Rebuilding the Natural World: A Shift in Ecological Restoration
From forests in Queens to wetlands in China, planners and scientists are promoting a new approach that incorporates experiments into landscape restoration projects to determine what works to the long-term benefit of nature and what does not…
Kerala Throttling its Golden Goose
Kerala’s backwaters, a tourist hotspot, are made up of a 1,500-km waterway network of canals, lagoons, lakes and rivers that run parallel to the Arabian Sea and are fed by both saline and fresh water, contributing to a unique ecosystem. Many areas in these wetlands are below sea level, allowing sea water to flow inwards.
Lionfish Decimating Caribbean Reefs
The lionfish, believed to have been introduced to the Atlantic coast by aquarium lovers in the 1980s, will likely wipe out most Caribbean reef fish in a decade or two. As a result, many corals that depend on herbivore fish will die and eventually turn to rubble, making shorelines more vulnerable to waves just as global warming is lifting sea levels.
Effects of nuclear tests in French Polynesia remains a major concern
France conducted nearly 200 nuclear tests in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996. The French Government has admitted in the past it’s possible the Mururoa atoll could cave in because it has been sapped by the underground tests.
Global Forest Watch: Dynamic New Platform to Protect Forests Worldwide
A new website, Global Forest Watch, will allow governments, businesses, civil society and private citizens to monitor near real-time loss and gain in forest cover in every country around the world.
Coastal Erosion And Fragile Ecosystems In The Mediterranean
A map from the State of the “Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Environment collection 2013.
Mass Sea Star Deaths Off US West Coast Puzzle Scientists
Starfish have been mysteriously dying by the millions in recent months along the US west coast, worrying biologists who say the sea creatures are key to the marine ecosystem.
Rainforests in Far East shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years
New research shows that the tropical forests of South East Asia have been shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years. The rain forests of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Thailand and Vietnam were previously thought to have been largely unaffected by humans, but the latest research suggests otherwise.
Sydney’s Bald Reef Gets a Seaweed Transplant
Seaweed transplants could help revive an underwater forest off the coast of Sydney, Australia, that was wiped out by sewage dumping decades earlier, a new study suggests.