Scientists can now rapidly read the DNA of an organism—even a plant—anywhere. Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, have recently reported on their use of a handheld real-time DNA…
How do you solve a conservation problem? Do you protect a wild leopard that has entered a village by removing it and releasing it into a forest far, far away?…
A biodiversity crisis is looming upon us. We are now in the middle of a “sixth great extinction” of animal species, scientists warn, with loss of species about 1,000 times…
PUERTO GARZA, Colombia – A Colombian conglomerate is moving ahead to build a nearly 400-foot-tall hydroelectric dam along the Samaná Norte River in northwestern Colombia, which threatens to extinguish critically…
Tropical forests are home to more than 50 percent of terrestrial biodiversity, and they also play a globally important role in storing and sequestering carbon. Forest conservation can therefore help…
It’s crowded in the tropics. Take the plant world: 1,000 tree species can coexist in a small equatorial area of only a quarter kilometer squared, according to one forest ecologist,…
Naturalists in India have rediscovered a rare flowering plant -- Arisaema translucens -- after nearly 80 years. Botanist Edward Barnes first collected this plant in 1932 from the Nilgiri mountains in southern India. The…
Humans make quite a racket, and all of the excessive noise we make is not just a problem in urban areas. About 14 percent of the land mass in the…
When talking about endangered species, we tend to think of African elephants that are killed in huge numbers every year for their tusks; the majestic tiger that is poached for its skin,…
Wildlife crime plagues nearly half of the world's natural UNESCO World Heritage sites, according to a new WWF report. Illegal harvesting -- poaching, illegal logging and illegal fishing -- of…
Unseen for decades in the wild, many species are now feared extinct. Some exist only as museum specimens, others are only known from old drawings or photographs. But some of these missing…
The Earth is losing species at a rate about a hundred times faster than historical (also called "background") levels. For specific groups, that number is higher still, with research indicating…
As the earth gets warmer, nations are putting their hope in tropical rainforests. Located along the equatorial belt of the planet, scientists estimate tropical forests are home to around half…
In a remote mountainous rainforest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), scientists have discovered a new species of wild ginger. The newly described plant -- discovered on the…
Roads have been described as “an enormous net over the land” and “the largest human artifact on earth.” There are more than four million miles of roads in the United…
Discovering a new species is always exciting -- it shows that much of our world remains to be explored and described. This year, too, scientists discovered and described several thousand new…
Richard Evans Schultes was a Harvard professor, a scientist, an explorer, a writer, and a photographer. He is often referred to as “the father of ethnobotany,” a field of study…
On November 24, activists in Bangladesh began a ‘March towards Dhaka’, demanding the cancellation of the proposed Rampal power plant, which is slated to be built very close to the Sundarbans, the world’s…
At first glance, grasslands may look like monotonous stretches of green or gold. But closer inspection reveals a bounty of diverse grasses, clovers and wildflowers coexisting within small areas. These…
Global average temperatures have risen by about 1°C since 1880. But just one degree of human-induced warming has impacted nearly all aspects of life on our planet, concludes a new…
Bangladesh is planning its biggest power plant yet -- a 1320 megawatt coal-fired power plant, slated to be built very close to the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a…
On the Japanese island of Kuroshima, a scientist has discovered a new species of plant that does not use photosynthesis to derive its nutrition. It steals nutrients from fungi instead. The plant…
Tigers, elephants and rhinos garner a lot of attention. But plants are often ignored. In fact, scientists even have a term for our tendency to overlook plants — plant blindness.…
The latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reports that species like the Giant Panda, Tibetan Antelope, the Bridled Nailtail Wallaby, and the Greater Stick-nest rat have…
Last week, President Barack Obama of the United States of America announced the creation of the world’s largest marine reserve off Hawaii. Obama expanded the size of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National…
Delays in listing endangered species on the U.S.’s endangered species list is pushing many of them towards extinction, a new study has found. The Endangered Species Act (ESA), one of U.S.’s…
Human activities have taken a heavy toll on our environment. But there may be some hope, researchers say. Although human pressures continue to expand across our planet, their overall rate of increase…
ydropower development is booming, with controversial projects unfolding across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. Though often presented as a green renewable energy option, dams can cause a litany of…
fter more than three decades as professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Donald Waller is a student again. He has dived into a baffling sea of…
The World Heritage Committee yesterday added nine new natural sites to the World Heritage List during its 40th session in Turkey. The list includes diverse landscapes such as Khangchendzonga National…
