Ecosystems News

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Giant quiver tree, Namaqualand, South Africa. Image by Leonie Joubert.

Bleak future for Karoo succulents as desert expands in South Africa

Leonie Joubert 20 Mar 2025
Why are the British flooding parts of their coast? Once farmland protected by flood defenses, Steart Marshes in southwest England now thrives as a restored salt marsh. As the defences weakened, the land became increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Instead of rebuilding defenses, conservationists, the government and local communities made a bold choice to let the sea reclaim the landscape. Just over 10 years ago the sea wall was breached, allowing the sea to take over the land, transforming the area into a vital wetland habitat. Salt marshes, which have declined by 85% in the U.K. since the 19th century, play a crucial role in coastal ecosystems. They provide shelter for wetland wildlife, act as natural flood defenses by absorbing storm surges, stabilize coastlines against erosion, and store carbon to help combat climate change. Managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Steart Marshes now provides a model for future restoration projects, proving that working with nature can protect communities while rebuilding lost habitats.

Why are the British flooding parts of their coast?

Leo Plunkett, Sandy Watt 19 Mar 2025
Banner image of a white-capped albatross (Thalassarche cauta steadi) on Maukahuka/Auckland Island by Jake Osborne.

Initiative sets sights on rewilding three New Zealand islands

Kristine Sabillo 7 Mar 2025
COP16 President Susana Muhamad.

COP16 biodiversity summit in Rome OKs finance pathway; big obstacles loom

Justin Catanoso 5 Mar 2025

India’s Adani withdraws from controversial Sri Lanka wind power project

Malaka Rodrigo 21 Feb 2025
A Chinese pangolin in Guangdong, China

Pangolin burrows are biodiversity magnets in burnt forests, study shows

Spoorthy Raman 20 Feb 2025
Researchers from the U.K. and the Democratic Republic of Congo take samples of the Cuvette Centrale peatlands. Image © Kevin McElvaney/Greenpeace

Only 17% of peatlands, vital to curbing climate change, are protected, study finds

John Cannon 19 Feb 2025

Darfur’s women refugees lead reforestation of war-blighted Sudan–Chad borderland

Robert Bociaga 10 Feb 2025
Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) in California.

The world’s kelp needs help — less than 2% is highly protected

Alexandra Talty 7 Feb 2025
frailejon tree paramo Ecuador

In Ecuador, a mountain shrub could hold the key to restoring a precious ecosystem

Christina Noriega 5 Feb 2025
Banner image of the underwater Borealis Mud Volcano, courtesy of Jørn Berger-Nyvoll/UiT.

Underwater volcano in Barents Sea reveals diverse marine life, study finds

Kristine Sabillo 3 Feb 2025
A Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus).

Indigenous knowledge helps explain bird population changes in Canada’s BC

Jane Palmer 3 Feb 2025
Chemical lures designed to mimic the scent of ripe fruit have helped attract fruit-eating bats from the genus Carollia, such as Seba's short-tailed bat (C. perspicillata).

Lures that attract seed-dispersing bats could aid tropical reforestation

Sean Mowbray 30 Jan 2025
Janet Nyakiru Abwoli, Kasese district, Uganda. Image by Innocent Kiiza for Mongabay.

In Uganda, a women-led reforestation initiative fights flooding, erosion

Innocent Kiiza 23 Jan 2025
Plains Bison in the Background at the Wolakota Bison Release, Rosebud-Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, 10/30/2020

Scientists are tracking global wildlife’s contributions to humanity

John Cannon 23 Jan 2025

Vested interests and social tribes in the Pan Amazon

Timothy J. Killeen 16 Jan 2025

New alert system can track changes in grasslands, farms, temperate forests

Shreya Dasgupta 13 Jan 2025
A mushroom on the forest floor.

One atlas to map all ecosystems on Earth: Interview with Yana Gevorgyan

Abhishyant Kidangoor 9 Jan 2025

As lithium mining bleeds Atacama salt flat dry, Indigenous communities hit back

Barinia Montoya 20 Dec 2024

Communities warn of threat to ecosystems from Brazil bridge project

Lobato Felizola 12 Dec 2024

In Chile, discovery of shallowest red hydrocoral forest yet surprises scientists

Rocío González Trujillo 5 Dec 2024

Experts welcome Brazil’s revived reforestation plan as much-needed boost

Elizabeth Oliveira 20 Nov 2024
Amazon Rainforest

Report reveals how environmental crime profits in the Amazon are laundered

Aimee Gabay 5 Nov 2024
Farmer Ignatius Kakompe standing by a pod mahogany tree felled recently by illegal loggers.

Defending the hidden forest gems of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province

Ryan Truscott 31 Oct 2024
Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica

Satellite firm Planet’s ‘biodiversity subscription’ aims to make tech accessible

Abhishyant Kidangoor 29 Oct 2024
The First Environmental Court’s inspection of the Tilopozo wetlands, and the La Punta and La Brava lagoon systems, among others.

Chilean Indigenous association participates in key study for lawsuit against mining

Barinia Montoya 28 Oct 2024
Antarctic terns (Sterna vittata)

More krill fishing and no new protected areas for Antarctic seas after latest talks

Francesco De Augustinis 28 Oct 2024
Fish at a coral reef in the Red Sea, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

Protecting coral reefs boosts fish numbers by 10%: Study

John Cannon 25 Oct 2024
Banner image of a koala by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Researchers track koalas using innovative airborne DNA detection tool

Kristine Sabillo 24 Oct 2024
Fully functional Earth systems offer numerous ecosystem services to humanity, including clean air and water, the provision of food, and natural pollination of crops.

Combined effects of human activities increase risk to ecosystem services

Claire Asher 10 Oct 2024
Alexandrino Garcia, an Abuelos de Tajín, in front of a Totonac altar in his house. Image by Monica Pelliccia.

In Mexico, Totonac spiritual guides work with scientists to revive ecosystems

Monica Pelliccia 7 Oct 2024

In Venezuela, natural regeneration helps restore a threatened cloud forest

María Fernanda Rodríguez 10 Sep 2024

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