Newsroom
Biodiversity Matters
A compendium of news items from around the biodiversity conservation community.
- Biodiversity Loss: Detrimental to Your Health
- National Science Foundation press release, December 1, 2010
- Plant and animal extinctions are detrimental to your health. That's the conclusion of a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Nature by scientists who studied the link between biodiversity and infectious diseases.
- Les bryophytes rares du Québec. Espèces prioritaires pour la conservation.
Québec's rare bryophytes. Priority species for conservation. - Based upon NatureServe's global and national ranking system, the vast majority of Québec's rare bryophytes are at risk at the Canadian level, whereas only 38 of them can be considered as such at the global level. By cross-referencing our data with those from Québec's protected areas network, one notes that more than 80% of rare bryophyte species are located within a protected area, sheltering over a third of rare bryophytes species occurrences. This represents Québec's first effort to identify bryophyte species requiring protection. As a next step, these rare species will be added to the provincial list of threatened or vulnerable plant species, under Québec's Threatened or Vulnerable Species Act.
- Mapping Ecosystems, the Better to Conserve Them
- The New York Times, November 8, 2010
- Environmentalists have a special affinity for maps. Whether terrestrial or marine, the environment and its ills are tied to a geography that can be expressed in a rectilinear scale.
- A Standard for Species
- Nature, Sept. 30, 2010
- Delimitation of species is especially taxing when populations of similar organisms occupy non-overlapping geographical ranges. A new quantitative framework offers a consistent approach for tackling the problem.
- Report: Climate change could wipe out 40% of species in Arab world
- The Jordan times, June 30, 2010
- Arab countries will be devastated by climate change, which threatens to wipe out almost half of the species in the region and transform the Levant into an “infertile crescent”, warned a report released on Sunday.
- “Portfolio Effect” Key to Protecting Fish Species
- SeaWeb, June 15, 2010 (full article: Nature, June 3, 2010)
- For more than 50 years, the salmon fishery in Alaska's Bristol Bay has been one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States. Researchers now have solid evidence supporting a key reason for the bay's continued productivity: biological diversity.
- Learn more about the sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) at NatureServe Explorer.
- Stepped-up protection likely for state's flytraps
- Star-News, June 9, 2010
- North Carolina’s Plant Conservation Program is considering a “vulnerable” category for plants, such as the Venus’ flytrap, that are commercially exploited—poached—but not yet decimated to the point of qualifying as threatened under the state’s regulations.
- Learn more about the carnivorous Venus’ flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) at NatureServe Explorer.
- Protecting Nature, For People's Sake
- The Huffington Post, June 11, 2010
- Representatives from the World Resources Institute and French Ministry of Ecology call on finance ministers to realize that mounting devastation of ecosystems harms economic development, and to support the proposed Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which would give decision-makers access to the value of nature's services.
- Learn more about IPBES: check out the presentation given by Marc Magaud of the Embassy of France in the United States at the recent Biodiversity Without Boundaries.
- Shape Shifter
- Journal Watch Online, June 9, 2010 (full article: Biology Letters, April 2010)
- Dams may have a bigger effect on fish biodiversity than previously thought.
- Learn about blacktail shiners (Cyprinella venusta) at NatureServe Explorer.
- 7,000 Miles Nonstop, and No Pretzels
- The New York Times, May 24, 2010
- Researches apply the latest technology and discover amazing feats of endurance in several bird species, such as the bar-tailed godwit.
- Learn more about bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) at NatureServe Explorer.
- Interactive Oil Spill Map
- esri.com, May 19, 2010
- ESRI presents an interactive map that traces the Deepwater Horizon spill and user-added links, photos, etc.
- Global warming blamed for pattern of lizard deaths
- The Washington Post, May 14, 2010
- When it comes to the hazards of global warming, it may turn out that lizards in burrows are the canaries in the coal mine.
- Learn more about lizards of the Sceloporus genus at NatureServe Explorer.
- To Help Jaguars Survive, Ease Their Commute
- The New York Times, May 11, 2010
- Costa Rica and other countries have begun identifying and protecting corridors for jaguars and other large mammals.
- Learn more about jaguars (Panthera onca) in Central and South America at InfoNatura, and in North America at NatureServe Explorer.
- America's Great Outdoors to focus on U.S. conservation
- The Washington Post, April 16, 2010
- Entrance to all 392 national parks is free during National Park Week, April 17–25!
- National Park Service, April 14, 2010
- NatureServe is helping the National Park Service create a web guide to natural communities in the parks—learn more about the project!
- Student Conference on Conservation Science: November 3–5, 2010, New York City
- Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, April 13, 2010
- The Loss of Species: Mangrove Extinction Risk and Geographic Areas of Global Concern
- Public Library of Science, April 13, 2010
- Learn about mangrove species in the U.S. at NatureServe Explorer.
- Trees in Retreat: Land-Use Pressure and a Transition to Forest-Cover Loss in the Eastern United States
- Journal Watch Online, April 9, 2010 (full article: BioScience, April 2010)
- The Barometer of Life
- Science, April 9, 2010
- Citizen science in full flight
- The News & Observer, March 29, 2010
- Learn about the barred owl (Strix varia) at NatureServe Explorer.
- See more citizen science in action: eBird and USA National Phenology Network.
- Forests growing back in U.S. face man-made tests
- Washington Post, April 5, 2010
- Natural Landscapes of Maine: A Guide to Natural Communities and Ecosystems
- A new book from the Maine Natural Areas Program, a member of the NatureServe network
- Whooping cranes will be tracked with GPS units to study their habits and hazards
- Washington Post, March 30, 2010
- Learn about the whooping crane (Grus americana) at NatureServe Explorer.
- Editorial: Biodiversity is Our Life
- Science, March 18, 2010
- EBM Tools Network cited among Cutting-edge Learning Resources
- IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, March 6, 2010
- Study Finds Cross-Border Cooperation Reduces Conservation Costs by 45%
- Treehugger, December 31, 2009