New commitments coming out of December's COP21 in Paris set their eyes on forests as a way to curb global warming. But a recent article published in Science warns that…
A cornfield stretches as far as the eye can see. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Corn and soybean cultivation soared in the late 2000s, as U.S. agribusiness rushed to respond…
Male lion in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Most of the world's lions are now found in southern and eastern Africa. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. There's a new cat…
Biologists may have discovered essential information that could help trees overcome specific grass species on tropical forest restoration sites What happens to degraded pastureland once the cows are kicked out?…
Excess nutrients impacting productivity, biodiversity, functioning of grasslands around the world The world’s grasslands are being destabilized by fertilization, according to a paper recently published in the journal Nature. In…
Tropical grassland biomes often defined, mismanaged as forests Trees absorb CO2 and trap carbon molecules, and countless are lost as forests are felled around the world. So why not plant…
A new study published in Global Environmental Change added up all the world’s ecosystem services – from carbon storage and crop pollination, to recreation and flood mitigation – and found,…
Andean Condor. Photo by Francisco Sornoza. Conservationists have acquired a 2,800-ha (7,000-acre) property that completes the acquisition of some 108,000 ha of key Andean Condor habitat in Ecuador. The lands…
Conversion of rainforest to oil palm plantations in Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Human population growth and associated food demand will likely take a heavy toll on tropical ecosystems…
The Barba Azul extension protects more than 20 small isolated forest islands (including those shown above) which are preferred nesting and roosting sites for the Blue-throated Macaw. Photo by B.…
Update: The classification of Tapirus kabomani as a distinct species was officially contested in 2014. In what will likely be considered one of the biggest (literally) zoological discoveries of the…
One of the richest ecosystems on the planet may not survive a hotter climate without human help, according to a sobering new paper in the open source journal PLoS ONE.…
In a large room that used to house aquatic mammals at the Minnesota Zoo, Erik Runquist holds up a vial and says, "Here are its eggs." I peer inside and…
Landlocked in the navel of South America, the forests, wetlands and savannahs of Paraguay boast rich biodiversity and endemic species, yet the unique landscapes of Paraguay also face increasing threats,…
The flagship species of India's grasslands and savannas, the Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps). Photo by: Ramki Sreenivasan/Conservation India. The Great Indian Bustard, one of India's iconic birds,…
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels has triggered "greening" in arid regions around the world due to a fertilization effect that has increased plant growth, reports a new study published in…
Grasslands in Kenya's Masai Mara. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Few of the world's ecosystems are more iconic than Africa's sprawling savannahs home to elephants, giraffes, rhinos, and the undisputed…
Stuart K. Allison, PhD’s excellent book Ecological Restoration and Environmental Change: Renewing Damaged Ecosystems clearly explains the current state of affairs regarding ecological restoration. He addresses key issues and challenges…
Possible new species of night monkey in the Aotus genus. Photo by: Alexander Pari. Every year scientists describe around 18,000 new species, but mammals make up less than half a…
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s last herd of zebra run free in Upemba. Photo courtesy of the FZS. Zebra racing across the yellow-green savannah is an iconic image for…
Vegetation change in Colombia's moist forest biome Colombia gained nearly 17,000 square kilometers of forest between 2001 and 2010 as forests recovered in mountainous regions in the Andes, reports a…
Change in vegetation cover by biome across Latin America, 2001-2010. Click image to enlarge. Latin America lost nearly 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 square miles) of forest — an area larger…
Pasture with rainforest behind in the Lacandon rainforest. Photo by: Alejandro Linares Garcia. Tropical reforestation is not easy, especially in abandoned pasturelands. But a new study in mongabay.com's open access…
Abandoned by conservationists and the global community, Virachey National Park in Cambodia remains a wildernesses of surprises. An interview with Greg McCann. Haling-Halang and the barrier mountains separating Cambodia and…
Forest clearing in the Amazon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Indigenous populations in the Amazon successfully farmed without the use of fire before the arrival of Europeans, demonstrating a potentially…
Páramo: Paisaje estudiado, habitado, manejado e institucionalizado á Pramo - an Ecuador overview Páramos © Robert Hofstede. Grupo de Trabajo en Páramos del Ecuador (GTP) is a remarkable self-organized group…
Antisana Volcano. Photo by: Stefan Weigal. Conservation organizations and the Ecuadorian government have succeeded in securing over 250,000 acres (106,000 hectares) of cloud forest and grasslands surrounding the Antisana Volcano…
Saiga calves. Photo by: Igor Shpilenok. Imagine visiting a region that is largely void of tourists, yet has world-class bird watching, a unique Buddhist population, and one of the world's…
Thousands of lesser flamingoes (Phoenicopterus minor) crowd in Lake Bogoria in Kenya. Nearly all of these flamingoes will breed in Tanzania's Lake Natron, now a proposed site for soda ash…
Destruction of Brazil's cerrado, a woody savanna that covers 20 percent of the country, slowed during the 2008-2009, reports Brazil's Ministry of Environment. Data from Brazil's National Space Research Institute…