A team of researchers based in Australia and the United States have used historical nautical maps to determine that coral reef loss in the Florida Keys is much more extensive…
It’s not just the Great Barrier Reef — coral reefs around the globe are in decline due to climate change, ocean pollution, and a number of other impacts of human…
The calls of howler monkeys, once wiped out in a Central American forest known as the Cockscomb Basin, now ring out in the canopy, and the scientists responsible couldn’t be…
Countries across the world created some of the largest marine protected areas (MPAs) last year, some spanning hundreds of thousands of square miles. The recently created Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument…
The Critically Endangered Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is being hunted to extinction for its shell. Colored in hues of gold, amber, and brown, the animal's striking shell is carved…
A battle is brewing in southeastern U.S. waters, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea: it’s the lionfish against all comers. With voracious appetites and virtually no predators, these…
Many of the ecosystems most impacted by human activities, such as tropical forests and coral reefs, are also among the most biodiverse in the world. But a recent study determined…
map of Cuba doesn’t give you any feel for what it’s like to traverse the Latin American country. On paper, it’s 1,250 kilometers (780 miles) long, but never more than…
In the beginning of the 20th century, over-hunting wiped out all west Indian manatees from the waters of the French Caribbean Islands of Guadeloupe located in the eastern Caribbean sea.…
The remote Caribbean island of Redonda, part of Antigua and Barbuda, is home to numerous species of plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. It is also home to…
In the southern Caribbean Sea, near the Island of Curaçao, scientists have discovered a new species of vibrantly-colored scorpionfish. This bright orange-red fish occurs at depths of 95 to 160 meters (or…
A chameleon-like lizard is one of the first new anole species found in the Dominican Republic in decades. The species could help solve a mystery that has long puzzled scientists…
There are now 12 known species of West Indian boas. A team from Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology discovered the silver boa (Chilabothrus argentum) in a remote corner of the…
Building a truly sustainable economy is not all about development without environmental destruction. Though that is of course a central component of sustainability, the United Nations Environment Programme, for instance,…
The name’s bondia, Jamesbodia. Scientists have named a new subgenus of Caribbean plants Jamesbondia. But don’t be mistaken. The name does not honor the popular spy character James Bond. Instead,…
es Kaufman set me straight on the paradox that is Lighthouse Reef Atoll, a cluster of five islands some 50 miles off the coast of Belize in the emerald blue…
uba, home to about one-fifth of the world's roughly 500 shark species, moved to protect the fishes last week. The Cuban government released a "National Plan of Action" to conserve…
The Wildlife Conservation Society has a long, proven track record of environmental stewardship. So when the New York City-based group recently announced an ambitious new global conservation strategy, Mongabay got…
halers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines recently caught four killer whales, raising health concerns over the consumption of cetacean meat as well as new scrutiny of the Caribbean country's exemption…
Belize's Great Blue Hole, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that would be included in areas opened to oil and gas drilling under a new proposal from the Belizean…
Forest inside a Dominican Republic national park burned to clear land for crops. Photo by Miguel Landestoy. One makes whimsical clicking and whistling noises, while the other communicates in quiet,…
Shipments of hammerhead shark fins were approved by the Costa Rican government in violation of an international treaty, conservation groups allege. A school of hammerhead sharks swim near the Galapagos…
A hawksbill sea turtle hatchling heads towards the sea. This year over 35,000 hatchlings were born in the Pearl Cays: Photo credit: WCS. Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricate), a reptile…
Captive breeding program increases Puerto Rican crested toad from 200 to thousands The Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur) has had a miraculous journey. Once common on the islands of…
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Ariel Lugo Ariel Lugo overlooking an urban watershed in Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of Ariel Lugo. Think first before you eradicate non-native species…
Orchids indicate ecosystem health, can be used to predict extinction of other species, manage forests High in a humid tropical forest in the Sierra de Cayey, Puerto Rico, Benjamin Crain…
An anole lizard silhouetted on a rainforest leaf. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The biggest factor determining species diversity and distribution on islands is not size and isolation, as traditional…
Invasive predator can live in nearly freshwater environments, may threaten estuaries, rivers You may have recently read the controversial story on invasive lionfish research involving Dr. Zack Jud of Florida…
This is the story of three seals: the Caribbean, the Hawaiian, and the Mediterranean monk seals. Once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the Caribbean monk seal was a hugely…
One of the difficulties of studying rare and endangered species is that they are, by definition, hard to find. Scientists attempting to understand their distributions and the threats to their…
