The saltmarsh sparrow is a small puff of a bird that is uniquely adapted to living (and nesting) within a habitat that floods regularly. Endemic to the east coast of the United States, they are extreme salt marsh specialists and even build their nests in the intertidal zone. It’s a life on the edge, and … Read more
Can Listening to Oyster Reefs Help Us Assess Their Health?
New science from Indo-Pacific atolls, including TNC’s Palmyra Preserve, reveals that global conservation efforts largely overlook the important contributions of atolls to the protection, restoration potential, and long-term survival of tropical seabirds. The Gist Led by Sebastian Steibl, research fellow at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, the science published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, … Read more
First study of its kind shows that decades of coconut palm agriculture have led to deforestation on over 80 percent of Pacific atolls, and coconut palms now cover more than half the atolls’ forested areas. The Gist Coconut palms are king throughout the tropics serving as the foundation for human lives and cultures across the … Read more
Using novel applications of satellite radar imagery and a specialized computer algorithm, a new study examining flooding caused by Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) shows that current flood hazard maps are inadequate for accurately assessing flood risks and protecting communities in North Carolina. The Gist Published in Environmental Science & Technology, the paper by … Read more
I really wanted to title this blog, “Sea-Going Scorpions on the Half-Shell,” because the first time I ever saw the underside of a horseshoe crab I thought it looked like nothing so much as a gigantic scorpion lurking beneath half of a plain brown shell. But sadly for me, while that title is certainly catchy, … Read more
Deforestation causes dramatic increases in local temperature. New research shows that the associated heat exposure is harming the cognitive performance of rural subsistence workers. The Gist The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, estimates the short-term effects of heat exposure from working in deforested areas on cognitive performance on rural workers in Berau, Indonesia. Workers … Read more
Marine reserves – basically, no-take reserves set aside to protect fisheries – have become an widely utilized conservation tactic. But this protected-area model is often overlooked in freshwater conservation. Could freshwater reserves work in protecting biodiversity and fish abundance? A recent article published in the journal Nature shows the potential for freshwater reserves by looking … Read more
New research from Indonesia finds that rural workers in deforested landscapes were less productive than those working in intact forest settings. Deforested locations experienced hotter temperatures, prompting workers to adapt their behavior and lowering overall productivity. The Gist Scientists randomly assigned workers from rural villages to 90 minutes of routine tasks in both forested and … Read more
New publication presents some of the first empirical evidence showing a strong association between wildlife trade and zoonotic disease risk. In fact, scientists found that slightly more than 25 percent of mammal species found in wildlife trade host 75 percent of viruses known to be transmissible between animals and humans. Gist “Most new infectious diseases … Read more