Category Archives: Ecosystems

How a multi-stakeholder project, MOCUPP, is moving Costa Rica towards sustainable practices to protect the country’s biodiversity Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places in the world, containing nearly 6 percent of global biodiversity. As a result, its ecosystem provides a range of services, including wood and timber, plants and fruits, among many […]

A lush canopy is a defining characteristic of most forests on the planet. But canopy-forming species can be particularly vulnerable to disturbance and environmental change – even forests that lie under the sea. But what is a forest without its trees? Researchers from the University of Virginia and the University of California, Santa Barbara are […]

Paleontologist François Therrien measures the jaws of a Gorgosaurus. Royal Tyrrell Museum tyrannosaurus rex may be the most perfect dinosaur name ever invented. What else would you call a carnivorous, bipedal reptile that could grow to over 40 feet in length and weigh over nine tons? The size and apparent ferocity of T. rex was […]

Bob Shriver, assistant professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, focuses his teaching and research on understanding and predicting how local plant population demographics, such as survival and growth, respond to climate, disturbance and human management. As part of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources, Shriver’s work centers on restoration […]

Minnesota authorities have called on aquarium owners to stop releasing pet fish into waterways, after several huge goldfish were pulled from a local lake. Officials in Burnsville, about 15 miles south of Minneapolis, said released goldfish can grow several times their normal size and wreak havoc on native species. “Please don’t release your goldfish into […]

It’s “our last chance to avert climate catastrophe, reverse the deadly tide of pollution, and halt species loss.” The planet’s ecosystems, from forests to grasslands to coral reefs, are in a precarious state. If we continue to cut down trees, turn grasslands into farmland and decimate coral reefs, many ecosystems will soon reach a point […]

Summary This policy brief highlights how human health is directly linked to the state of biodiversity and climate change in the Asia-Pacific region. Improving human health and mitigating future health disasters requires addressing these causal factors simultaneously in an integrated manner. The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, transmitted from animals to humans. Zoonotic […]

By Ayesha Tandon New research shows that lake “stratification periods” – a seasonal separation of water into layers – will last longer in a warmer climate. These longer stratification periods could have “far-reaching implications” for lake ecosystems, according to the article, and can lead to toxic algal blooms, fish kills and increased methane emissions. The […]

According to a study, only 3% of the world’s land remains ecologically intact with healthy populations of all its native animals and undisturbed habitat. These fragments of wilderness undamaged by human activities are mainly found in parts of the rainforests of the Amazon and Congo, the forests and tundra of eastern Siberia and northern Canada […]

By Charlie Shield After the novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, it didn’t take long for conspiracy theorists to claim it was made in a nearby lab. The scientific consensus, on the other hand, is that the virus – SARS-CoV-2 – is a zoonotic disease that jumped from animals to humans. […]

Oil-coated water droplets are mini-ecosystems for microbes by Timothy Oleson Tuesday December 9th, 2014 Oil rising from underground is solidifying into asphalt over much of Pitch Lake on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. In places, it also reaches the surface in liquid form. Credit: Rainer Meckenstock. Dark, muddy oil may not seem like a suitable […]