated production methods, and waste generation are putting significant pressures on several planetary boundaries — fueling climate change, impacting biodiversity, generating vast amounts of mining and other waste, using large quantities of water, and affecting human health.
- Moving away from a linear model of steel and aluminum production and consumption toward a closed-loop circular economy model could rein in some of these negative impacts and clean up these metals’ supply chains.
- Industry proponents note that circularity already occurs in both industries via recycling, but there is vast room for improvement to achieve circularity goals. This requires redesigning materials for longevity and reuse, modernizing manufacturing methods, and slashing primary raw material consumption.
Climate change could threaten newly described ‘shiny’ North American bees
- A recent study examining North American bee species belonging to the Lasioglossum genus has led to the describing of three previously unknown bee species from specimens collected from California, Arizona and Baja California.
- Due to their distinct metallic sheen, one was designated as Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) iridescens, while another was named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) dilisena, derived from Sinhala, the majority-spoken language in Sri Lanka, with the word dilisena translating to “shining.”
- The third species is named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) silveirai as a tribute to the late Fernando Silveira of the Federal University of Minas Gerais for his significant contribution to bee taxonomy.
- The newly described species are predominantly found in high-elevation areas in California, where climate change poses a significant threat, so scientists emphasize the importance of further research on their ecology and distribution.
Experts call for urgent action as invasive species threatens Brazil mangroves
- The Sonneratia apetala plant is native to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, yet biologists have found hundreds of specimens permeating the mangroves in the south of Brazil.
- Researchers believe the seeds were transported on ships from China and released at the port just 2 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the mangroves, where they were carried in the currents and rapidly spread.
- Experts warn that S. apetala could have severe ecological impacts, including the loss of biodiversity as it outcompetes native plants; they also fear it might spread to other mangroves.
- Since May 2023, researchers have been advocating for the total eradication of S. apetala in Brazil. However, Brazilian authorities only announced last month that they would remove the species, and the details of how this will be done have not yet been specified.
Study highlights climate policies that actually work to reduce emissions
To meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and avoid the worst outcomes of climate change, the world needs to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. Identifying effective policies to reach national climate goals has been challenging, but a new study published in Science examined 1500 climate policies implemented over the last two decades, and found […]
Billions in public funds ‘wasted’ on carbon capture projects, report finds
A handful of governments have spent nearly $30 billion in public funds on carbon capture and hydrogen projects, mostly for private fossil fuel companies, over the past 40 years, a new report from Oil Change International finds. National governments are expected to spend an additional $115 billion to $240 billion in the coming decades, the […]
Clearest picture yet of Amazon carbon density could help guide conservation
- A combination of machine-learning models and satellite readings show that the Amazon Rainforest contains 56.8 billion metric tons of aboveground carbon, or more than one and a half times what humanity emitted in 2023.
- The map is the result of an analysis of data measuring tree cover, tree height and the carbon storage of trees, and yields one of the most precise estimates to date.
- The highest carbon levels are located in the southwest Amazon — specifically southern Peru and western Brazil — and in the northeast Amazon, in countries like French Guiana and Suriname. The findings could help conservationists and policymakers choose more effective conservation strategies in the future.
- The report concluded that, as a whole, the Amazon Rainforest is still acting as a carbon sink rather than a carbon emitter, a key to keeping global temperatures below 1.5°C (2.7°F) and preventing climate change.
How the Zai farming technique is transforming soil fertility in North Cameroon
- Cameroon has 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of degraded land including 26,029 hectares (about 64,000 acres) around two national parks Bénoué and Faro in the North region.
- Large human and livestock populations, over cultivation and overgrazing, the growing demand for fuelwood supplies and poor rangeland management are at the forefront of the environmental problem of human-made desertification in northern Cameroon.
- A project called EcoNorCam, which uses an agroecology method known as the Zai technique, aims to restore the soil around the Bénoué National Park.
- Farmers adopting the Zai method have seen a boom in their yield despite the hefty work involved.
Northern elephant seals likely used sonar ‘dinner bell’ to find food
When eight young northern elephant seals suddenly began showing up at a deep-sea observatory, researchers were taken by surprise. Their repeated visits to the research site, otherwise a speck in the vast, dark ocean, wasn’t a chance occurrence, a new study reveals. The mammals were likely drawn to the area by the observatory’s sonar pulses. […]
Lack of research as contaminated Yaqui River poses health risks
- Amid a water crisis, Yaqui communities in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora lack safe drinking water due to contamination by arsenic, salinity and heavy metals as unveiled by several studies over the years.
- The water crisis, driven by decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and drought, intensifies contamination, particularly affecting coastal areas with saltwater intrusion and surpassing safe limits in certain regions.
- Members of the Yaqui tribe blame mining operations and agribusiness for the contamination, but there are few studies to confirm their source.
- They argue contamination has led to diabetes and health complications among community members, as well as cultural impacts.
Successful Thai community-based hornbill conservation faces uncertain future
- As long-distance tree seed dispersers, hornbills help balance the ecology of the complex tropical forests they inhabit.
- Three decades of hornbill conservation in southern Thailand have been underpinned by efforts to transform former poachers into conservationists who are paid wages as nest guardians.
- A new study indicates that education programs in schools and villages surrounding the region’s hornbill strongholds are key to the success and long-term sustainability of the nest guardian program, which has boosted hornbill breeding success and drawn widespread support from local residents.
- Yet political unrest in the region precludes traditional avenues of conservation funding, such as ecotourism, leaving the community-based initiative threatened by a lack of long-term funding and resources.
Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation at 60: A look back and forward
- The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation marked its 60th anniversary with a conference in Kigali, Rwanda this July. The ATBC has diversified its membership and expanded its scope since its founding in 1963, when most members were U.S. scientists working in Latin America, and only one member was a woman.
- This year’s ATBC meeting included 400 attendees from 52 countries, with participants coming from African, Asian and Latin American nations. Annual conferences now rotate between these three tropical realms.
- In the 21st century, conservation has increasingly become an ATBC focus. This July’s meeting in Kigali, like other recent meetings was designed to have a lasting impact on the local scientific community by offering free field courses and scholarships to Rwandan students.
- Today, the distribution of educational resources and employment opportunities for tropical studies is still skewed heavily toward countries in the Global North. ATBC members say they hope to change this by emphasizing “South-South” collaborations, with knowledge sharing between tropical nations around the globe.
Scientists find unexpected biodiversity in an African river, thanks to eDNA
- Scientists have used environmental DNA analysis to identify 125 species of aquatic and terrestrial animals in the remote Corubal River in West Africa.
- The identified species include critically endangered animals as well as species that weren’t previously known to occur in the region.
- The Corubal flows through Guinea and Guinea-Bissau; because of its remote nature, there haven’t been a lot of large-scale attempts to study the biodiversity in the river and its basin.
- The scientists are also working to collect specimens and tissue samples from animals encountered along the river to build a DNA reference database for the future.
Spiders turn male fireflies into female mimics to lure more prey
Fireflies use their characteristic flashing signals to find and attract mates. It’s a courtship ritual that can seem magical on a warm summer evening. However, for orb weaver spiders, these displays are more than just a spectacle — the spiders can manipulate the light signals of male fireflies, turning them into unwitting lures to attract […]
As a medicine, study finds rhino horn useless — and potentially toxic
- A new study has found that concentrations of essential minerals inside rhino horns are too low to provide consumers with any health benefits, questioning their use in traditional Chinese medicine.
- The scientists also revealed that rhino horns contained potentially toxic minerals; the lack of quality control testing and regulatory oversight makes it even more pressing to address the sales of rhino horn derivatives for consumption.
- Researchers say that efforts to reduce consumer demand for rhino horn products must run in parallel with protection.
Patents can serve as early-warning system for wildlife trade trends
Patent applications can reveal emerging trends in wildlife trade, a new study has found. From rhinoceros horns to pangolin scales, trade in wildlife is a highly lucrative business. In 2019, the legal global trade in wildlife was estimated to be worth about $107 billion. The illegal trade is thought to fetch between $7 billion and […]
At the ‘Biodiversity Olympics,’ scientists work to democratize rainforest tech
- Over the course of three weeks in July, six teams showcased technology that could potentially automate biodiversity monitoring in rainforests.
- The event in Manaus, Brazil, was the final round of testing for a $10 million competition organized by the nonprofit XPRIZE Foundation.
- Most of the teams deployed drones and AI models, and also used environmental DNA analysis to identify plants and animals in the forest.
- In addition to gauging how the teams presented scalable and affordable solutions, the competition also judged them on how they collaborated with Indigenous communities in Brazil.
The challenge of the next oil and gas investments further in the Pan Amazon
- The expansion of Camisea, a hydrocarbon development in the tropical landscapes of Cusco region in Peru, faces opposition by Indigenous groups and environmental advocates for its proximity to isolated tribes and for the authorities’ failure to run a free, prior and informed consent process with communities involved.
- The risk of social conflicts, environmental liabilities, and the increased competitiveness of solar energy in the coastal desert have caused the hydrocarbon sector to reduce its concessions in Peru over the last decade.
- The development of hydrocarbons in Suriname and Guyana has broad civil society support, largely because these countries are short of development options. A similar exploration boom is occurring off the coast of Amapá, Brazil, in the Foz de Amazonas sedimentary sub-basin known, but environmental authorities are worried about potential impacts on marine ecosystems.
Sea lions with video cameras help scientists map ocean floor
For the first time ever, scientists have had help from sea lions in mapping the ocean floor. And the marine mammals have done their job well, capturing six different marine habitats, including algal meadows and reefs, that make up South Australia’s seabed, researchers report in a recently published study. For much of the planet’s ocean, […]
Will we be ready? Geoengineering policy lags far behind pace of climate change
- The history of geoengineering policymaking has been piecemeal over past decades, with U.N. bodies failing to create or implement rigorous binding international regulatory frameworks for geoengineering management, and with academia and think tanks delivering reports and recommendations that offer little definitive detailed regulatory guidance.
- Now, as climate change impacts intensify, the debate over what safe, effective national and international geoengineering policies should look like has intensified among academics, regulatory and advisory bodies and researchers.
- Meanwhile, scientists continue trying to find out if geoengineering (the deliberate altering of global atmospheric or oceanic conditions), can help cool off a dangerously warming planet without triggering harmful effects.
- Some warn geoengineering is too risky and want field research stopped. Others say research is urgently needed so decision-makers can understand geoengineering options and risks, so as to make informed choices. For now, few definitive road signs exist to guide policymaking.
Meet the little-known African tortoise with a hatchback for a shell
- The forest hinge-back tortoise is an unusual animal whose shell can swing down 90 degrees in the rear to protect itself from predators.
- However, despite having a large range across sub-Saharan Africa, the species is currently listed as data deficient on the IUCN Red List; experts say it’s tentatively considered endangered.
- The turtle is threatened by deforestation and hunting for food, traditional medicine and fetishes.
- Researchers say to better protect the species would require more investment, but acknowledge that less “charismatic” species like tortoises rarely get the protection or attention they require.
Time to highlight South Asia’s less-studied vultures: Interview with Krishna Bhusal
- The dramatic decline of South Asia’s vulture populations, particularly the Gyps genus, was traced to the veterinary drug diclofenac, which caused fatal kidney failure in vultures that fed on treated carcasses.
- In response to the crisis, Nepal implemented vulture safe zones, banning diclofenac, monitoring vulture populations, and establishing “vulture restaurants” providing uncontaminated carrion, and captive-breeding programs to support vulture recovery.
- Researcher Krishna Bhusal says conservation efforts have primarily focused on Gyps species, known as griffon vultures, because of their regional significance and the population collapse that caught global attention.
- Other vulture species, such as bearded vultures and Egyptian vultures, have received less attention despite also facing significant threats, highlighting a gap in research and conservation efforts.
In Mexico, avocado suppliers continue sourcing from illegally deforested land
- Suppliers Calavo Growers, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Mission Produce and West Pak Avocado purchased avocados from land where forests have been cleared illegally, according to a recent investigation.
- Climate Rights International and Mexican NGO Guardián Forestal looked at Mexican avocado shipping records from 2023 and the first trimester of 2024, finding 60 instances of companies buying avocados from deforested land.
- The states of Michoacán and Jalisco produced over 2 million avocados last year, making it one of the area’s top industries. But residents there complain of water shortages and other environmental impacts.
Arctic melt ponds influence sea ice extent each summer — but how much?
- July marks the midpoint of the summer sea ice melt season, during which ice declines rapidly under the almost constant Arctic sun, and melt ponds form on ice floes. Scientists study melt ponds to better understand sea ice dynamics and to help forecast the annual sea ice minimum in September.
- Sea ice melt ponds absorb more solar energy than bare ice or snow but far less than open ocean, which complicates the story of summer sea ice melt. But in the past, scientists lacked the tools to accurately measure melt pond impacts.
- New remote sensing data look at sea ice from different satellite resolutions. High-resolution imaging sends a clear picture of melt ponds in a very small area, while low-resolution imaging produces a fuzzy picture of them across the entire Arctic.
- A combination of satellite data and on-the-ice observations now help scientists track the evolution of sea ice melt ponds and their influence on the overall decline of sea ice in the Arctic.
Climate change threatens public health, raising the spread of food-borne diseases
- A new study finds that climate change is affecting the distribution and spread of food-borne diseases.
- An increase in the number and severity of heatwaves, droughts, and heavy precipitation events are all expected to lead to a rise in food-borne diseases, hitting Africa and Asia particularly hard.
- Investing in research and innovation can provide valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms of climate change-pathogen interactions and novel solutions for mitigating effects.
- For example, the Cameroon National Climate Observatory, ONACC, already provides national sectors, such as agriculture, livestock, and health with forecast climate information translated into local languages to facilitate monitoring in the context of global warming.
Cloud brightening over oceans may stave off climate change, but with risk
- Marine cloud brightening (MCB), the spraying of sea salt aerosols or other fine particles into clouds to artificially brighten them and increase the sun’s reflectivity, is a proposed strategy to ward off the full effects of climate change.
- However, this solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering technique is highly controversial, and experts say governance of MCB field experiments and deployment is needed now at the national and international levels.
- Ongoing efforts to include marine cloud brightening under an international anti-marine pollution treaty, the London Protocol, could be one effective route to setting standards for research and field experiments.
- But if MCB is deployed on a large scale, some experts say there is the potential for serious negative effects on the global climate system. These impacts could be especially severe if deployment is uncontrolled and lacks science-based governance.
Birdsong rings out once again in Togo’s sacred forest of Titiyo
- Logging for firewood, charcoal and timber for construction almost wiped out the sacred forest of Titiyo in northern Togo.
- The degradation of the forest had a major impact on wildlife and the surrounding population.
- But since 2015, Sylvain Tchoou Akati, a native of the area, has led the restoration of this forest, and is today bringing his model of community-led conservation to other areas.
Streetlights make tree leaves tougher for insects to eat, Beijing study shows
Plants that grow under the glare of artificial lighting like streetlights have tougher leaves that insects find hard to eat, new research has found. This finding suggests that artificial light at night could be a potential threat to urban biodiversity, study co-author Shuang Zhang, an ecologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Mongabay in […]
High-resolution maps reveal surprises about how ice shelves melt
- The first detailed maps from underneath an ice shelf in Antarctica have revealed previously unknown shapes and melting patterns.
- While researchers are yet to fully understand what causes the patterns in ice erosion, they say it indicates new information about how oceans are melting ice.
- The scientists involved in the study deployed an autonomous vehicle that traveled underneath the ice and used multibeam sonars to map the underside of the ice shelf.
- Ice shelves are floating masses of ice attached to land mass; while their melting doesn’t directly contribute to sea level rise, it can destabilize glaciers and cause them to flow faster.
Indian bioacoustics researchers boost wildlife conservation with exciting animal insights
For an exciting new podcast series featuring Indian scientists at the forefront of bioacoustics research, Mongabay newswire editor Shreya Dasgupta and Mongabay-India senior digital editor Kartik Chandramouli traveled across their vast country and the resulting series, Wild Frequencies, can now be heard via all podcast apps. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, Dasgupta discusses […]
Animal apocalypse: Deadly bird flu infects hundreds of species pole-to-pole
- The world is currently seeing the fastest-spreading, largest-ever outbreak of H5N1, a highly contagious, deadly strain of avian influenza. Scientists say this virus now presents an existential threat to the world’s biodiversity, with the risk to humans rising as it continues to leap the species barrier, reaching new host species.
- H5N1 has already impacted at least 485 bird species and 48 mammal species, killing seals, sea otters, dolphins, foxes, California condors, albatrosses, bald eagles, cougars, polar bears and a zoo tiger. Since it broke out in Europe in 2020, this virus has spread globally. Carried by birds along migratory pathways, it has invaded six continents, including Antarctica.
- This current H5N1 animal pandemic (or panzootic) was caused by humans: A mild form of avian flu carried by wild birds turned deadly when it infected domestic poultry. Many industrial-scale poultry farms adjoin wetlands where migrating birds congregate, facilitating rapid spread.
- The toll on some bird and mammal populations has been devastating. With continued outbreaks, some imperiled species could be pushed to the brink, with wildlife already fighting to survive against a changing climate, disappearing habitat and other stressors.
New datasets identify which crops deforest the Amazon, and where
- Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM), the Atlas of Pastures and Amazon Mining Watch have released or updated satellite data and visualization tools this year that show what crops are grown in the Amazon, where cattle ranching overlaps with other kinds of land use and how much of the rainforest is being cleared for mining.
- Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Amazon Project (MAAP) compiled the data into one report this month, creating an “overall estimate” of land use across the nine Amazon countries.
- Some of the crops are well-known drivers of deforestation, such as soy, but lesser-discussed crops are also present in the region, such as rice and sorghum.
Geoengineering gains momentum, but governance is lacking, critics say
- As the climate crisis advances, geoengineering — intentionally modifying Earth systems on a large scale to cool the planet or store additional carbon — is increasingly a hot topic. But an intense debate is raging as to how to govern research and deployment of these deeply contentious strategies.
- Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) — involving the release of sunlight-blocking particles such as sulfur dioxide into the lower atmosphere to block the sun’s rays — is at the forefront of a range of geoengineering technologies and approaches.
- Most SAI research to date involves modeling, while small-scale experimentation is foundering. SAI, though likely capable of cooling Earth’s climate, comes laden with governance challenges, myriad uncertainties and knock-on effects to the climate, ecosystems and human health.
- Projected deployment within a decade or two is cause for concern, say experts who warn that policy guidance and regulatory mechanisms at the national and international levels are now patchy at best, leaving huge gaps in oversight, transparency and monitoring of field research and potential deployment.
Cerrado’s current drought impossible without human-caused climate change: Study
- Since early 2000s, Brazil’s Cerrado has been suffering severe drought episodes, with water shortages affecting hydroelectric power, agriculture and water access. Its water supply has also been under pressure from encroaching agriculture and deforestation.
- Analysis of 700 years of climate data indicated an unprecedented drying trend that started around the 1970s, which experts say was made possible by human-induced warming, and not by climate’s natural variability.
- Researchers collected data from stalagmites in one cave in the state of Minas Gerais and built a climate record for the Cerrado.
Most ‘compostable’ bioplastics are anything but, says new report
- A new report from Beyond Plastics, an NGO, claims that very little of the bioplastics labeled as compostable can be composted by consumers.
- “Compostable” bioplastics can only be broken down in commercial compost facilities, but many of these won’t take compostable foodware and packaging because of concerns about microplastic and chemical contamination.
- With no U.S. federal standards, bioplastic certifications are voluntary, and mostly owned and influenced by chemical companies and bioplastic manufacturers, the report says. Standards are also weak globally.
- The report notes that bioplastics often take longer to break down than industry claims, and when they do degrade, they leave toxic micro- and nanoplastics in compost that can enter the food chain, potentially causing health problems for people and animals. The plastics industry disputes these claims.
The Inventory, a Wiki for wild tech: Interview with Jake Burton & Alex Rood
- A Wikipedia-style tool cataloging conservation technology aims to help scientists and conservationists identify the best technology tools that can be deployed for their work.
- The Inventory was developed by conservation technology community WILDLABS in collaboration with Octophin Digital.
- Apart from serving as a database, users can also leave reviews of tech products used for conservation and wildlife monitoring.
- The Inventory also displays projects that are still in development and could benefit from funding and external expertise.
Biomass power grows in Japan despite new understanding of climate risks
- New biomass power plants continue to come online in Japan, requiring an ever-greater quantity of imported fuel. The government’s feed-in tariff scheme, which has been tweaked but not canceled, incentivized these projects.
- Although understanding of forest biomass’s negative environmental and climate impacts is growing in Japan, policy advocates say operators of existing biomass power plants need to pay back construction bank loans, and the government’s refusal to admit its mistake is keeping biomass plants running.
- A major biomass fuel type is wood pellets, which in Japan is presently primarily sourced from plantation forests in Vietnam and primary forests in British Columbia, Canada. While BC ecologists have spoken out against wood pellets, and found allies in Vietnam, the biomass issue has proved challenging for Japan’s forest advocates.
- Though historically a small source of wood pellets for Japan, the growing popularity in Indonesia of pellets for both export and domestic use risks tropical forests there being cleared to make way for biomass energy plantations, NGOs warn.
Shark fin consumption wanes in Thailand, yet demand persists, report shows
- A new study in Thailand reveals consumption of shark fin has declined by more than one-third since 2017.
- Yet significant demand for shark fin and shark meat persists: more than half of surveyed citizens said they plan to consume such products in the future, despite their understanding of the ecological risks associated with killing sharks.
- Besides shark fin soup, a popular dish served at social gatherings and weddings, conservationists are increasingly concerned about emerging markets for shark parts in pet food sold in Thailand.
- Marine conservation groups say besides continued public awareness campaigns, policymakers must do more to curb shark bycatch and improve traceability of products in the shark trade to protect vulnerable species at risk of extinction.
Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate
- As tropical forests are degraded and decline at increasing rates the world over, the fate of these forests’ largest trees remains unknown.
- Big trees store a huge amount of carbon, so assessing their current mortality rates and causes of death (especially due to escalating climate change) is vital to calculating how much tropical forest carbon sinks could decline in the future.
- The Gigante project, getting started in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2024, is initiating an innovative new protocol utilizing detailed drone surveys combined with ground truthing to evaluate tropical big tree mortality.
- The project has begun an identical survey in Panama and will conduct others in Malaysia, Cameroon and at another Amazon location. Knowledge of how tropical big trees are faring could help improve climate model accuracy. A Mongabay reporting team joined the Gigante project in Brazil at the start of this groundbreaking work.
The Amazon’s most fertile forests are also most vulnerable to drought: Study
- Researchers at the University of Arizona analyzed 20 years of satellite data to understand how different Amazon forest ecosystems respond to drought. They found that variations in water-table depth, soil fertility and tree height influence forests’ response to droughts.
- In the southern Amazon, experts observed a strong relationship between groundwater availability and the forests’ drought resilience. But the situation was more complex in the northern Amazon, where drought vulnerability depended on a combination of factors, including water availability, soil fertility and tree height.
- The study suggests scientists may have overestimated the risk of drought-related tree death — and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result — in the southern Amazon. However, long droughts, like the current one across the Amazon, can push these forests to the brink of collapse.
- The researchers created a map of drought resilience across the Amazon Basin, which shows that forests at high risk of deforestation are also most vulnerable to drought. These forests also play a key role in regional weather patterns by feeding the “atmospheric river” that brings rainfall to major agricultural areas.
Don’t even study it: Geoengineering research hits societal roadblocks
- As climate change accelerates, some scientists are calling for more field research into solar geoengineering concepts. However, these ideas are running into opposition from other researchers, some governments and the public.
- A series of recent setbacks has put solar geoengineering research on the back foot, attempting to figure out a way to navigate the opposition.
- Proponents of field research say it would help humanity better understand the potential and problems with solar geoengineering, while opponents argue that there are too many risks and it could take our eye off the ball: cutting carbon emissions.
- The debate has spilled into the international arena, pitting nations that support greater research against those that would like to see a solar geoengineering non-use agreement.
Sun block: The promise and peril of solar geoengineering
- Recent research and interest, especially from the U.S. government, has pushed a solar geoengineering idea known as SAI, or stratospheric aerosol injection, to the top of lists of potential ideas to cool the planet. SAI would use fleets of high-flying aircraft to disperse sunlight-reflecting particles, including sulfates, into the stratosphere.
- As climate change worsens and carbon emissions continue to rise, researchers say we must be ready with other potential tools to stave off total catastrophe, such as the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with sea-level rise that would drown coastal cities.
- But critics say any geoengineering is too unpredictable and could allow governments to lower their ambitions on cutting emissions. They also argue that there’s no global governance policy to implement geoengineering justly.
- As debate intensifies, however, some feel it’s only a matter of time, given the current and projected trajectory of warming, until the world seriously considers geoengineering deployment.
Nepal’s shifting biodiversity research landscape: Interview with Karan Bahadur Shah
- Veteran Nepali researcher Professor Karan Bahadur Shah highlights the shift from manual data recording and fieldwork in the past to the ease and efficiency of modern digital tools, though he notes increased competition and focus on quantity over quality.
- There are more complex and extensive funding opportunities now, with advanced technology like satellite tags improving research capabilities. However, misuse of technology, such as spreading false information and manipulating data, is a growing concern.
- He argues that attributing events to climate change is challenging due to the lack of long-term data in Nepal. He believes that Nepal’s forests and lack of large polluting industries may reduce its vulnerabilities to climate change.
Thai tiger numbers swell as prey populations stabilize in western forests
- Camera-trapping data revealed in a new study show a steady recovery of tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex over the past two decades.
- The tiger recovery has been mirrored by a simultaneous increase in the numbers of the tigers’ prey animals, such as sambar deer and types of wild cattle.
- The authors attribute the recovery of the tigers and their prey to long-term efforts to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to restore key habitats and water sources.
- Experts say the lessons learnt can be applied to support tiger recovery in other parts of Thailand and underscore the importance of the core WEFCOM population as a vital source of tigers repopulating adjacent landscapes.
Regions with highest risks to wildlife have fewest camera traps, study finds
- Camera traps are widely used to monitor biodiversity and guide conservation actions, but a first-of-its-kind study finds the technology isn’t as prevalent in highly biodiverse areas that face the most threats from human activities, such as the Congo Basin and the Amazon Rainforest.
- Even in areas with a high number of camera-trap studies, nearly two-thirds were conducted outside the regions facing the highest risk of animal extinctions.
- Country income, accessibility, mammal diversity and biome largely determine the locations of nearly two-thirds of camera-trap research.
- Experts suggest expanding the network of camera-trap studies, building capacity among local research communities, and leveraging tools and platforms that help with data sharing and analysis to address these disparities.
Study to benchmark water quality finds key Amazon tributary in good shape
- Researchers have found that water quality in Brazil’s Negro River, the second-largest tributary of the Amazon, remains largely excellent, the result of a sparse human presence and strong conservation measures.
- The sampling of 50 sites along the main stream of the blackwater river was carried out to develop a water quality index (WQI) for this type of Amazonian river, which hasn’t been done before.
- In August, the research group will present this new WQI to the Amazonas state water resources council; if approved, the index will be used as the model for monitoring blackwater rivers in the state.
- The project on the Negro is the first of the program, which aims to develop a WQI for each of the largest rivers in Amazonas state, such as the Madeira, Solimões and Purus, and establish continuous monitoring during the wet and dry seasons.
Global migratory freshwater fish populations plummet by 81%: Report
- A new global study reveals an average 81% decline in migratory freshwater fish populations between 1970 and 2020.
- Habitat loss, degradation and overfishing are the main threats to migratory fish, which are crucial for food security, livelihoods and ecosystems worldwide.
- While 65% of species have declined, 31% have shown increases, suggesting that conservation efforts and management strategies can have positive impacts.
- The report calls for stronger monitoring efforts, protection of free-flowing rivers, and meeting global biodiversity goals to address this crisis.
Studying snakes without rattling them? There’s now tech for that
- Scientists have used tiny, noninvasive radio transmitters and accelerometers to study the habitats and behaviors of red diamond rattlesnakes.
- While the radio transmitters help researchers keep track of the snakes, the accelerometers give them an in-depth understanding of the snakes’ physical movements as they hunt, eat and even mate.
- Historically, tracking snakes has involved surgically implanting telemetry radios into them, but this process is time-consuming and also risks infecting the animals.
- Red diamond rattlesnakes, native to southwest California in the U.S. and Baja California in Mexico, face increasing threats from habitat loss and vehicle strikes.
34,000-year-old termite mounds in South Africa are still being used
- Termite mounds in Namaqualand, South Africa, are at least 34,000 years old, according to a recent study.
- The termite mounds are still used by southern harvester termites (Microhodotermes viator), making them the oldest known inhabited termite mounds by a lot.
- The discovery also unearthed organic material buried deep inside the mound, demonstrating that the termites help to store carbon at depths greater than 1 meter (3 feet).
- Scientists are planning further research to understand how much carbon is stored in these termite mounds and how fast it is accumulating.
‘Explorer elephants’ in transfrontier conservation area offer solution to tree damage
- In parts of Southern Africa, elephants engage in “hedging” by breaking off the branches of hardwood mopane trees, snapping their trunks in two or pushing them over.
- Consequently, large areas of mopane forest are transformed into shrublands, which a new study in Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park says can threaten the habitat of other forest-dependent animals.
- Gonarezhou is part of a massive transfrontier conservation area, and some “explorer elephants” have been searching for routes to alternative foraging grounds in neighboring South Africa and Mozambique.
- But hunting and human settlements are creating a “barrier of fear” that stands in their way.
Camera-trap study brings the lesula, Congo’s cryptic monkey, into focus
- Only found in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula monkey (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) was first described by scientists in 2012.
- A 2023 Animals study finds that the lesula is mostly terrestrial, unlike the other species of guenon monkeys in the region.
- The study also finds that the lesula is active during the day, has a seasonal reproductive cycle, and lives in family groups of up to 32 individuals, with males dispersing out to form bachelor groups.
- Researchers say the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba Rivers Landscape, where the study was conducted, holds incredible primate diversity.
New approach to restore coral reefs on mass scale kicks off in Hawai‘i
- ʻĀkoʻakoʻa is a recently launched program aiming to restore a 193-kilometer (120-mile) stretch of coral reef along the west coast of Hawai‘i Island — one of the first to attempt restoration at a large scale.
- The project will identify individual corals with high thermal tolerance and other high-performance traits, then use them to breed genetically resilient coral larvae for release onto the reefs during natural spawning periods.
- ʻĀkoʻakoʻa is working with partners to reduce other stressors to the reefs, which can help corals be more resilient to rising sea temperatures, and drawing on Hawaiian traditional values of environmental stewardship.
- If successful, the project could provide knowledge for how to restore ailing reefs around the world suffering from an onslaught of human-driven thermal stress.
China-backed mine in Sumatran seismic hotspot rings safety alarms
- Communities in Indonesia’s Dairi district continue to protest a zinc and lead mine being developed by a Chinese-backed company.
- They warn the PT Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM) mine poses unacceptable risks to human life and the environment, given the potential for its waste dam to collapse in the earthquake-prone region.
- These concerns are borne out in a series of independent analyses of the project’s environmental impact assessment, which experts say fails to live up to the standards the developers claim to follow.
- Despite the questions over the assessment, the Indonesian government has issued environmental approval for the project, which local communities are now challenging at the Supreme Court.
Reimagining insect research: Interview with Roel van Klink and Leandro Nascimento
- Three out of every four known species on Earth are insects, but efforts to monitor, study and protect them have been lagging worldwide.
- A new themed issue published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society delves into four tech tools that have the ability to reshape insect research in the coming years.
- The issue highlights acoustic monitoring, remote sensing using radars, computer vision, and DNA sequencing as potential tools that could help scientists and researchers ramp up global insect biodiversity monitoring.
Zambian forest reserve rebounds with a little assistance
- Conservationists and farmers have restored large parts of a forest reserve in Zambia in just four years through natural regeneration.
- The Katanino Forest Reserve had lost more than 58% of its forest cover by 2019, when dozens of families living inside it and cutting trees to make charcoal were finally evicted by state officials.
- A restoration project launched that same year by conservation group WeForest and local partners has used assisted natural regeneration, a light-touch forest restoration method, to grow back more than 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of the reserve’s tree cover.
- The success is tempered by continued tree losses on farms outside the reserve, though WeForest is working to promote alternative livelihoods there that encourage farmers to protect trees on their land.
Crowdsourcing eDNA for biodiversity monitoring: Interview with Kristy Deiner
- Scientists at ETH Zurich launched a global project to gather biodiversity data from 500 lakes around the world.
- As part of LeDNA, citizen scientists from around the world collected environmental DNA samples from lakes to commemorate the U.N.’s International Day for Biological Diversity.
- With the samples, the team behind the project aims to understand more about how lakes could potentially serve as “sensors” detecting the richness of life in the catchments surrounding them.
Nepal’s legal barriers hinder genetic research, forcing scientists to improvise
- Nepali researchers face significant challenges in conducting genetic studies due to lack of legislation to allow the export of biological samples, which hinders the quality and efficiency of their research.
- Researchers are forced to use under-equipped local labs or alternative methods such as museum samples, resulting in delayed and often unsatisfactory results that impact the validity of their studies.
- The government’s restrictions, partly motivated by fears of biopiracy and a lack of regulatory commitment, result in missed opportunities for advancing conservation science and better protecting Nepal’s biodiversity, researchers say.
Know your salamander: To conserve amphibians, study their intelligence (commentary)
- In the global amphibian crisis, salamander numbers across the species have dropped too, with around 60% of salamander species threatened with extinction. Researchers and conservationists need to start looking into amphibian intelligence to find new, effective ways to conserve them.
- Salamanders possess number system and memory post hibernation, and they show evidence of self-recognition, spatial reward learning and associating color with reward. Despite having a relatively simple brain structure, salamanders are capable of complex cognition, which can be used to save them from extinction.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Can iron fertilization of the oceans help solve the climate crisis? (commentary)
- In response to climate change, several carbon dioxide removal approaches involving the marine environment are being studied, with ocean iron fertilization being among those with the greatest potential, according to the U.S. National Academies of Sciences.
- The introduction of iron into ocean regions that are iron-limited stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, which play a pivotal role in carbon sequestration, and while critics have long pointed out that such fertilization could cause wide ranging ecological consequences, a number of researchers are pursuing it with new energy.
- “It is important to conduct research and hold public deliberations to explore if iron fertilization could be effectively and safely done, and whether coastal communities and rights holders might actually want it,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Amazon deforestation threatens one of Brazil’s key pollinators, study shows
- Orchid bees, which help pollinate species from at least 30 plant families and play a big role in Brazil’s agriculture, have long been under threat from land-use change.
- Data from 1996-1997 from the Amazonian state of Rondônia show the twin spread of deforestation and agriculture drove down orchid bee abundance and diversity in this region.
- Analyzed in a recent study, the data suggest that bee diversity and abundance decline after only a decade of land-use change.
- Scientists revisited the past data collected from more than 130 sites to provide a more comprehensive baseline of orchid bee biodiversity as the region continues to face deforestation.
Indigenous Alaskans drive research in a melting arctic
- In Utqiagvik, Alaska, the Iñupiat rely on whaling and subsistence hunting for the bulk of their diet, a practice dating back thousands of years.
- Powered by mineral wealth, the Iñupiat-run North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management employs a collaborative team of scientists and hunters.
- Though the arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, the Iñupiat are confident in their ability to adapt their practices to changing conditions.
- The Department of Wildlife Management provides a potential model for collaborations between Indigenous peoples and western researchers — with Indigenous leaders in charge of funding and resource allocation.
Scientists and farmers restore Aztec-era floating farms that house axolotls
- In 1987, UNESCO declared the Xochimilco wetland area in southern Mexico City a World Heritage Site, recognizing in particular its chinampas, an ancient agricultural system in use since the time of the Aztecs.
- In the past few decades, Xochimilco’s levels of production and of biodiversity have shifted: people have changed the purpose of many chinampas, and the population of axolotl salamanders, an iconic species endemic to the area, has decreased drastically.
- Scientists from the Ecological Restoration Laboratory at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and farmers from the area are promoting a comprehensive restoration program to conserve this group of chinampas and all the living things that depend on it.
Elusive jaguarundi inspires biologists to share data across Latin America
- The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) is a little-known small felid with a range extending from northern Argentina to Mexico. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in 1986.
- H. yagouaroundi is found in a variety of habitats, but is thought to occupy mostly rugged areas with good shrub cover, including near agricultural lands. Unlike most other felids, the jaguarundi is active during the day, which can easily bring it into conflict with farmers who don’t appreciate its habit of raiding chicken coops.
- Like most small, noncharismatic cat species, there’s little funding to learn more about the jaguarundi. But researchers are developing new tools, for example pooling sparse “bycatch” data gathered by many biologists from camera traps in widely scattered places and modeling it to predict habitat use and population size.
- An ongoing IUCN jaguarundi assessment is using a Google Forms questionnaire to reach out widely to researchers, governments and NGOs, while also using easily shared social media tools. A detailed understanding of jaguarundi behavior is needed to assure it is conserved both inside and outside protected areas.
Yucatán Peninsula’s hidden underground life tracks changes at the surface
- Scientists from Northwestern University in the U.S. led a series of underwater expeditions collecting water samples from the deep web of caves and sinkholes in the Yucatán Peninsula.
- The southeastern region of Mexico is crisscrossed by numerous flooded and interconnected tunnels, functioning as subterranean rivers — crucial arteries that maintain ecosystems and support millions of people, and connecting directly to the sea.
- Any disruptions to the microbial communities in these waters could have significant consequences for both humans and marine ecosystems.
- This research is crucial for assessing the potential environmental impacts of large-scale agriculture or major projects like the building of the Tren Maya railway line.
Collar cameras shed light on quirky baboon diet
- A new study has found that chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) like to feed on antelope poop, especially during drier months when vegetation might be sparse.
- Researchers deployed collar cameras attached to four baboons in South Africa as part of a documentary film in 2017; they later analyzed footage from two of them.
- They also gained insights into how baboons were interacting with other species that share their habitat.
- According to the study, collar cameras gave researchers a “primate-eye perspective” into the animals’ lives, and could be used in the future to gain more insights into other behavioral traits.
Polar warning: Warming temperatures mean more than melted ice
- The Arctic and Antarctic are changing rapidly in response to global warming, with scientists striving to understand how escalating impacts on these unique regions impact the rest of the world. This story summarizes three significant recent studies.
- A new comprehensive greenhouse gas budget for Arctic terrestrial ecosystems estimates that the permafrost-covered region now emits more greenhouse gases — including carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) — than it stores. That trend is expected to accelerate if Arctic warming worsens further.
- Another recent study looked at the ice shelves edging the Antarctic continent, which act as brakes slowing the flow of glacial ice into the ocean that adds to sea-level rise. Although many factors impact the mass and stability of these shelves, a new model shows El Niño warming events help melt ice from below to increase shelf loss.
- Scientists also analyzed a record-breaking heat wave hitting Antarctica in March 2022, when temperatures soared by up to 40°C (72°F) above normal. They determined that this “black swan” event is having long-term impacts on the region’s ecosystems. The odds are that more such high-heat events will occur in future.
Messengers of the gods: Nara’s ‘sacred’ deer at a conservation crossroads
- Japan’s Nara city is famous for its sacred deer, protected for a millennium as “messengers of the gods” according to Shinto religious tradition, and today also a valuable tourism resource.
- In recent years, genetic analysis by Japanese researchers has found that Nara’s protected deer population has become genetically isolated over its history. But a nationwide deer population boom now threatens to end the Nara deer’s long isolation, potentially bringing diseases transmissible to humans, the scientists warn.
- In addition, deer overpopulation can harm farmers’ livelihoods and upset the balance of ecosystems. The Nara prefectural government is leading efforts to minimize community conflicts and ecological damage from both protected and “ordinary” deer.
- However, the researchers warn that even stronger deer management measures, including installing more deer-proof fences and expanded culling, may be necessary to address conservation and community conflict issues.
Report ranks 60+ ideas, including geoengineering, to save the Arctic
- Given that the serious impacts of climate change are rapidly escalating, some scientists, backed up increasingly by governments, are looking into extreme measures such as geoengineering to slow the rate of change.
- A new report examines 61 climate mitigation ideas for the Arctic, including geoengineering.
- The report ranked tried and true measures, like restoring peatlands, the highest, but some geoengineering ideas, such as solar geoengineering, also ranked high.
- Researchers say, however, that while geoengineering ideas may be worth studying, the goal right now must be to aggressively cut emissions. Some also fear that geoengineering will become a costly distraction, diverting attention from the need for fossil fuel companies to cut production, and for decarbonization of the economy.
New database unveils the role of Asian hornbills as forest seed dispersers
- Equipped with bulky beaks and impressive wingspans, hornbills are vital long-distance seed dispersers in tropical forests. But while a lot is known about the eating habits of hornbills, many mysteries still remain.
- A new study has compiled an open-source, publicly available database of Asian and New Guinean hornbill frugivory and seed dispersal research.
- The new resource aims to help researchers, students and conservation organizations pinpoint knowledge gaps so that they can target their efforts and limited resources.
- The new frugivory database could also prove useful for reforestation projects, many of which increasingly recognize the importance of planting food plants to attract natural seed dispersers, which in turn helps to further regenerate the forest.
Research shows the Caatinga is Brazil’s most efficient carbon capture biome
- Studies found that for every 100 metric tons of CO2 absorbed by dried-out forests in the semiarid area of Brazil’s northeasern region, 45-60 metric tons do not return to the atmosphere; in the Amazon Rainforest, the balance between carbon absorption and release ranges from 2-11%, compared with 23% in the Cerrado biome.
- According to researchers, the Caatinga’s vegetation stores 8,677 metric tons of carbon per square mile [3,350 per square kilometer], which can be released in the event of deforestation — a problem that increased by 2,500% from 2019 to2022, making the Caatinga Brazil’s third-most deforested biome.
- The solutions suggested to preserve the Caatinga include social carbon credit programs, new conservation units, and degraded areas recovered through agroecology.
Brazil takes pioneering action — and a vaccine — to rewild howler monkeys
- Brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba), endemic to the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and Argentina, became one of the 25 most threatened primate species following a yellow fever outbreak in late 2016.
- In response, Brazilian government agencies and other conservation organizations launched a nationwide population management plan, the first of its kind in the country, focused on coordinating captive facilities with experts who could relocate animals to areas where populations have vanished or declined.
- Nationwide management of howler monkeys was made possible by the adaptation of a vaccine — originally developed for humans — against the yellow fever virus.
- Howler reintroduction initiatives in Brazil have already begun showing signs of success.
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