Ecology is in the midst of a technological revolution. From tiny sensors that can be fitted to animals, to swarms of remotely-piloted drones, researchers have a host of new ways to study the natural world.
Many poachers continue to poach to improve their incomes, rather than just make ends meet.
Park guards view maps and photos of high-altitude glaciers – information that can be shared with local communities dealing with changing water levels.
Anne Toomey
Science can’t just stay in the ivory tower. But what does impact really mean and how does it happen? A study of more than a decade of ecological fieldwork projects in Bolivia suggests a better way.
The battle for the Franklin River runs far deeper than simply providing the backdrop for a political tug-of-war.
PETER DOMBROVSKIS/ LIZ DOMBROVSKIS/AAP
Essays on Air: how archaeology helped save the Franklin River
The Conversation23,2 MB(download)
The battle to save the Franklin River - an exhilarating story of politics, cultural heritage and passionate environmentalism - captivated the nation in 1983.
Young southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus obesulus), an endangered marsupial species living in outer Melbourne.
Sarah Maclagan
Some scientists want to replace ‘ecosystem services’ with ‘Nature’s Contributions to People’.
Attenborougharion rubicundus is one of more than a dozen species named after the legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Simon Grove/Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.
The illegal timber trade is a huge global business worth up to US$150 billion yearly. One way to curb it is by convincing consumers in wealthy countries that buying contraband wood products is wrong.
A grizzly bear looks up from its meal in British Columbia.
(Kyle Artelle)
Inbreeding and male infertility could be impeding the recovery of one of New Zealand’s threatened birds - the stitchbird, or hihi. Hihi sperm might hold the answer, and help raise funds for conservation.
Pastoralist communities, like the Maasai, and their animals live in “bomas” which protect them from wild animals.
Shutterstock/Papa Bravo
Kenya’s wildlife task force promises stakeholder participation needed for sustainable conservation.
The Victorian mountain ash forest has been severely affected by fires and logging. To determine the actual health of the forest, we need to look at the quality, not just the quantity of what remains.
Graeme/flickr
In the aftermath of fires or logging, conservation needs to focus on recovering the health of the remaining vegetation, not just the size of the forest or woodland.
Current protections for native forests are hopelessly out of date.
Graeme/Flickr
Agreements between the Commonwealth and state governments that protect native forests are based on hopelessly out-of-date information. It’s a huge mistake to renew them without assessment.
Three researchers studied the “crop raiders” of the Brazilian rainforest in the hope of aiding both local farmers and wildlife conservation.
Vegetation ‘thinning’ in Queensland - a practice that was originally designed to restore forests and woodlands to a ‘representative state’.
WWF-Australia
Queensland’s new draft land-clearing laws aim to put the brakes on years of environmental destruction. But the bill contains several loopholes that are likely to stymie progress.
The thorny devil, one of Australia’s many remarkable and unique animals.
Euan Ritchie
Much of the world’s ocean is teeming with ‘cryptic’ fish species, which are small and hard to spot. But a new technique shines a light on these fish, which may in turn help to keep our seas healthy.
Texas farmer Taylor Wilcox received USDA funding to flood his fallow rice fields, creating habitat for black-necked stilts and other birds.
USDA
The Agriculture Department provides nearly $6 billion annually for land, water and wildlife conservation on farms. President Trump’s 2019 budget drastically reduces funds for these programs.
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University