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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=pollinators&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/pollinators/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2026 17:02:47 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Pollinators</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/pollinators/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>If we don’t start counting insect populations, we won’t know what we&#8217;re losing (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/if-we-dont-start-counting-insect-populations-we-wont-know-what-were-losing-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/if-we-dont-start-counting-insect-populations-we-wont-know-what-were-losing-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2026 15:54:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Prayan Pokharel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/06134017/Coleoptera_SMNK_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334400</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Insects, Invertebrates, Orchids, Plants, Pollinators, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Panchase Protected Forest, in the hills above Nepal’s second city of Pokhara, is known among botanists as an orchid haven. Hundreds of species grow there, many of them found nowhere else in Nepal. I have been working in Panchase for some time now, starting with the insects that live on mistletoes, trying to understand who [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Panchase Protected Forest, in the hills above Nepal’s second city of Pokhara, is known among botanists as an orchid haven. Hundreds of species grow there, many of them found nowhere else in Nepal. I have been working in Panchase for some time now, starting with the insects that live on mistletoes, trying to understand who is there, what they are doing, how they connect to the plants around them. It is slow, careful work and one of the things it has taught me is how little we know, not just about Panchase but about insects in Nepal generally. We do not have a proper picture of what is there. We are still, in many parts of this country, at the very beginning of asking the question. Nobody, for instance, has properly studied the pollinators of Panchase&#8217;s orchids. Those relationships exist, they have existed for thousands of years, but they are undocumented. We do not know which insects visit which flowers, which ones are essential, and which are incidental. That work is still ahead of us. Orchids like this large group growing on a tree in Nepal&#8217;s Panchase Forest need insects, too. This protected area is home to 142 orchid species from 52 genera. Image courtesy of Kumar Paudel/Greenhood Nepal. I think about this every monsoon season, when the rivers rise and the news fills with the same images: fields gone under, families on rooftops, roads washed away. The death tolls come in. The damage figures follow. And then, a few&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/if-we-dont-start-counting-insect-populations-we-wont-know-what-were-losing-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/if-we-dont-start-counting-insect-populations-we-wont-know-what-were-losing-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334400</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ancient Maya knowledge helps Guatemalan farmers cut agrochemical use</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 11:05:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/09105544/Actividad-control-de-plagas-y-preparacion-de-insecticidas-caseros-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320767</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crops, Farming, Indigenous Peoples, Pesticides, Pollinators, Soil Carbon, Solutions, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the mountain villages of Guatemala’s Western Highlands, farmers are combining ancient Maya knowledge with modern sustainable farming techniques to protect their crops from pests and disease. Smallholders are creating homemade biopesticides using plants with strong smells and flavors to deter pests on their family plots. This is helping to cut back on the use [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the mountain villages of Guatemala’s Western Highlands, farmers are combining ancient Maya knowledge with modern sustainable farming techniques to protect their crops from pests and disease. Smallholders are creating homemade biopesticides using plants with strong smells and flavors to deter pests on their family plots. This is helping to cut back on the use of increasingly expensive agrochemicals, many of which have been labeled as dangerous to human health and linked to soil degradation. About 60 Guatemalan communities in the Western Highland departments of Sololá and Huehuetenango, as well as Chiquimula in the east, are working to revive these traditional techniques with support from the international development organization World Neighbors. Their focus is to restore and strengthen traditional knowledge, combining it with agroecological practices that help families produce surplus food they can sell to boost household incomes. “Traditional farming techniques are becoming popular because they are simple practices to apply, use local resources, and have proven to be effective,” Dayani Roche, a program associate at World Neighbors, told Mongabay via email. Rather than a single ancient recipe, farmers are using “a living combination of ancestral knowledge, local experimentation and more recent agroecological practices,” he said, which are “safer for families, soil, water and biodiversity than many chemical alternatives.” The Maya civilization, which once stretched across modern-day Central America, had a rich history of farming dating back to 2000 B.C.E. Its most celebrated agriculture system is the milpa, a form of intercropping that involves a mix of maize, beans and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320767</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon&#8217;s stingless bee propolis shows potent healing power, studies show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Dec 2025 07:30:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lucas Berti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/12142842/153800040o-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309389</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Business, Conservation, Environment, Pollinators, Rainforests, Reforestation, Sustainability, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fueled by açaí flowers, a bee's resin once used for war wounds is now evolving as a new ingredient for cosmetics.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Açaí’s deep purple pulp is widely considered a “superfood” for its antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. The berry grows naturally in the Amazon and has become a star for the rainforest’s bioeconomy, reaping more than $1 billion worldwide. Now, a growing body of research is showing that its antioxidant properties are not exclusive to the berry and are also present in its neighbors. A study by scientists from Brazil’s agricultural research company, Embrapa, in partnership with the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), has shed light on the pharmaceutical potential of a cream formulated with propolis produced by native Amazonian stingless honeybees, known as meliponines. The experts identified healing and anti-inflammatory properties of substances sourced from the propolis (a resinous substance collected by honeybees from tree buds, used by them to fill crevices and to seal and varnish honeycombs) of the species Scaptotrigona aff. postica, popularly known in the northern Brazilian region and nearby areas as abelha-canudo. According to the findings, dermatological tests showed results comparable to those of healing ointments available in average cosmetic markets, giving positive perspectives for the creation of by-products. “The propolis-based cream directly influenced the lesion maturation process and exhibited a milder inflammatory response,” according to the study, published in October 2024, while describing that “biopharmaceuticals such as propolis-based creams offer advantages such as minimal side effects, low chemical residues, and negligible preservatives.” Despite being far less numerous and well-known than their more famous stinging “cousins” — particularly for not producing honey in the same quantity and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309389</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After a hiatus, an endemic plant bursts into life in Sri Lanka’s central hills</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/after-a-hiatus-an-endemic-plant-bursts-into-life-in-sri-lankas-central-hills/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/after-a-hiatus-an-endemic-plant-bursts-into-life-in-sri-lankas-central-hills/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2025 10:37:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/23100402/1-Nelu-bloom-at-Hortan-Plains-c-Jinapriya-Gallage-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308200</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Ethics, Flowers, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Montane Forests, Plants, Pollinators, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Every dozen years or so, Sri Lanka’s mist-shrouded highlands burst into color. Violet, pink and white carpets of tiny blooms spread across the grasslands of the Horton Plains and other hill country trails, drawing thousands of visitors eager to witness one of nature’s rarest spectacles: the mass flowering of nelu, a group of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Every dozen years or so, Sri Lanka’s mist-shrouded highlands burst into color. Violet, pink and white carpets of tiny blooms spread across the grasslands of the Horton Plains and other hill country trails, drawing thousands of visitors eager to witness one of nature’s rarest spectacles: the mass flowering of nelu, a group of native shrubs belonging to the genus Strobilanthes, known for synchronized mass flowering occurring every 4-12 years. Strobilanthes shrubs bloom together, set seed and then die, transforming the landscape in a breathtaking but fleeting display of sheer floral beauty. Yet, behind this beauty lies a scientific mystery. These plants flower so rarely and in a perfectly synchronized manner. It only adds to the allure of this natural wonder, even as crowds flock to see the floral carpets, exerting new pressure on the fragile montane ecosystem. Sri Lanka is home to 35 nelu species, where 30 of them are endemic to the country, however, only a few species contribute to the scenic mass blooming. Image courtesy of Jinapriya Gallage. What is nelu? “Nelu” is not a single species but a group of shrubs belonging to the genus Strobilanthes in the Acanthaceae family, which includes hundreds of species across tropical Asia. Sri Lanka is home to 35 Strobilanthes species, of which 30  are endemic, with a majority of them found only in the island’s Central Highlands, says Nilanthi Rajapakse of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), whose studies led to discovery of three nelu species new to science. Different&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/after-a-hiatus-an-endemic-plant-bursts-into-life-in-sri-lankas-central-hills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/after-a-hiatus-an-endemic-plant-bursts-into-life-in-sri-lankas-central-hills/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308200</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sheila Colla, advocate for bees, died on July 6th, aged 43</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sheila-colla-advocate-for-bees-died-on-july-6th-2025-aged-43/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sheila-colla-advocate-for-bees-died-on-july-6th-2025-aged-43/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2025 14:56:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/15144541/Ontario_Nature_Education_Award_2023_Dr_Sheila_Colla-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302525</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Insects, Invertebrates, Obituary, and Pollinators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Most people would have walked past the flower. Even fewer would have recognized the insect on it. But in 2009, Sheila Colla did both. As her car left Ontario’s Pinery Provincial Park, she called for it to stop. There, small and inconspicuous, was Canada’s last known rusty-patched bumblebee. A fuzzy blur of wings and urgency, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Most people would have walked past the flower. Even fewer would have recognized the insect on it. But in 2009, Sheila Colla did both. As her car left Ontario’s Pinery Provincial Park, she called for it to stop. There, small and inconspicuous, was Canada’s last known rusty-patched bumblebee. A fuzzy blur of wings and urgency, it had once been common. Now it was vanishing. So, too, was the world it helped sustain. Colla had been looking for this bee for years. She was not a nostalgic naturalist pining for lost meadows. She was a scientist of rare clarity, trained at the University of Toronto and York University, where she later became a professor. Long before pollinators became fashionable mascots for corporate “sustainability,” she sounded the alarm about their disappearance. Her research identified the culprits—disease spillover from managed bees, climate change, invasive species—and she translated these findings for policymakers, citizens, and children alike. She did not just publish in peer-reviewed journals; she taught entire cities to plant differently, think differently, live differently. At a time when honeybees stole the spotlight, she reminded the public that the vast majority of North America’s 4,000 wild bee species do not make honey. They do not live in hives. They are solitary, vulnerable, essential. Rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis). Photo by Jill Utrup/USFWS With her field guide Bumble Bees of North America, and the bestseller A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee, she made complex ecological science accessible. More than 20,000 people bought her guidebook; tens&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sheila-colla-advocate-for-bees-died-on-july-6th-2025-aged-43/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302525</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indiscriminate pesticide use threatens Bangladesh honey bees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2025 07:11:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/27064423/beekeepers-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food Industry, Insects, Pesticides, Poisoning, Pollinators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds. Pavel deployed Apis mellifera honey bees [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds. Pavel deployed Apis mellifera honey bees to collect nectar from the blooming cumin flowers. However, the hive boxes didn’t yield as much honey as expected. “Bees cannot forage freely across insecticide-treated crop fields. Their population growth is also slowing down,” Pavel recently told Mongabay. During a visit to Kazirhat in late February, the village’s agricultural landscape appeared fragmented by plots of different crops, including rice, wheat, coriander, black cumin, garlic, mustard and other vegetables. The use of agricultural chemicals like neonicotinoids as insecticides is popular with the cultivation of most of the mentioned crops. However, very few farmers know the permissible doses or potential effects of excessive use of insect killers on bees. Most of the farmers, like Abdul Hakim, said, “I spray the amount of chemicals that the sellers advise.” In a village market, agricultural chemical sellers with expertise in conservation of biodiversity is a rare thing. Entomologists and apiculturists have observed that rampant use of agricultural chemicals like neonicotinoids, present in different doses in nearly 600 brand products in Bangladesh, poses serious threats to bee colonies and other pollinators. “Because of food shortages, limited foraging grounds and frequent poisoning from insecticides, the population of honey bees is decreasing alarmingly,” said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Aiding natural pollination can boost cacao yields &#038; climate resilience</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/aiding-natural-pollination-can-boost-cacao-yields-climate-resilience/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/aiding-natural-pollination-can-boost-cacao-yields-climate-resilience/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2025 17:25:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/24111145/2-Smallholder-cacao-farmers-at-work-in-Brazil-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294766</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Global, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food Industry, Forests, Pollinators, Research, Sustainability, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate change poses a major well-known risk to cacao production. But a new study finds that low pollination is also limiting yields in producing countries — a finding that could offer hope to a threatened industry. Researchers suggest that actively creating conditions in which natural pollinators thrive on cacao farms could help farmers buffer against [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate change poses a major well-known risk to cacao production. But a new study finds that low pollination is also limiting yields in producing countries — a finding that could offer hope to a threatened industry. Researchers suggest that actively creating conditions in which natural pollinators thrive on cacao farms could help farmers buffer against increasing temperatures, improve productivity and boost livelihoods. An international group of researchers replicated hand-pollination trials on cacao trees at 26 sites in Brazil, Indonesia and Ghana, simultaneously analyzing soil samples, local temperature data and a range of other measurements. They found that pollinating cacao trees across these different countries and conditions resulted in a 20% increase in yields, indicating that a lack of natural pollination is holding back farm output. Their study was published this month in the journal Communications Earth &amp; Environment. Higher temperatures played an especially large role in limiting farm productivity. Strikingly, on one site where temperatures were up to 7° Celsius (12.6° Fahrenheit) warmer than the coolest site, cacao trees had 20-30% lower yields. That “yield drop is massive from the point of view of a farmer,” says Tonya Lander, first author on the paper and a stipendiary lecturer in biology at the University of Oxford. Though the study frames this productivity loss in terms of climate change sensitivity, rising temperatures are key. The research “implies that as temperature goes up, yield is likely to go down,” Lander notes. The new study comes against the backdrop of a recent report by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/aiding-natural-pollination-can-boost-cacao-yields-climate-resilience/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294766</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil natural landscape degradation drives toxic metal buildup in bats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/brazil-natural-landscape-degradation-drives-toxic-metal-buildup-in-bats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/brazil-natural-landscape-degradation-drives-toxic-metal-buildup-in-bats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2024 20:22:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/11103027/4-pale-spear-nosed-bat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291442</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Bats, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conservation, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Environment, Extinction, forest degradation, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Monocultures, Plantations, Pollinators, Pollution, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bats play a key role in maintaining the health of forest ecosystems as pollinators, seed dispersers and insect pest controllers. But according to new research, bats and the ecosystem services they offer are under threat in Brazil’s heavily fragmented Atlantic Forest biome, where natural lands have been largely converted for agriculture and mining, degradation that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bats play a key role in maintaining the health of forest ecosystems as pollinators, seed dispersers and insect pest controllers. But according to new research, bats and the ecosystem services they offer are under threat in Brazil’s heavily fragmented Atlantic Forest biome, where natural lands have been largely converted for agriculture and mining, degradation that is increasing wildlife exposure to toxic heavy metals. Scientists at Brazil’s Santa Cruz State University plucked hair samples from bats in the state of Bahia across a patchwork of landscapes — including cattle pasture, eucalyptus and coffee monocultures and cacao agroforest — then tested them for three metals: lead, manganese and copper. “We found that bats living in areas where the landscape is dominated by intensive agriculture or grasslands have higher levels of toxic metals, particularly lead and manganese,” says Julián Barillaro, the study leader and a conservation ecology researcher at Santa Cruz State University. This, he says, is likely due to use of agrochemicals and leaded fuel. Reduced natural habitat also likely increased exposure. Other factors, such as bat species and sex, didn’t affect bioaccumulation, leading the authors to believe that the bats came into direct contact with these heavy metals by resting on contaminated leaves or trees and then grooming. The exposure levels within different monocultures requires further study, Barrilaro says, as some bat species are highly mobile and could be moving from crop to crop. By comparison, the researchers found that bats in cacao agroforestry areas with higher natural forest cover had&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/brazil-natural-landscape-degradation-drives-toxic-metal-buildup-in-bats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291442</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Scratching the surface’ of Nepal butterfly research: Interview with Sanej Suwal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/scratching-the-surface-of-nepal-butterfly-research-interview-with-sanej-suwal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/scratching-the-surface-of-nepal-butterfly-research-interview-with-sanej-suwal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Nov 2024 02:48:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/20013208/1_Alpine-Mountan-Blue-Albulina-orbitulus-lobbichleri_Mustang_susceptibleNRDB1995_%C2%A9sanejprasadsuwal-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290343</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Conservation, Flowers, Funding, Insects, Mountains, Pollinators, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is home to a diversity of butterfly species, with 692 identified. More than two dozen species and subspecies have been found to be endemic to Nepal. Despite this, research on butterflies in Nepal is still in its nascent stage, mainly due to insufficient funding, limited public interest and the absence of documented [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is home to a diversity of butterfly species, with 692 identified. More than two dozen species and subspecies have been found to be endemic to Nepal. Despite this, research on butterflies in Nepal is still in its nascent stage, mainly due to insufficient funding, limited public interest and the absence of documented cultural practices or traditions that emphasize their significance. This hasn’t prevented a handful of researchers driven by their passion from venturing into butterfly research and public awareness. Among them is Sanej Suwal, a young conservationist from Bhaktapur, a town in the Kathmandu Valley, who has dedicated his career to studying butterflies. Suwal’s passion drives his commitment to both research and public awareness, despite facing significant challenges such as a lack of financial support and minimal recognition from government bodies. “Butterflies, as key pollinators, play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance, but they are often overlooked,” Suwal says. Suwal and his team recently organized Nepal’s Big Butterfly Count. The event, held during Nepal’s festive season in October, saw active participation from people around the country, highlighting growing interest in butterfly conservation. This initiative aimed not only to count butterfly species but also to raise public awareness about their ecological importance. Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi spoke by phone with Suwal about his work, including the Big Butterfly Count, and the past and present of butterfly research in Nepal. The following interview has been translated from Nepali and edited for clarity. A Krishna peacock (Papilio krishna) photographed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/scratching-the-surface-of-nepal-butterfly-research-interview-with-sanej-suwal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290343</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists are racing to save South Asia’s butterflies from the threat of extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/scientists-are-racing-to-save-south-asias-butterflies-from-the-threat-of-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/scientists-are-racing-to-save-south-asias-butterflies-from-the-threat-of-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2024 04:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hailey Smalley]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/30153245/Common-Jezebel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, India, South Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Butterflies, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Habitat Loss, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, Pollinators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the dark undergrowth of mangrove forests, an anthology of color stirs. Flickers of turquoise rise like exhales from the brackish marshlands, and flashes of sunset orange spark alive in the shadows. The Sundarbans mangrove forest in Bangladesh and India is largely known as one of the last remaining habitats for the Bengal tiger (Panthera [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the dark undergrowth of mangrove forests, an anthology of color stirs. Flickers of turquoise rise like exhales from the brackish marshlands, and flashes of sunset orange spark alive in the shadows. The Sundarbans mangrove forest in Bangladesh and India is largely known as one of the last remaining habitats for the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), but the coastal groves also thrum with a wealth of smaller animals, including 37 known species of butterfly. The small stature of these butterflies belies their importance; they pollinate flowering plants and nourish the birds that flit through the canopy, ultimately supporting the health of the entire forest ecosystem. But butterflies in the Sundarbans and throughout South Asia are at increasing risk of extinction, mimicking a global trend that some experts have nicknamed “the insect apocalypse.” By some estimates, 250,000-500,000 insect species have gone extinct in the past 150 years, and many more are now on the brink of survival. Climate change and urban development form the largest risks, along with the minimal legal protections and large-scale conservation initiatives focused on butterflies and other insects. “If my government is not aware, [butterfly species] will be lost. It will be coming in probably 10 years because climate change is thriving,” said Monwar Hossain, a professor and lepidopterist at Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh. Bushbrown buterflies feeding on a fallen mango. Image by Manidip Mandal. The unique beauty and vibrancy of Bangladesh’s butterflies first attracted Hossain’s attention nearly three decades ago. Over his career, Hossain has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/scientists-are-racing-to-save-south-asias-butterflies-from-the-threat-of-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study finds best plants for bee health and conservation in North America</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2024 16:48:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/10134637/bee-in-tokyo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crops, Diseases, Drones, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Green, Habitat Degradation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Insects, Monocultures, Pesticides, Pollinators, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What&#8217;s on the menu for a healthy bee? A team of researchers has delved into the world of bee nutrition, analyzing pollen to identify the best food sources for these vital pollinators. Their findings could have implications for bee conservation efforts and pollinator-friendly landscaping. The research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, analyzed the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What&#8217;s on the menu for a healthy bee? A team of researchers has delved into the world of bee nutrition, analyzing pollen to identify the best food sources for these vital pollinators. Their findings could have implications for bee conservation efforts and pollinator-friendly landscaping. The research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, analyzed the nutritional content of pollen collected from 57 plant species native to North America. The study team, led by Sandra Rehan of York University in Canada, examined levels of essential fatty acids, amino acids and other key nutrients in the pollen samples. &#8220;Despite public interest and a rise in pollinator plantings, little is known about which plant species are best suited for bee health,&#8221; Rehan said. &#8220;This study aimed to better understand the nutritional value of plant species.&#8221; Based on their findings, the researchers recommend emphasizing roses (Rosa sp.), clovers (Trifolium sp.), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris), and Tara vine (Actinidia arguta) in wildflower restoration projects, citing their ideal protein-to-lipid ratios in pollen for wild bee nutrition. They found that tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris) was the most aligned with honey bee dietary requirements, closely followed by hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta), bird&#8217;s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), Virginia rose (Rosa virginiana), rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), and European cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus). When comparing native and introduced plant species, the study found no significant differences in the overall nutritional content of their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beekeeping helps villagers tend coastal forests in Thai mangrove hotspot</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/beekeeping-helps-villagers-tend-coastal-forests-in-thai-mangrove-hotspot/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/beekeeping-helps-villagers-tend-coastal-forests-in-thai-mangrove-hotspot/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2024 23:29:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/13144638/Banner_01-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283237</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Bees, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Forests, Green, Invertebrates, Mangroves, Marine, Nature-based climate solutions, Pollinators, Restoration, Solutions, Sustainability, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BAN NAI NANG, Thailand — Carefully prying open the lid of a wooden bee box, Ali Madwang gazes intently into the cavity as sunlight illuminates the scene within. A hubbub of tiny bustling black bees hover and crawl over scores of thumb-sized, bulbous cells, each glistening with dark treacle-like honey.  “I have seen how bees [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BAN NAI NANG, Thailand — Carefully prying open the lid of a wooden bee box, Ali Madwang gazes intently into the cavity as sunlight illuminates the scene within. A hubbub of tiny bustling black bees hover and crawl over scores of thumb-sized, bulbous cells, each glistening with dark treacle-like honey.  “I have seen how bees collaborate as a unified group, helping each other take care of the hive,” Ali tells Mongabay during a visit to the village of Ban Nai Nang in southern Thailand’s Krabi province. As the secretary of the Ban Nai Nang community enterprise group, Ali helps to manage bee hives in the village of 1,700 inhabitants nestled on a mangrove-lined backwater at the edge of the Andaman Sea’s picturesque Phang Nga Bay. The village fishing pier overlooks dense mangrove forests that sustain local fish and shellfish harvesting, and provide habitat for threatened species, including otters, marine turtles, dugongs and sharks, not to mention their vital carbon storage capacity. Artisanal fishing boats putter up and down the sun-dappled waterway, while white egrets stalk brown-camouflaged mudskippers that slip and slide across the mangrove flats. For Ali, growing up in the coastal village meant mangroves were always part of his life. But he says he truly began to appreciate the interconnected relationship between village life and the surrounding natural ecosystems when his community developed a close relationship with bees as a way of galvanizing support for mangrove conservation. “Mangrove forests and bees are the way of life of the Ban&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/beekeeping-helps-villagers-tend-coastal-forests-in-thai-mangrove-hotspot/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283237</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon deforestation threatens one of Brazil’s key pollinators, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2024 16:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Molly Herring]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/05102142/1024px-Orchid_Bee_hovering-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282974</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Orchids, Plantations, Pollinators, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their metallic-blue-and-green bodies and iridescent wings, orchid bees aren’t just charismatic bugs. They’re specialist pollinators in tropical rainforests from Mexico to Brazil and are primarily responsible for the spread of the iconic Brazilian nut. But orchid bees might also provide a window into how deforestation and land-use change affect ecosystems and biodiversity, a recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their metallic-blue-and-green bodies and iridescent wings, orchid bees aren’t just charismatic bugs. They’re specialist pollinators in tropical rainforests from Mexico to Brazil and are primarily responsible for the spread of the iconic Brazilian nut. But orchid bees might also provide a window into how deforestation and land-use change affect ecosystems and biodiversity, a recent study in Brazil’s state of Rondônia suggests. Although not the only pollinators affected by habitat loss, orchid bees, from the tribe Euglossini, are “among the most spectacular, peculiar, well-known, and economically important pollinators around, and they have the potential to attract the attention of the public and policymakers,” said study lead author J. Christopher Brown, professor of geography and atmospheric science at the University of Kansas, adding the bees might be the “perfect poster child” for conservation in the Amazon. The research, recently published in Biological Conservation, looks at how land-use change affects orchid bee abundance, richness and composition over time in various sites across the Amazonian state of Rondônia. Map of study area, collection zones sampled (1−12), and location of 130 sample locations in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. Image courtesy of study authors. The region is marked by its neotropical forests, cattle ranches, and production of coffee, cacao, beans, maize and Brazil nuts. When an area is settled for human use, whether cattle grazing or agriculture, it’s first deforested. This opens up the canopy cover, leaving many of the species that rely on resource diversity unable to find what they need. In the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282974</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mini radio tags help track ‘murder hornets’ and other invasive insects</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2024 17:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/13091929/hornet-and-bees-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279687</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, Global, South Asia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, GPS, Insects, Invasive Species, Pollinators, Research, Restoration, Science, Technology, Tracking, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The yellow-legged hornet is a predator: after it sets up a nest in a new neighborhood, its workers head out in search of smaller wasps, flies and bees to feed the hive’s growing brood. One of its favorite snacks is honey bees. Lingering outside a hive, these hornets, Vespa velutina, capture flying honey bees mid-air, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The yellow-legged hornet is a predator: after it sets up a nest in a new neighborhood, its workers head out in search of smaller wasps, flies and bees to feed the hive’s growing brood. One of its favorite snacks is honey bees. Lingering outside a hive, these hornets, Vespa velutina, capture flying honey bees mid-air, stopping on their way home only to chew the bee up into pellets to feed their young. In the hornets’ native range across Southeast Asia, local bee species have evolved defenses against the yellow-legged hornet’s attacks. But in Europe and the United States, native bees and agricultural honey bees are defenseless. “As invasives, these hornets are released from any kind of control agents, whereas in southern Asia there are things that prey on them,” says Lynn S. Kimsey, an entomologist at the University of California, Davis. “The threat is that they would expand their population to take up all resources available without any effective control, except maybe us humans.” In the face of this new threat, scientists are turning to an old technology: radio tracking, which has been used to follow wildlife since the 1950s. Thanks to recent advancements, radio tracking tags can now be made small enough to attach to the hornets’ tiny bodies, and in doing so lead scientists back to their nests. These miniature tags are also being tested on other species, such as the northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), better known as the “murder hornet.” With global shipping allowing insects to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279687</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The man who made a pact with wild bees in Colombia’s Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Dec 2023 00:49:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jose Guarnizo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/30212815/DSC_2668-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276150</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Pollinators, Rainforests, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LA CEIBA, Colombia — Nine years ago, Delio de Jesús Suárez Gómez made a pact with wild bees. The arrangement didn’t come easy, given that neither party knew each other well. The relationship was tense. When they crossed paths on the unspoiled trails of the forest in Guainía in eastern Colombia, the bees stood their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LA CEIBA, Colombia — Nine years ago, Delio de Jesús Suárez Gómez made a pact with wild bees. The arrangement didn’t come easy, given that neither party knew each other well. The relationship was tense. When they crossed paths on the unspoiled trails of the forest in Guainía in eastern Colombia, the bees stood their ground, poised at the back of the hive, adopting a defensive position, ready to attack. Meanwhile, Delio Suárez kept moving, trying not to disturb the elusive calm of the forest that sheltered them. Then, in an astonishing twist, the man offered the bees the kind of alliance that city dwellers visiting Guainía find difficult to understand. He promised to defend them from their rainforest opponents, such as ants and nomadic bees, which often invade their hives at night. In return, they would provide honey, an added purpose for the community, and a boost to their food and fruit supply. Since bees began to be kept in the village of La Ceiba, the trees remain in bloom for long periods of the year. This is due to pollination by the bees’, a critical process for plants to produce seeds and fruit. Image by Jose Guarnizo. The fact that their arrangement has, so far, worked perfectly does not mean it has always been a bed of roses — although it has been full of pollen-rich flowers. In order to attract bees to the area, Delio Suárez had to plant wild trees that would produce buds for them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276150</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community conservation benefits Sulawesi flying foxes, but more is needed, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/community-conservation-benefits-sulawesi-flying-foxes-but-more-is-needed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/community-conservation-benefits-sulawesi-flying-foxes-but-more-is-needed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Apr 2023 02:38:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/10162338/Sulawesi-flying-fox--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267352</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Mammals, NGOs, Pollinators, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After four years of conservation action, the number of flying foxes — large bat species — flocking to the Indonesian island of Mantawalu Daka has grown from around 8,000 to 40,000, according to PROGRES Sulawesi, an Indonesian NGO. Conservationists have worked with community members to change negative perceptions of bats and limit hunting on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After four years of conservation action, the number of flying foxes — large bat species — flocking to the Indonesian island of Mantawalu Daka has grown from around 8,000 to 40,000, according to PROGRES Sulawesi, an Indonesian NGO. Conservationists have worked with community members to change negative perceptions of bats and limit hunting on the island. Protecting bats can improve forest health, and since their return in greater numbers, local fishers report fish are easier to come by around the island. “Our hypothesis is that the bat poop washes out to the outer area of the islands,” Sheherazade, co-executive director of PROGRES Sulawesi, told Mongabay. As it does so, it’s thought the bat guano spurs seagrass growth, which in turn provides habitat for fish. “Now, more and more fishermen report that it’s easier to catch fish closer to the island.” Bat hunting on Mantawalu Daka and other parts of Sulawesi remains a challenge, PROGRES Sulawesi’s Sheherazade explained. For her, it underlines the need to expand conservation action. Photo courtesy of PROGRES Sulawesi. Flying fox ecosystem services The positive impact of nutrient-rich flying fox poop on seagrass and fish abundance needs further research, the conservationists say. Beyond that, there are several scientifically documented benefits of having these bats around. It’s known, for example, that they are key pollinators of durian, an economically valuable fruit across Southeast Asia. And they also pollinate a number of other tropical plants, directly influencing the health of forest ecosystems. “Flying foxes play an important role in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/community-conservation-benefits-sulawesi-flying-foxes-but-more-is-needed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/community-conservation-benefits-sulawesi-flying-foxes-but-more-is-needed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267352</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pollinator declines linked to half million early human deaths annually: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Feb 2023 16:14:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/02160452/bees-and-flowers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265214</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Flowers, Food, Food Prices, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, Planetary Health, Pollinators, Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Insect pollinator loss is already resulting in an estimated half million early deaths yearly due to reduced healthy food availability and higher prices. Researchers say action to overhaul global agriculture is urgently needed.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Do you know the butterfly effect? It’s a metaphor, often used in the discussion of chaos theory, for how tiny, almost imperceptible changes may lead to massive outcomes: a butterfly flaps its wings in Asia and three months later there’s a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, it turns out butterflies, and other pollinators, can cause massive outcomes not just by their presence, but also by their absence. A new modeling study in Environmental Health Perspectives estimates that half a million people are currently dying prematurely every year due to global insect pollinator decline, because of its impact on availability and price of healthy foods such as nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables. And the researchers say their estimate is “conservative.” “Today’s estimated health impacts of insufficient pollination would be comparable to other major global risk factors: those attributable to substance use disorders, interpersonal violence, or prostate cancer,” the researchers write. The researchers arrived at their estimate by first turning to work published in Science in 2016 that estimated how much of the agricultural production yield gap — i.e. the gap between average farms and those bringing in the most crops — was due to insufficient pollination. That study tracked 344 fields of crops depending on 33 insect pollinators around the world, finding that around one-quarter of the yield gap was likely linked to lost pollinators. A butterfly in Sikkim, India. The new study estimates that half a million people are currently dying prematurely every year due to global insect&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265214</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Is invasive species management doing more harm than good? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/is-invasive-species-management-doing-more-harm-than-good-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/is-invasive-species-management-doing-more-harm-than-good-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2022 14:02:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Janae Malpas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/14131734/4918550814_52bcf8b0dd_b-e1657805009101-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258200</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colorado, Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Beetles, Biodiversity, Butterflies, Commentary, Conservation, Global Environmental Crisis, Herbicides, Insects, Invasive Species, Pesticides, Plants, Pollinators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Where I live in the Rocky Mountains, summer is marked by the arrival of the Rocky mountain iris, a favorite for bumble bees and other pollinators, which also make their debut in the brief summer months here. By keeping the land wild and natural, free from threats, retained by nature, I protect and nurture these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Where I live in the Rocky Mountains, summer is marked by the arrival of the Rocky mountain iris, a favorite for bumble bees and other pollinators, which also make their debut in the brief summer months here. By keeping the land wild and natural, free from threats, retained by nature, I protect and nurture these seasonal interactions. My property may be a bit of an eyesore for the occasional neighbor; the grass isn’t mowed, there are a couple of unsightly snag piles scattered around, and a few dead gnarled trees left standing. All the same, magpies construct their nests in the tall grasses, pollinators frequent the wildflowers that grow in abundance, rabbits call the snags home, and the gnarled trees are favorites for squirrels and owls. Every summer comes with labor; I tend to the land with thoughtful attention, from providing clean water for wildlife to maintaining the invasive alien species (IAS). Through experimentation and an ever-growing variety of methods, I am finding a balance with the IAS that grow in my region, as does the wildlife. For instance, I harvest common mullein after it loses its blooms so that the bees can take advantage of it as food source, and I can take advantage of its combustible properties (mullein makes for a great fire starter during the winter months in my wood burning stove). While I am a conservationist by trade, this also is conservation for me; I consider myself a steward, a loving caretaker of the Earth. Through&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/is-invasive-species-management-doing-more-harm-than-good-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/is-invasive-species-management-doing-more-harm-than-good-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258200</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Beenome’ project aims to boost bee conservation with genetic mapping</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2022 16:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/30152526/Screen-Shot-2022-06-30-at-8.25.01-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257801</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Governance, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, and Pollinators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From tiny, jewel-toned metallic bees to cartoonish and lumbering bumblebees, the United States is home to more than 4,000 native and 55 non-native bee species. Now, scientists have announced a plan to map the genomes of at least 100 of these species, representing each of the major bee taxonomic groups in the U.S. The project [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From tiny, jewel-toned metallic bees to cartoonish and lumbering bumblebees, the United States is home to more than 4,000 native and 55 non-native bee species. Now, scientists have announced a plan to map the genomes of at least 100 of these species, representing each of the major bee taxonomic groups in the U.S. The project “will help researchers answer the big questions like what genetic differences make some bee species more vulnerable to climate change or whether a bee species is likely to be more susceptible to a pesticide,&#8221; entomologist Jay Evans with the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, and co-lead of the project, said in a statement. A metallic bee (Augochloropsis fulgida) collected in West Virginia. The United States has more than 4,000 native bee species. Photo byUSGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab via Flickr. Public Domain. The &#8220;Beenome100&#8221; project, a first-of-its-kind library of genetic information led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), will create a digital repository of the complete set of genes present in 100 bee species. With this genetic map in hand, scientists can link specific genes to bee functions. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know much about [bees] even though they are lovely in their many forms, and very diverse. Just the sizes and shapes and colors are awe-inspiring,&#8221; Sam Droege, head of the U.S. Geological Survey&#8217;s Bee Inventory and Monitoring program, told Wired. Catching and identifying bees in the field is tough, especially when they can be as small as the 2-millimeter (0.08-inch) solitary Perdita minima bee.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257801</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>California court ruling opens door for protection of insects as endangered species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2022 19:14:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/02190726/Bcrotchii_20180622_213903_XS-SMcK_0-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256776</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Governance, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, and Pollinators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A California court has ruled that state legislation on endangered species can apply to invertebrates. The decision this week by the Third District Court of Appeal means insects, including four endangered native Californian bumblebee species and the monarch butterfly, will receive much-needed protection under the California Endangered Species Act. “We are celebrating today’s decision that insects and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A California court has ruled that state legislation on endangered species can apply to invertebrates. The decision this week by the Third District Court of Appeal means insects, including four endangered native Californian bumblebee species and the monarch butterfly, will receive much-needed protection under the California Endangered Species Act. “We are celebrating today’s decision that insects and other invertebrates are eligible for protection under CESA,” Sarina Jepsen, director of endangered species at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, said in a press release. “The Court’s decision allows California to protect some of its most endangered pollinators, a step which will contribute to the resilience of the state’s native ecosystems and farms.” In 2018, the Xerces Society, the Center for Food Safety (CFS), and Defenders of Wildlife petitioned the state of California to list four species of native bumblebees as endangered under CESA. The California Fish and Game Commission voted to begin the process of listing these bees as endangered in 2019, but were then sued by a “consortium of California&#8217;s large scale industrial agricultural interests,” according to a Xerces Society press release. The trial court sided with the agricultural consortium, and the conservation groups appealed that decision in 2021. The decision this week marks a win for the conservation groups. The four species are the western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis), whose relative abundance has declined by 84%; the Suckley cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus suckleyi) which is considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and whose range has shrunk by 58%; the Crotch&#8217;s bumblebee (Bombus crotchii), now&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256776</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate crisis forecasts a fragile future for wildflowers and pollinators</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/climate-crisis-forecasts-a-fragile-future-for-wildflowers-and-pollinators/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/climate-crisis-forecasts-a-fragile-future-for-wildflowers-and-pollinators/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2022 11:06:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/01105850/flower-feature-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254401</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Flowers, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, Plants, Pollinators, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Think of climate change, and you’ll probably picture devastating floods, raging wildfires, or parched earth. For the environmentally savvy, coral bleaching or masses of refugees may also make it to the list. Not many of us would think of the vibrant wildflowers in nearby meadows as victims of climate change. But the future of these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Think of climate change, and you’ll probably picture devastating floods, raging wildfires, or parched earth. For the environmentally savvy, coral bleaching or masses of refugees may also make it to the list. Not many of us would think of the vibrant wildflowers in nearby meadows as victims of climate change. But the future of these pretty blooms could be gloomy in the face of a warming planet, suggests a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. This first-of-its-kind study, conducted in the U.K., found that wildflowers across Northern Europe would likely see a steep decline in abundance — up to 40%. In the experimental study, the researchers simulated the warmer, wetter conditions predicted for the region due to climate change. Under this new scenario, some species of plants produced flowers with 60% less nectar and fewer or lighter seeds. Due to these changes, pollinating insects had to visit more flowers to gather the needed pollen and nectar, and visited each flower more frequently. “Our results demonstrate that climate warming could have severe consequences for some species of wildflowers and their pollinators in agricultural systems, and shows that their community composition is likely to change in the future,&#8221; said lead author Ellen D. Moss, a research associate at Newcastle University in the U.K. While theoretical studies have predicted that climate change could accelerate pollinator losses and wildflower declines, Moss’s study marks the first time scientists have put the theory to the test in an experimental setting. And previous&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/climate-crisis-forecasts-a-fragile-future-for-wildflowers-and-pollinators/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/climate-crisis-forecasts-a-fragile-future-for-wildflowers-and-pollinators/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254401</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More trees means healthier bees, new study on air pollution shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/more-trees-means-healthier-bees-new-study-on-air-pollution-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/more-trees-means-healthier-bees-new-study-on-air-pollution-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jan 2022 06:51:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Luís Patriani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/29185410/jatainaflordelichia-e1640804202568-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251277</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animal Behavior, Bees, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Cities, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Law, Law Enforcement, Nutrient Pollution, Pesticides, Politics, Pollinators, Regulations, Research, Sustainability, and urban ecology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists analyzed levels of chemical pollutants in native jataí bees across eight landscapes in Brazil’s São Paulo state. They found that in landscapes with more vegetation, the bees had fewer pollutants, at lower levels, indicating that the plants act as a filter and protective barrier]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Human-caused air pollution in Brazil’s São Paulo state is taking its toll on native bees, but the presence of plants can help ameliorate those effects, a new study shows. Researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) and São Paulo State University (UNESP) studied jataí bees (Tetragonisca angustula) as bioindicators of environmental quality — proverbial canaries in the coal mine — to confirm a direct relationship between the amount of vegetation and air pollution. Plants act as a filter and a protective barrier, and the larger the green area in ​​a given region, the lower the levels of pollutants in the environment ​​and, consequently, in the bees, the study found. The findings have important implications, given that bees are the main pollinators in the animal kingdom, responsible for pollinating 75% of all farmed plants worldwide. The study measured accumulated levels of 21 chemical elements in the tissues of jataí bees collected in eight areas in São Paulo state where remnants of the Atlantic Forest still stand. These areas had forest cover ranging from 16-70%, and varying types and levels of human activity and presence, such as agriculture, roads, cities, industries, pastures and degraded land. “The distinguishing feature of our work is that our bioindicators were a group of bees that had not been studied on a global scale and are widely distributed in Brazil, occurring both in urban areas and in preserved areas,” says study author Marcela de Matos Barbosa, an entomologist at USP. Barbosa says that when the bees&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/more-trees-means-healthier-bees-new-study-on-air-pollution-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/more-trees-means-healthier-bees-new-study-on-air-pollution-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251277</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Honey bees find food more easily in cities, thanks to abundant urban gardens</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/honey-bees-find-food-more-easily-in-cities-thanks-to-abundant-urban-gardens/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/honey-bees-find-food-more-easily-in-cities-thanks-to-abundant-urban-gardens/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Nov 2021 10:18:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jude Coleman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/14231709/bee-honeyComb-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249469</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[England, Europe, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Cities, Ecology, Environment, Green, Insects, Pollinators, and urban ecology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Despite living in a concrete jungle, London’s urban bees fly shorter distances to feast on nectar-rich flowers than their neighbors in the countryside—a counterintuitive discovery explained by the many lush gardens in the city, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Urban beekeeping has become more popular, as city residents look for ways [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Despite living in a concrete jungle, London’s urban bees fly shorter distances to feast on nectar-rich flowers than their neighbors in the countryside—a counterintuitive discovery explained by the many lush gardens in the city, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Urban beekeeping has become more popular, as city residents look for ways to support bee populations. However, established beekeepers in London now claim that flower food stops are overcrowded. Questioning whether this is true, biologist Ash Samuelson at Royal Holloway University and their team set out to compare the distances traveled by urban honey bees on their foraging flights with the flights of rural bees. Worker bees come and go from an urban hive. Photo by Jude Coleman To do so, the scientists translated nearly 3,000 “waggle dances,” the unique body language sequences bees use inside the hive to advertise foraging successes—like insect Yelp reviews. Full of nectar, a returning worker lands on the honeycomb, flies forward a short distance, cuts to the left, and loops back to the starting point. She then repeats this choreography, this time cutting to the right, while other bees watch from the crowd. Previous researchers converted the lengths and angles of these dances into distances and directions to food sources. Through a glass-sided beehive, the team observed western honey bees (Apis mellifera) describe foraging flights to workers in 20 colonies—10 in London, and 10 in rural farmland. Translating the “conversations” allowed the scientists to compile an array of food sites. Samuelson&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/honey-bees-find-food-more-easily-in-cities-thanks-to-abundant-urban-gardens/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249469</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Enhancing biodiversity through the belly: Agroecology comes alive in Chile</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/enhancing-biodiversity-through-the-belly-agroecology-comes-alive-in-chile/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/enhancing-biodiversity-through-the-belly-agroecology-comes-alive-in-chile/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2021 14:32:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constanza Monterrubio Solís]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/30140333/Children-harvesting-cucumber-in-Mongelechi-Mapu-Chile-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246527</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroecology, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Pollinators, and Subsistence Agriculture]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Consider the bee. It’s small, and while over a lifetime it can pollinate up to 5,000 flowers, that’s only enough to produce a single teaspoon of honey. But bees don’t work in isolation. As part of buzzing swarms, both wild and domesticated, they pollinate much of the food crops that humans the world over depend [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Consider the bee. It’s small, and while over a lifetime it can pollinate up to 5,000 flowers, that’s only enough to produce a single teaspoon of honey. But bees don’t work in isolation. As part of buzzing swarms, both wild and domesticated, they pollinate much of the food crops that humans the world over depend on. Humans, too, work together addressing challenges — environmental, social, public health — through the lens of the global food system. Human beehives are everywhere, applying, replicating, learning, and sharing the principles of agroecology, the practice of ecological concepts in farming . This piece focuses on three people bringing agroecological principles to life. Through their tireless contributions, they help local food systems and agrobiodiversity thrive during a critical time for humanity. They do so in a bioculturally diverse region in the southern Andes region of Chile: at school; taking care of the pollinators that make agrobiodiversity possible; and recovering native foods and educating taste. Southern Chile, the gateway to the Patagonia region, is part of Wallmapu, the ancestral territory of the Indigenous Mapuche. Today, it’s home to a wide diversity of inhabitants. Among them is Lilian Barrientos Espinoza, 62, an agronomist and member of an agroecology demonstration center for family agriculture in Rulo, in Chile’s La Araucanía region. The center is called Mongelechi Mapu and has become a key point promoting agroecology and a source of trustworthy agrobiodiversity. For Espinoza and her colleagues, home gardens are the minimal unit for family agriculture. Fresh foods tasting during&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/enhancing-biodiversity-through-the-belly-agroecology-comes-alive-in-chile/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/enhancing-biodiversity-through-the-belly-agroecology-comes-alive-in-chile/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246527</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Seed dispersal is just as important as pollination (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/seed-dispersal-is-just-as-important-as-pollination-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/seed-dispersal-is-just-as-important-as-pollination-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2021 15:54:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ariek Norford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/10153844/Chimps-eating-figs-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=245759</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Extinction, Forests, Mass Extinction, Plants, Pollinators, Seed Dispersal, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Society has recently become enthralled with bees and the amazing service they provide spreading pollen around and helping to sustain plant populations. From crops to gardens to forests, bees keep the world green, and us fed. But what happens after pollination? Just like for us and most animals, plant offspring do not tolerate staying with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Society has recently become enthralled with bees and the amazing service they provide spreading pollen around and helping to sustain plant populations. From crops to gardens to forests, bees keep the world green, and us fed. But what happens after pollination? Just like for us and most animals, plant offspring do not tolerate staying with their parents forever. But the problem is that they can’t just walk off. So instead, they hitch a ride (either inside or outside) animals (or sometimes by wind and water). Animals are doing most of the work though, dispersing the seeds of about half of temperate plants and three quarters of tropical plants. So, who are these animals? Almost everyone’s favorites play some type of role from bats to monkeys, and even wolves and turtles, because everyone loves fruit. And by eating fruit, animals are eating seeds, and moving them elsewhere when they poop. Here are some of the star seed dispersers: The airline pilots. There are many birds and bats out there that only eat fruit. And because they can fly, they can travel long distances in very short periods of time, taking seeds far away from their parents. One of the best examples are the macaws in Central and South America. These are big birds so they can eat all different sizes of seeds. And they disperse them up to 1.2 km (three quarters of a mile)! Another one of my favorite airline pilots are flying foxes, which are found in East and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/seed-dispersal-is-just-as-important-as-pollination-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-245759</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Developing nations pay for rich countries&#8217; hunger for healthy, exotic food</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/developing-nations-pay-for-rich-countries-hunger-for-healthy-exotic-food/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/developing-nations-pay-for-rich-countries-hunger-for-healthy-exotic-food/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2021 16:33:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/03/11161018/Credit-Cristiano-Menezes-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=240460</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Brazil, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Bees, Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, Food, Food Industry, Insects, Pollinators, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Luísa Carvalheiro says she remembers a time when açaí was just a humble berry, a staple for the Amazon&#8217;s Indigenous communities. That was before the inky purple berries became all the rage in Europe and the U.S., a so-called superfood promising everything from weight loss to lasting youth. Claims about the powers of this fruit [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Luísa Carvalheiro says she remembers a time when açaí was just a humble berry, a staple for the Amazon&#8217;s Indigenous communities. That was before the inky purple berries became all the rage in Europe and the U.S., a so-called superfood promising everything from weight loss to lasting youth. Claims about the powers of this fruit of the South American palm (Euterpe oleracea), some justified and some spurious, have proliferated. But what really disturbs ecologist Carvalheiro and her colleague Felipe Deodato da Silva e Silva, both based in Brazil, is this: with the export of açaí, Brazil is also exporting the services of its precious pollinators. It is another in a long line of pollination-dependent tropical crops feeding the global market. So, da Silva, an expert in ecological economics, set out to do what economists do best: put a value on the service. They tracked international trade in 55 pollinator-dependent crops from 2001 to 2015. The analysis is inspired by Virtual Water, which tracks water flows that take place in the guise of goods trade. Experts are calling its application to pollination services &#8220;novel&#8221; and &#8220;exciting.&#8221; An online tool shows how high-income countries place enormous demands on developing countries&#8217; pollination services by importing pollination-dependent crops. For example, Europe and the U.S. rely heavily on Brazil&#8217;s pollinators to put avocados and mangoes on their plates. &#8220;Large developed nations are dependent upon the pollination services of the developing world, and we need to have a deeper discussion about the environmental justice at play here,&#8221; said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/developing-nations-pay-for-rich-countries-hunger-for-healthy-exotic-food/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/developing-nations-pay-for-rich-countries-hunger-for-healthy-exotic-food/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-240460</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Japan, scientists look to the past to save the future of grasslands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/in-japan-scientists-look-to-the-past-to-save-the-future-of-grasslands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/in-japan-scientists-look-to-the-past-to-save-the-future-of-grasslands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Mar 2021 12:34:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marlowe Starling]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/03/08123410/banner-butterfly-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=240307</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Grasslands, Plants, Pollinators, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the wide-open plains of the Sugadaira and Minenohara highlands, red-budded great burnets dot the landscape amid lavender hues of Japanese lady bell flowers, relics of the last Ice Age that persist on the rolling hills of modern-day Japan. A century ago, rich grasslands accounted for about 13% of the country’s land area, but that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the wide-open plains of the Sugadaira and Minenohara highlands, red-budded great burnets dot the landscape amid lavender hues of Japanese lady bell flowers, relics of the last Ice Age that persist on the rolling hills of modern-day Japan. A century ago, rich grasslands accounted for about 13% of the country’s land area, but that number dwindled to just 1% by the early 2000s. A recent study conducted on Japan’s main island of Honshu suggests the key to conserving these vulnerable ecosystems may lie in their past. By comparing Japan’s old and new grasslands, the study published in Ecological Research finds it may be worth prioritizing the conservation of older grasslands because they have more biodiversity. In the study, scientists define new grasslands as less than 70 years old while the old grasslands can be anywhere from 160 to thousands of years old. Great burnets (Sanguisorba officinalis) are indicator species in central Japan’s grasslands, meaning their presence tells researchers this grassland could be hundreds or thousands of years old. Researchers did not find any such indicator species in new, or younger, grasslands. Image courtesy of Kenta Tanaka. The researchers found Japanese lady bell (Adenophora triphylla) in all old grasslands included in the study, but not in new grasslands or forests. They attribute this to the flowering plant’s inefficient seed dispersal. Image courtesy of Kenta Tanaka. “Oldness is an irretrievable factor,” said Taiki Inoue, a conservation ecologist at the University of Tsukuba and the study’s lead author. “Showing the value of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/in-japan-scientists-look-to-the-past-to-save-the-future-of-grasslands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-240307</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Canopy beetles and flowering trees rely on each other in the Amazon, study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/canopy-beetles-and-flowering-trees-rely-on-each-other-in-the-amazon-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/canopy-beetles-and-flowering-trees-rely-on-each-other-in-the-amazon-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2021 15:15:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/06102350/IMAGE_2021Jan5_ScarabFlower-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238500</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Beetles, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, Pollinators, Rainforests, Research, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Held aloft by a canopy crane nearly 10 stories above the forest floor, Susan Kirmse observed and collected beetles in the rainforest canopy for an entire year. What did she find? Amazonian treetops are crawling with beetles, and they love little white flowers. As part of her Ph.D. research for Leipzig University, Germany, Kirmse collected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Held aloft by a canopy crane nearly 10 stories above the forest floor, Susan Kirmse observed and collected beetles in the rainforest canopy for an entire year. What did she find? Amazonian treetops are crawling with beetles, and they love little white flowers. As part of her Ph.D. research for Leipzig University, Germany, Kirmse collected 859 species of beetles (6,698 individuals) from the canopies of 23 different tree species in a healthy lowland tropical rainforest in southern Venezuela in the late 1990s. The Surumoni Crane in Venezuela allowed Kirmse to collect beetles from the rainforest canopy.  Image by Susan Kirmse (CC BY-ND). After decades of tedious work to identify all of the beetles and trees, Kirmse and her colleague, Caroline Chaboo from the University of Nebraska State Museum, have recently published a study in the Journal of Natural History. Kirmse and Chaboo suggest that flowering trees play an important role in maintaining canopy beetle diversity in the Amazon and that these trees are being visited by beetles more than any other insect order, including bees and butterflies. More than 75% of the beetle species Kirmse collected were found living exclusively on flowering trees, and 36% were found only on trees with small white flowers. This, the authors say, means that flowering trees are important food and resource for canopy beetles. A lot of research into pollination is dominated by the roles of bees and butterflies, Kirmse told Mongabay, but this work shows that, in a pristine rainforest, beetles have a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/canopy-beetles-and-flowering-trees-rely-on-each-other-in-the-amazon-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238500</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>One year on: Insects still in peril as world struggles with global pandemic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/one-year-on-insects-still-in-peril-as-world-struggles-with-global-pandemic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/one-year-on-insects-still-in-peril-as-world-struggles-with-global-pandemic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2020 16:05:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/11/10132417/7-BANNER-IMAGE-7-768x446.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236705</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Animals and Saving Life on Earth: Words on the Wild]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Australia, Central America, Costa Rica, Europe, European Union, Germany, Global, Latin America, North America, South America, Tropics, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Bees, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, Food Industry, food security, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herbicides, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Land Use Change, Logging, Mass Extinction, Moths, Natural Capital, Pesticides, Pollinators, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, Temperate Forests, Tropical Deforestation, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This article is a one year follow up to the award-winning series, The Great Insect Dying published in June, 2019 on Mongabay. The original series documents insect losses in Europe, the U.S. and the tropics — here’s what we know today.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A green hoverfly in Malinidi, Kenya. Image by Dino J. Martins. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the heart of a what was increasingly a global lockdown, the rains finally came to East Africa. They came after several years of drought and less-than-stellar rainy seasons. And with these rains, came the insects, says Dino Joseph Martins, the executive director of the Mpala Research Center. “There&#8217;s been this beautiful flash of butterflies and everybody&#8217;s with their families or at home, or trying to entertain their kids that are not in school, and looking at things in the garden or going on walks,” Martins said in August. Martins, an entomologist and butterfly aficionado, has become so “inundated” by questions from curious insect onlookers in lockdown that he’s considering “quitting social media” just to have some time to breathe again. “I think there has been a much broader appreciation of nature [during the pandemic] and it&#8217;s because of the loneliness of lockdown, the isolation,” says Martins. “This has been such a blow for so many people.” But, according to the scientist, the pandemic has also unexpectedly awakened many people to the marvels of the natural world and our interconnectedness with it. It’s a happy anecdote in a year that has seen not only wrenching global change due to the pandemic, but also reams of new research on the potential decline of insects around the world, often dubbed more dramatically as the “insect apocalypse” by the media. Parataxonomists building a DNA barcode&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/one-year-on-insects-still-in-peril-as-world-struggles-with-global-pandemic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236705</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bubbles, lasers and robo-bees: The blossoming industry of artificial pollination</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/bubbles-lasers-and-robo-bees-is-artificial-pollination-here-to-stay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/bubbles-lasers-and-robo-bees-is-artificial-pollination-here-to-stay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2020 11:44:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/24085235/A-chemically-functionalized-soap-bubble-on-a-campanula-flower-Campanula-persicifolia.-CREDIT_-Eijiro-Miyako-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232972</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, California, Global, Israel, New Zealand, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crops, Diseases, Drones, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Green, Habitat Degradation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Insects, LiDAR, Monocultures, Pesticides, Pollinators, Technology, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In an episode of the Netflix dystopian sci-fi show “Black Mirror,” artificial bees have been deployed to pollinate the world’s plants after a massive pollinator extinction. A great idea, until [SPOILER ALERT] the robo-bees are programmed for murder. We are a long way from launching fake bees into the wild, experts say, but global pollinator [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In an episode of the Netflix dystopian sci-fi show “Black Mirror,” artificial bees have been deployed to pollinate the world’s plants after a massive pollinator extinction. A great idea, until [SPOILER ALERT] the robo-bees are programmed for murder. We are a long way from launching fake bees into the wild, experts say, but global pollinator declines are not science fiction. Artificial pollination is a real industry, with a burgeoning edge of innovation. One recently developed technique employs a more whimsical approach to pollination: bubbles. A group of researchers from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) have published a study in iScience suggesting that soap bubbles could be used as a low-tech method of artificial pollination. Artistic depiction of a soap bubble pollination at blooming pear orchard by Eijiro Miyako. &#8220;It sounds somewhat like fantasy, but the functional soap bubble allows effective pollination,” said senior author Eijiro Miyako, an associate professor in the School of Materials Science at JAIST. In the past, Miyako’s research group used tiny drones (2 centimeters, or 0.8 inches) with a patch of pollen-laden horse hairs to pollinate flowers. But the approach lacked finesse, with the drones crashing into and sometimes damaging the flowers. https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/24101215/Miyakodrone-1.mp4 Artificial pollinator in action. Video from Chechetka et al 2017. While trying to refine the pollination problem, Miyako spent the day in a park with his son blowing bubbles. A bubble landed on the child’s cheek and Miyako was struck with an idea: that the delicate hovering sphere may be&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/bubbles-lasers-and-robo-bees-is-artificial-pollination-here-to-stay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232972</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In a Colombian wetland, oil woes deepen with the arrival of fracking</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-a-colombian-wetland-oil-woes-deepen-with-the-arrival-of-fracking/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-a-colombian-wetland-oil-woes-deepen-with-the-arrival-of-fracking/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2020 06:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mauricio OchoaSemana Sostenible]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/15055500/Monumento-Cristo-Petrolero-en-la-Cie%CC%81naga-de-Miramar-Barrancabermeja-Foto-Pilar-Meji%CC%81a-Semana-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229061</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fishing, Fracking, Oil, Pollinators, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is a journalistic collaboration between Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam. Eugenio Chacón scans the colorful branches of the trees with his strong, sharp gaze. The 58-year-old fisherman knows for sure that at some point along the way they will appear. Suddenly he raises his right hand and waves it up and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is a journalistic collaboration between Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam. Eugenio Chacón scans the colorful branches of the trees with his strong, sharp gaze. The 58-year-old fisherman knows for sure that at some point along the way they will appear. Suddenly he raises his right hand and waves it up and down. Cristo Carrascal, his traveling companion, quickly turns off the engine while Chacón stands up and begins to guide the boat toward the shore with a long wooden pole. &#8220;They are there,” he said. “Can you see them?&#8221; “They” are two small white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) moving between the tops of two bushes. With the same emotion, Chacón points out the great variety of birds soaring across the skies of the Llanito wetlands, located in the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja. But Chacón’s enthusiasm fades as he approaches the shore. As he disembarks, after more than an hour&#8217;s journey through the murky waters of the wetlands, he says that sedimentation and pollution are destroying this strategic ecosystem. A century of oil extraction &nbsp; Jairo Puentes, a chemical engineer and oil specialist, says the wetlands act as natural water filters, regulating local temperatures and providing habitat for animal species, which, in turn, help keep the ecosystem in balance. Waterfowl in the Llanito wetlands. Image by Pilar Mejía/Semana. “Llanito is a reservoir without a flowing current which depends on the Sogamoso River [main tributary] to renew its water and redistribute waste products,” he says. “In addition, it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-a-colombian-wetland-oil-woes-deepen-with-the-arrival-of-fracking/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229061</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US economy will take biggest hit if we continue with business as usual: report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/us-economy-will-take-biggest-hit-if-we-continue-with-business-as-usual-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/us-economy-will-take-biggest-hit-if-we-continue-with-business-as-usual-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2020 17:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/03/10170627/laos-man-fishing_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=227774</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Economics, Ecosystem Services, Environment, Erosion, Fisheries, Flooding, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Land Use Change, Pollinators, Research, Sea Levels, Storms, Timber, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New research finds that if humans carry on with business as usual and the environmental degradation that results, we will pay a steep price — quite literally. Researchers with WWF, Purdue University’s Global Trade Analysis Project, and the Natural Capital Project looked at how forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and other “natural assets” that furnish the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New research finds that if humans carry on with business as usual and the environmental degradation that results, we will pay a steep price — quite literally. Researchers with WWF, Purdue University’s Global Trade Analysis Project, and the Natural Capital Project looked at how forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and other “natural assets” that furnish the ecosystem services we all rely on will be impacted by a variety of future development scenarios. They then examined the economic implications of those impacts over the next three decades. As detailed in a report summarizing their results, the researchers found that if we simply continue under the status quo, the global economy will lose at least $479 billion a year, adding up to nearly $10 trillion in losses by 2050, as compared to the “baseline” scenario in which there is no change in ecosystem services over the next 30 years. Of the 140 countries included in the study, the United States stands to take the biggest economic hit, losing $83 billion per year by 2050 under this “business as usual” scenario that includes intense consumption of energy and raw materials, widespread land-use change, ongoing rises in greenhouse gas emissions, and continued loss of biodiversity. The economies of Japan and the UK will also see big losses of $80 billion and $21 billion, respectively, every year. &#8220;This groundbreaking report shows that the U.S. will suffer the world&#8217;s biggest economic impact due to nature loss,&#8221; Rebecca Shaw, chief scientist at WWF, said in a statement. &#8220;We&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/us-economy-will-take-biggest-hit-if-we-continue-with-business-as-usual-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-227774</doi>				</item>
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