You’d be hard pressed to find many people who hold ants in high regard. That might be due to their destructive behaviour towards lawns, their ability to infest your house in no time at all, or a willingness…
In some parts of Queensland, half the plant species may be displaced.
Laura Thorn
Climate change will place increasing pressure on Australia’s natural environments in the future. Queensland is no exception. CSIRO and the Queensland Government recently conducted an in-depth review and…
Biodiversity supports all life on Earth…including yours.
Bas Boerman
“Why should I care about biodiversity?” This is a valid question, particularly in a world that faces a changing climate. In addition, there are other things to worry about such as global food shortages…
It appears that biodiversity increases during warmer periods in Earth’s history.
Dom Dada/Flickr
In 2008, I and my colleagues published a study which appeared to confirm that current global warming could cause large losses of species and a loss of biodiversity. Four years later and a new approach…
A new CSIRO report calls for a rethink on national parks management in the face of climate change.
AAP
The government must consider expanding the network of protected national parks and reserves in order to address a climate change-driven loss of biodiversity, argue the authors of a new report from the…
While the number and extent of protected areas has increased, the impact on biodiversity isn’t yet known.
Flickr/Tony Rodd
Welcome to The Conversation’s series on megatrends, exploring the compelling economic, social, environmental, political and technological issues facing Australia, as part of the CSIRO’s new report, Our…
Amidst all the heat and noise of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the release of WWF’s Ecological Footprint analysis for Australia in May went largely unheralded in the general media…
No simple matter: logging and conservation are not polar opposites, and controlled harvesting can fund the protection of forests.
AAP/Greenpeace/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert
Is there a role for logging in ensuring the future of the world’s tropical forests and their rich diversity of plants and animals? For many this idea is absurd, because timber production achieving conservation…
Extinct: the Christmas Island Pipistrelle.
Lindy Lumsden
When it comes to mammal extinctions, Australia’s track record over the last 200 years has been abysmal. Since European settlement, nearly half of the world’s mammalian extinctions have occurred in Australia…
To know how to ease the damage we do, we must first take stock of the natural world. New Zealand does; Australia does not.
Flickr/borkazoid
In 1992-93, 168 countries including Australia and New Zealand signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) acknowledging an urgent need to halt ongoing decline in the planet’s biodiversity. In its…
Tangled up in ourselves: facing up to the fundamental shortcomings of our intellect and science is necessary if we are to limit the damage we do.
Flickr/sergiohs391
The splendour of nature diminishes day by day despite the strenuous efforts of ecologists and all manner of scientific understandings and interventions. Biodiversity is in decline, and crucial resources…
Hard numbers: less than 1% of the world’s oceans are protected but marine scientists think 20% should be off-limits to fishing.
AAP/Lloyd Jones
As a marine scientist, I welcome Senator Burke’s brave decision today to roll out Australia’s marine park system. This puts us on a par with other leading nations like the US and UK who have established…
Darkness visible: we’re driving animals to extinction, burning through resources, and throwing out natural balances, yet consumption still reigns.
Flickr/NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
State of the Future 2012, a quick introduction What is the “state of the future”? How successfully are we tackling global challenges threatening our collective future? These questions are asked annually…
Back, sperm, back: a human egg on the tip of a pin.
Flickr/wellcome images
Elephants in the room, part two For all our schemes and mantras about making our lives environmentally “sustainable”, humanity’s assault on the planet not only continues but expands. What are the deep…
The treetops of prehistoric Australia were populated by herds of Nimbadon, sheep-sized marsupials distantly related to the…
Given our neo-Platonic visions of universal ecologies, when it comes to restoring waterways we’re up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
Flickr/Annadriel
I’ve been away in the UK for a few years – and what do I find when I come back? In the Murray Darling we are still arguing over inputs (the amount of water to be returned to the river) instead of focusing…
Biodiversity and farming are uneasy bedfellows: a lonely tree in a canola field in Western Australia.
Flickr/augustusoz
Biodiversity and farming go head to head in two R&D projects that I have a hand in. The struggles to both feed the swelling ranks of humanity and save our continent’s natural splendour are so often…
Our thinly spread efforts to prop up the environment are failing and it is time for tough decisions about what we can realistically preserve.
Flickr/rexboggs5
Australian farmers take pride in their efficient and productive farming systems, competing in the global economy and without many of the large subsidies given to their counterparts in Europe and North…
Our teeming attack on the natural world threatens to turn the wilderness into a fetish item.
AAP/The Wilderness Society
Elephants in the room, part one For all our schemes and mantras about making this or that part of our lives environmentally “sustainable”, humanity’s assault on the planet not only continues but expands…
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University