We’re going to have to adapt to climate change, but some of the options on the table could do more harm than good if they destroy the ecosystems that protect us.
The world’s driest areas are tipped to get even drier, with potentially worrying implications for soil productivity.
The world’s ‘drylands’ – already home to 38% of the world’s people – are set to dry out even more. And that could harm the soil microbes that keep soils healthy and help crops to grow.
Near threatened: The Tasmanian Bettong (Bettongia gaimardi) is now part of a plan to save the species and restore a wider conservation area at Mulligans Flat.
Wikimedia/JJ Harrison
Most wildlife plays a key role in any ecosystem. So when one becomes extinct, it can impact their habitat. And we’re now finding we may have lost more species in Australia than first thought.
View of Port Jackson, Fort Macquarie and part of Sydney Cove, in 1836.
Govett, William Romaine/National Library
In many parts of the world, Christmas and mistletoe are inextricably intertwined. But in the natural world, mistletoe has long fascinated naturalists and scientists.
Is the “end of the world” the best way to understand our ecological woes?
chiotsrun/flickr
With El Niño ramping up, Australia is in for a long, hot, dry summer - perfect conditions for blue-green algae. And that innocuous-looking pond scum can pack a toxic punch if you’re not careful.
Just doing their bit for the ecosystem.
jjmusgrove
Viewing human migration through the lens of natural history makes one thing clear: society needs to prepare for more migrations of people and the species we depend on.
For decades, canals were an unloved relic of industrial Britain – but people power has brought them back to life.
Ugandans living in rural areas are being driven off their land by corporations developing tree plantations to offset their carbon footprint.
Shutterstock
Far from the expected development, forestry plantations and other carbon market initiatives in Uganda have severely compromised ecologies and livelihoods of the local people.
Many ecosystems have changed so radically that it is no longer possible to restore them to what they once were and in other situations it is not appropriate.
Secretary birds are identified by South Africa’s early warning system as being fast headed towards extinction.
https://hdwallpapers.cat/secretary_bird_speaking_pretty_calling_hd-wallpaper-531535/
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University