Sea snakes spend their lives in the water, giving birth to live young at sea, so why are they only found in some of the world’s oceans? The answer lies in a combination of climate and geography.
Toque macaques in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka.
(Shutterstock)
Future initiatives for conservation mainly depend on the proper co-ordination of scientists, governments, conservation groups and the media, especially when corruption is close by.
Author Tom Iliffe leads scientists on a cave dive.
Jill Heinerth
Does big data threaten how humans explore the natural world? We need to protect our impulses to observe, compare, play, discover and love, no matter what technological capabilities are available.
Alexander Weir, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
The global mushroom industry is worth $35 billion yearly and growing. But mushrooms and other fungi play important ecological roles that scientists are still learning about – and some may be endangered.
Peruvian potatoes and black corn.
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Over half the calories humans eat today come from corn, wheat and rice. Raising a greater diversity of types of crops and animals (agrobiodiversity) makes diets healthier and farming more resilient.
Seagrass is a nursery ground for fish.
Luis R. Rodriguez
Humans - the very “carriers” who can spread dangerous microbes unthinkingly from their equipment and shoes - can instead become the first line of defence against a possible microscopic invasion.
A long-term monitoring project in Simpson Desert provides crucial information about the ecosystem.
Mina Guli/Flickr
Australia is among seven countries contributing to more than half of the world’s biodiversity loss. Yet next month, a crucial network of long-term research sites will lose funding.
Sulawesi, part of the biogeographical region of Wallacea, is home to tarsiers – tiny, goggle-eyed creatures look more like mammalian tree frogs than monkeys.
Ondrej Prosicky/www.shutterstock.com
The government aims to dramatically reduce the areas offered full protection and expand zones where fishing is allowed, while also claiming that this will still deliver good conservation.
Adélie penguin at the Mt Siple breeding colony, West Antarctica.
Jasmine Lee
Climate change is set to expand Antarctica’s ice-free area, potentially helping native species to flourish but also paving the way for invasive species to gain a foothold.
The High Line in New York City, a former elevated railroad trestle converted to a public park.
Shinya Suzuki/Flickr
In an urbanizing world, people increasingly are seeking out nature in cities. Research shows that diverse species of animals, plants and insects can thrive in areas that humans have altered.
Gyala Peri and Namcha Barwa - Tibet.
梁逸晨/wikimedia
The theory that New Caledonia was a piece of land that separated from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana was a seductive one. But then a cockroach rose up to challenge it.
Hundreds of large old trees were removed when the Hume Highway was widened.
Brian Yap/Flickr
When the Hume Highway was widened, hundreds of nest boxes were installed to replace habitat for three threatened species. Four years of monitoring has concluded the program is entirely unsuccessful.
Dingoes can help manage devastating red fox and feral cat numbers, but only if we let enough of them live in key areas.
Bobby Tamayo
Dingoes and wolves can help control destructive smaller predators, new research shows, but only if we encourage them across wide areas.
The Pinocchio anole lizard (Anolis probiscis) was first described in Ecuador in 1953, then believed to have become extinct until it was rediscovered in 2005.
Javier Abalos Alvarez/Flickr
‘Doom and gloom’ messages about nature are less effective than positive ones. The Lost & Found project tells the stories of creatures thought long gone but eventually rediscovered.
The declining fishing yield in the Lake Tanganyika region is being exacerbated by an influx of refugees.
Reuters/Sala Lewis
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University