Environmental News Agency

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  • More than 3,000 shark fins confiscated in Colombia
    Thousands of shark fins were confiscated by Colombian authorities before they could be illegally shipped to Hong Kong, officials said.
  • Are domesticated oysters less prepared for climate change?
    Pacific oyster faming is a multi-billion dollar industry, but there are strong concerns about the ability of oyster larvae to develop properly and survive in future ocean acidification scenarios. A recent study from University of Gothenburg shows that long-term breeding might reduce the genetic response to experimental ocean acidification in oyster larvae. The capacity to adapt to future environments could thus be impaired.
  • Diversity matters: Species richness keeps ecosystems running
    Microorganisms, plants, and animals accomplish great feats every day. For example, by decomposing material, producing plant biomass, or pollinating flowers, they keep nature 'up and running," thereby securing the livelihood of humans. Numerous studies have shown that a high biodiversity can have a positive impact on these as well as on other ecosystem functions.
  • New agreements needed now to improve food systems
    In 2020, between 720 and 811 million people suffered from hunger, and almost as many (768 million) were malnourished. Two billion people did not get enough essential nutrients and vitamins due to unbalanced diets or a lack of fresh food. At the same time, the number of overweight (1.9 billion) and obese (650 million) people is increasing worldwide. This gross contradiction makes it all the more urgent to change the food system. Poor people in particular are eating more and more unhealthily. According to the UNFSS Scientific Group, a wide variety of […]
  • Video: How lemur research can help endangered species
    Research scientists Marina Blanco, Ph.D. and Lydia Greene, Ph.D. study lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina (home to the largest population of lemurs outside of Madagascar). Some people might assume that they do this just to hang out with these adorable primates all day, but the truth is that this research could be critical to the survival of some of the world's most endangered mammals.
  • Complete Chloroplast Genome Variants Reveal Discrete Long-Distance Dispersal Routes of Rhizophora in the Western Indian Ocean
    Historical processes of long-distance migration and ocean-wide expansion feature the global biogeographic pattern of Rhizophora species. Throughout the Indian Ocean, Rhizophora stylosa and Rhizophora mucronata seem to be a young phylogenetic group with an expansion of R. mucronata toward the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) driven by the South Equatorial Current (SEC). Nuclear microsatellites revealed genetic patterns and breaks; however, the estimation of propagule dispersal routes requires maternally inherited cytoplasmic markers. Here, we examine the phylogeography of 21 R. mucronata provenances across a >4,200 km coastal stretch in the WIO using R. stylosa […]
  • Papua New Guinea: A Potential Refuge for Threatened Indo–Pacific River Sharks and Sawfishes
    The conservation of threatened elasmobranchs in tropical regions is challenging due to high local reliance on aquatic and marine resources. Due primarily to fishing pressure, river sharks (Glyphis) and sawfishes (Pristidae) have experienced large population declines in the Indo-Pacific. Papua New Guinea (PNG) may offer a refuge for these species, as human population density is low, and river shark and sawfish populations are thought to persist. However, few data are available on these species in PNG, and risk posed by small-scale fishers is poorly understood. This study observed elasmobranch catches in small-scale […]
  • Post-release Movement Behaviour and Survival of Kulan Reintroduced to the Steppes and Deserts of Central Kazakhstan
    Asiatic wild ass, or kulan (Equus hemionus kulan) were once a key species of the Eurasian steppes and deserts. In Kazakhstan they went extinct by the 1930s. Early reintroductions have reestablished the species in two protected areas, but the species has reclaimed
  • A Framework for Estimating Human-Wildlife Conflict Probabilities Conditional on Species Occupancy
    Managing human-wildlife conflicts (HWCs) is an important conservation objective for the many terrestrial landscapes dominated by humans. Forecasting where future conflicts are likely to occur and assessing risks to lives and livelihoods posed by wildlife are central to informing HWC management strategies. Existing assessments of the spatial occurrence patterns of HWC are based on either understanding spatial patterns of past conflicts or patterns of species distribution. In the former case, the absence of conflicts at a site cannot be attributed to the absence of the species. In the latter case, the presence […]
  • Social Effectiveness and Human-Wildlife Conflict: Linking the Ecological Effectiveness and Social Acceptability of Livestock Protection Tools
    Human-wildlife interactions are embedded within socio-ecological systems (SES), in which animal behavior and human decision-making reciprocally interact. While a growing body of research addresses specific social and ecological elements of human-wildlife interactions, including conflicts, integrating these approaches is essential for identifying practical and effective solutions. Carnivore predation on livestock can threaten human livelihoods, weaken relationships among stakeholders, and precipitate carnivore declines. As carnivores have received greater protection in recent decades, researchers and managers have sought non-lethal tools to reduce predation and promote coexistence between livestock producers and carnivores. For these tools to […]
  • Tree Mortality Risks Under Climate Change in Europe: Assessment of Silviculture Practices and Genetic Conservation Networks
    General Context: Climate change can positively or negatively affect abiotic and biotic drivers of tree mortality. Process-based models integrating these climatic effects are only seldom used at species distribution scale.Objective: The main objective of this study was to investigate the multi-causal mortality risk of five major European forest tree species across their distribution range from an ecophysiological perspective, to quantify the impact of forest management practices on this risk and to identify threats on the genetic conservation network.Methods: We used the process-based ecophysiological model CASTANEA to simulate the mortality risk of Fagus […]
  • Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic
    Arctic breeding songbirds migrate early in the spring and can face winter environments requiring cold endurance throughout their journey. One such species, the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is known for its significant thermogenic capacity. Empirical studies suggest that buntings can indeed maintain winter cold acclimatization into the migratory and breeding phenotypes when kept captive on their wintering grounds. This capacity could be advantageous not only for migrating in a cold environment, but also for facing unpredictable Arctic weather on arrival and during preparation for breeding. However, migration also typically leads to declines […]
  • Biogeography Meets Niche Modeling: Inferring the Role of Deep Time Climate Change When Data Is Limited
    Geographic range shifts are one major organism response to climate change, especially if the rate of climate change is higher than that of species adaptation. Ecological niche models (ENM) and biogeographic inferences are often used in estimating the effects of climatic oscillations on species range dynamics. ENMs can be used to track climatic suitable areas over time, but have often been limited to shallow timescales; biogeographic inference can reach greater evolutionary depth, but often lacks spatial resolution. Here, we present a simple approach that treats them as independent and complementary sources of […]
  • In a Neotropical Periurban Park, Fruit Consumption by Birds Seems to Be a Random Process
    Frugivory interactions between birds and fruit-bearing plants are shaped by the abundance of its interacting species, their temporal overlap, the matching of their morphologies, as well as fruit and seed characteristics. Our study evaluates the role of seven factors of fruits and plants in determining the frequency of whole-fruit consumption by birds. We studied the frugivory network of a Neotropical periurban park in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, and quantified relative abundance and phenology of birds and fruit, as well as fruit morphology, chromatic and achromatic contrast, and nutritional content. Using a maximum likelihood […]
  • Microplastics in Florida, United States: A Case Study of Quantification and Characterization With Intertidal Snails
    Concentrations of microplastics are increasing within the oceans, including waters surrounding Florida, United States. Miles of sandy beaches make the sunshine state a prime tourist destination leading to an increased amount of pollution along Florida coasts. Microplastics can cause damage to intertidal organisms, as well as causing issues up the food chain with biomagnification and seafood consumers, such as humans. Florida is also subject to hurricanes which often distribute sediments, filling the water column with previously settled microplastics. These factors make Florida a special case to review considering the state is affected […]
  • Taking the Complex Dynamics of Human–Environment–Technology Systems Seriously: A Case Study in Doctoral Education at the University of Luxembourg
    Our existential sustainability challenges involve human–environment–technology systems that are complex, dynamic and tightly coupled. But at Universities, knowledge, in teaching and research, is mostly organized into discrete parcels, the disciplines. These are further divided into the categories of natural sciences, social science and the humanities. This paper addresses the question of how in their training of researchers, universities can equip them to better understand their roles and also to act as change agents. It describes a doctoral school course in transferable skills that is offered across faculties. The unique aim of the […]
  • Serious Games in Secondary Education to Introduce Circular Economy: Experiences With the Game EcoCEO
    The concept of the circular economy is being proposed as an alternative for the current linear economy. However, little research has been done on how to integrate this topic within education. Serious games are suggested as an appropriate way to create awareness about and stimulate behavioral change toward sustainable development. Therefore, the serious game ecoCEO has been developed to introduce the circular economy concept within upper secondary education. The game's intention is to introduce students to the challenge of resource scarcity, circular product design, sustainable entrepreneurship and circular business models. EcoCEO has […]
  • Experiential Learning of Local Relational Tasks for Global Sustainable Development by Using a Behavioral Simulation
    The interdependent character of sustainability challenges calls for collaboration among actors with different capabilities, interests, and knowledge frames. Behavioral simulations offer good opportunities to learn about dealing with these differences. They are based on an “experiential learning” approach that integrates the direct experience of the participants during a simulation exercise with reflection, theorizing, and acting. As such the simulation is able to mobilize the “minds, hearts, and hands” of the participants to stimulate not only cognitive, but also affective and moral learning in an embodied way. This is considered of utmost importance […]
  • Towards Fully Purposing Universities to Deliver Public Benefit
    In leadership positions at UCL, we have spent more than a decade seeking to fulfil our university's founding commitment—inspired almost two centuries ago by the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham—to innovation, accessibility, and relevance for the benefit of humanity. Our guiding principle has been to make our institution and its activities greater than the sum of its parts. To enable us to have most impact in “sustainable human progress,” we have focused our approach on cross-disciplinarity—by which we mean collaboration between experts in different disciplines that transcends subject boundaries—because the problems faced by […]
  • Development of Online Needs-Based Workshop Support System in a Pandemic
    The sustainable development goals, adopted in 2015, include achievement of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns as the 12th goal. To achieve SCP patterns, it is necessary not only to reduce environmental load caused by production and manufacturing but also to improve the sufficiency of fundamental human needs and the quality of life of consumers. The living-sphere approach aims to design products for a target living sphere by determining the sufficiency of fundamental human needs among local residents through products using the fundamental human needs framework proposed by Max-Neef. This framework consists […]
  • To save our planet, let’s embrace nature-positive solutions
    Discussions on addressing the climate crisis and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic often ignore the most critical tool we have: nature. The IUCN World Conservation Congress is one of several global meetings scheduled for the coming months that could determine the fate of our planet. As the conservation community gathers in Marseille, IUCN Members must back ambitious plans to protect existing intact ecosystems, restore degraded ones, and invest in natural infrastructure; writes Cristián Samper, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an IUCN Member organisation.
  • The time is now for natural sponges
    The catastrophic European floods in July 2021 demonstrated the urgent need to deploy landscape level nature-based solutions that make people and property safer. Solutions, such as the “natural sponge” concept, which involves restoring the absorptive capacity of soils in Europe’s upper valley have to be recognised, designed, and applied. The time to embrace the potential of natural sponges and scale up the investment in nature-based solutions for people and the environment is now; writes Jane Madgwick, CEO of Wetlands International, an IUCN Member organisation.
  • Post-2020 global biodiversity framework emphasises ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach
    We depend on nature, but are we doing enough to ensure that commitments made to conserving and restoring nature are delivered on the ground? Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will soon agree the post-2020 global biodiversity framework to guide future conservation, and scale up efforts to make our economies more equitable and sustainable. But governments cannot do this in isolation. Only by working outside silos, and across sectors, can we achieve the targets of an ambitious framework and a life in harmony with nature; writes Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, […]
  • Food security should open the conversation about biodiversity for coral reef-dependent countries
    As noted in IUCN Resolution 105 (WCC-2020-Res-105) the world has already lost 50% of its coral reefs and time is running out to prevent more from disappearing. This loss is largely due to climate change and more acidic waters, pollution, sedimentation, overfishing and destructive fishing practices. All nations must work hard to preserve the critical ecosystem services provided by coral reefs. Our very survival, especially those of us from Small Island Developing States (SIDS), is directly linked to the health of our reefs; writes Jean Wiener of Fondation pour la Protection de […]
  • We live in times of planetary crisis and opportunity: our biggest chance to course-correct is now and a robust and inclusive global biodiversity framework is key
    Many governments and companies have committed to ambitious action to tackle nature loss, but we have yet to see this translate into the global biodiversity framework negotiations. The environmental crisis is also a humanitarian crisis, so a robust and inclusive framework is our best chance to secure a safer and better future for all; writes Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, an IUCN Member organisation.
  • Functioning of terrestrial ecosystems is governed by three main factors
    A large international research team has identified three key indicators that together summarize the integrative function of terrestrial ecosystems: 1. the capacity to maximize primary productivity, 2. the efficiency of using water, and 3. the efficiency of using carbon. The monitoring of these key indicators will allow a description of ecosystem function that shapes the ability to adapt, survive and thrive in response to climatic and environmental changes.
  • Loss of picky-eating fish threatens coral reef food webs
    The networks of predator fish and their prey found on coral reefs all over the world are remarkably similar, and those predator fish are pickier eaters than previously thought. These delicate ecosystems become even more vulnerable when these specialized hunters go extinct.
  • Coral reef biodiversity predicted to shuffle rather than collapse as climate changes
    Most coral reef biodiversity consists of tiny organisms living deep within the three-dimensional reef matrix. New research reveals that the species which dominate experimental coral reef communities shift due to climate change, but the total biodiversity does not decline under future ocean conditions of warming and acidification predicted by the end of the century.
  • Coral reefs are 50% less able to provide food, jobs, and climate protection than in 1950s, putting millions at risk
    The capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services such as food and jobs, relied on by millions of people worldwide, has declined by half since the 1950s, according to a new study. Other findings are equally bleak: the authors found that global coverage of living corals had declined by about half since the 1950s and consequently, the diversity of species had also declined, by more than 60 per cent. Finding targets for recovery and climate adaptation would require a global effort, while also addressing needs at a local level, authors say.
  • Climate change threatens base of polar oceans' bountiful food webs
    The cold polar oceans give rise to some of the largest food webs on Earth. And at their base are microscopic, photosynthetic algae. But human-induced climate change, a new study suggests, is displacing these important cold-water communities of algae with warm-adapted ones, a trend that threatens to destabilize the delicate marine food web and change the oceans as we know them.
  • Observations confirm that aerosols formed from plant emitted compounds can make clouds brighter
    An observational study confirms a prevailing theory that volatile organic compounds emitted by vegetation form atmospheric aerosols which make clouds more reflective.
  • If endangered primates disappear, so will their parasites. That's actually a problem
    People are more aware of the plight of endangered gorillas than of gorillas' gut worms, and are understandably more enamored with mouse lemurs than their mites. Half of the world's roughly 500 primate species are at risk of extinction due to human activities such as hunting, trapping and deforestation. But the demise of the world's threatened primates could also trigger even more extinctions for the parasites that lurk within them, finds a new study.
  • Non-native fish are main consumers of salmon in reservoirs
    When warmwater fish species like bass, walleye and crappie that are not native to the Pacific Northwest, but prized by some anglers, overlap with baby spring chinook salmon in reservoirs in Oregon's Willamette River they consume more baby salmon than native fish per individual, new research found.
  • Desert teamwork explains global pattern of co-operation in birds
    A new study from the Kalahari Desert finds that teamwork allows birds to cope with brutally unpredictable environments.
  • Functioning of terrestrial ecosystems is governed by three main factors
    A large international research team has identified three key indicators that together summarize the integrative function of terrestrial ecosystems: 1. the capacity to maximize primary productivity, 2. the efficiency of using water, and 3. the efficiency of using carbon. The monitoring of these key indicators will allow a description of ecosystem function that shapes the ability to adapt, survive and thrive in response to climatic and environmental changes.