Tag

Biodiversity

All articles tagged with #biodiversity

science8 days ago•28 min saved

Food-web complexity magnifies biodiversity's control of ecosystem functioning

A cross-ecosystem analysis of 318 detailed food webs shows that biodiversity consistently enhances ecosystem functioning across all trophic levels. This effect arises from greater vertical diversity (maximum trophic level) and predator complementarity that boosts energy flux and predation, with predator complementarity especially elevating flux in freshwater systems. The findings indicate that preserving trophic complexity and the predators that drive multi-trophic interactions is crucial for maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem services, and stability under biodiversity change.

via Nature|

#biodiversity #ecosystem-functioning #energy-flux

nature14 days ago•8 min saved

Australia’s 13 Weirdest Animals and the Surprising Tricks They Use to Survive

A roundup of 13 of Australia’s most bizarre creatures—from the bum-breathing Fitzroy River turtle and the venomous platypus to Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo, sea angels, and deep-sea oddities like the dumbo octopus and blobfish—each with remarkable adaptations that highlight the country’s extraordinary biodiversity and, in several cases, conservation concerns.

via BBC Wildlife Magazine|

#adaptations #australian-wildlife #biodiversity

science15 days ago•7 min saved

Live Goblin Shark Filmed in Deep Pacific, Expanding Range and Depth

Scientists from UH Mānoa captured the first live footage of goblin sharks in their natural deep-sea habitat, with encounters near Jarvis Island and the Tonga Trench in the Central Pacific. The sightings widen the species’ known geographic and depth range, setting a new depth record for Lamniformes and confirming the goblin shark can live healthily in the wild beyond previously captured observations.

via SciTechDaily|

#biodiversity #deep-sea #goblin-shark

space17 days ago•12 min saved

Diversity-based biosignature could separate life from non-life in space data

Researchers report a May 2026 Nature Astronomy study from UC Riverside showing living systems produce amino-acids in a more diverse and evenly distributed pattern than non-living chemistry, using an ecology-inspired diversity measure (richness and evenness) tested on about 100 published datasets. The method—reading how evenly molecules are distributed rather than looking for specific molecules—also finds that fatty acids do reverse trends, so the signature isn't universal across molecule classes. Because the metric can run on standard abundance tables, it could be tested with measurements from current space missions, offering a low‑cost biosignature tool, though it remains preliminary: results are based on terrestrial data, not live missions, and real mission data will be needed to validate its usefulness and account for contamination and preservation effects.

via Space Daily|

#aminoacids #astrobio-logy #biodiversity

environment22 days ago•17 min saved

Amazonian Chagras: Indigenous agroforestry that feeds people and saves the forest

Indigenous chagra farming in Colombia’s Amazon and Ecuador’s Napo province showcases a 4,500-year-old, pesticide-free agroforestry system: small plots are cleared in sync with the forest cycle, planted with diverse crops (cassava, plantains, cacao, vanilla, medicinal herbs), and returned to forest after about five years. This approach supports local food security, fosters high biodiversity, and stores carbon at levels comparable to secondary forests, with some chakras generating income from cacao. Yet mining, climate change, and youth migration threaten these practices, prompting land-rights initiatives like Indigenous Territorial Entities and chakra-certified cooperatives to protect the system. While not a solution for feeding large populations, chagras offer a valuable model for culturally rooted, sustainable local food production.

via BBC|

#amazon-rainforest #biodiversity #chagras

environment22 days ago•5 min saved

Wealthiest 10% Burden the Planet with Trillions in Environmental Costs

A Leiden University study estimates the global top 10% owe society $1.7–$5.7 trillion annually for environmental damages (2017 USD), about $2,300–$7,500 per person, driven mainly by biodiversity loss and climate impacts. The authors suggest targeted environmental taxes on the top decile could fund biodiversity protection and climate action, noting wide country differences (US, China, India) and the potential to cover funding gaps identified for COP targets, using consumption footprints and the Environmental Prices Handbook 2024. Published in Communications Sustainability (2026).

via ScienceAlert|

#biodiversity #climate-change #environment

science24 days ago•35 min saved

Mapped Resilience: 64,000 Square Miles of Coral Reefs May Weather the Climate Crisis

A new study maps coral reefs and identifies about 64,000 square miles that appear capable of withstanding warming oceans, highlighting priority areas for targeted conservation and restoration to protect biodiversity and livelihoods as climate change progresses.

via Yahoo|

#biodiversity #climate-change #coral-reefs

earth-science28 days ago•17 min saved

Arctic Icebergs Seed Hidden Coral Gardens on the Seafloor

Researchers using satellite imagery and a network of undersea sensors found that debris-laden icebergs drop dropstones onto the Arctic seafloor, creating hard substrates that enable new habitats for soft corals, sea anemones, sponges and bryozoans, boosting deep-sea biodiversity. Most icebergs traced to glaciers in northeastern Greenland and the Russian High Arctic, linking iceberg flux to warming. The findings also highlight navigational and bottom-trawling hazards from deposited rocks, a risk now prompting private firms to provide timely iceberg data to mariners.

via Gizmodo|

#arctic #biodiversity #climate-change

environment29 days ago•4 min saved

Floods push the rare Tapanuli orangutan toward extinction, study warns

Four days of extreme rain and landslides from Cyclone Senyar in Sumatra killed about 58 of the fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans—roughly 7% of the species. The loss is likely underestimated due to canopy damage and reduced food, and experts warn that such climate-driven events threaten the orangutans’ survival. Indonesia paused major development in Batang Toru to help assess ecological risks, and researchers urge sustained international support to prevent the first modern extinction of a great ape.

via BBC|

#biodiversity #climate-change #environment

environment1 month ago•2 min saved

Catastrophic rains wipe out 7% of the world’s rare Tapanuli orangutans, sparking extinction fears

Four days of extreme rainfall in North Sumatra, linked to climate change, killed about 58 of the remaining 800 Tapanuli orangutans (roughly 7% of the species) and wiped out ~8,300 hectares (11.7%) of key forest habitat via landslides. Researchers warn that such climate-induced events can cause rapid population decline for small, fragmented populations and call for an immediate halt to habitat-degrading activities, expanded protected areas, and funding for biodiversity recovery to prevent the potential extinction of the world’s rarest great ape.

via The Guardian|

#batang-toru #biodiversity #climate-change

science1 month ago•7 min saved

Subsea City: Giant Bathelia candida Reef Discovered in the South Atlantic

Researchers aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor, with the ROV SuBastian, discovered the largest Bathelia candida reef to date off Argentina, roughly 0.4 sq km, a vibrant deep-sea ecosystem powered by chemosynthesis near cold seeps and a whale fall, housing diverse life and potentially 28 new species across a 900‑km survey.

via ScienceAlert|

#bathelia-candida #biodiversity #chemosynthesis

science1 month ago•5 min saved

The Trembling Giant Speaks: Sounds from Pando, the World’s Largest Living Organism

Researchers captured sounds from Pando, a colossal quaking aspen clone spanning about 100 acres in Utah and weighing around 6,000 tons, possibly 12,000 years old. A hydrophone inside a hollow at a branch’s base picked up vibrations in the tree and its root system, especially during storms, suggesting wind-driven sounds travel through the interconnected network. The project blends art and science to map Pando’s roots and monitor ecosystem health, while researchers warn the ancient organism is deteriorating due to human activity and environmental pressures.

via ScienceAlert|

#biodiversity #hydrophone #pando

science1 month ago•19 min saved

Hidden Cities of the Deep: life around vents and the race to mine the ocean floor

A sweeping look at Earth’s deep ocean—from twilight mid-water zones to hydrothermal vents—reveals an enormous, little-understood ecosystem that fuels global climate and hosts bizarre life forms powered by chemical energy. It traces a century of exploration (Challenger, Alvin) and explains how mid-water migrations drive major carbon transport, while warning that growing seabed‑mining interests, especially for manganese nodules in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone, threaten fragile, slow‑growing communities and untapped biotechnologies. The piece argues for protecting these environments even as they hold clues to life’s origins and future innovations.

via The Guardian|

#biodiversity #carbon-cycle #deep-sea

world1 month ago•157 min saved

Australia’s Largest Exotic Invertebrate Seizure: 100,000 Illegal Cockroaches Confiscated

Australian authorities seized 100,000 illegal Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches from a Bathurst breeder, the country’s largest seizure of exotic invertebrates, valued at about $142,000. The cockroaches are illegal to import, keep, breed, or sell in Australia; charges have not been filed yet, and all specimens will be euthanized, underscoring strict biosecurity rules to prevent infestations.

via The Daily Beast|

#australia #biodiversity #biosecurity

science1 month ago•8 min saved

Angola's Lisima plateau uncovers dozens of species new to science

An expedition to Angola’s Lisima plateau documented extraordinary biodiversity: 103 dragonfly/damselfly species (163 for the region), 34 species new to Lisima and six new to Angola, eight undescribed species, and about 1,000+ butterflies and moths, plus 47 grasshoppers/katydids/crickets and other taxa. The Cassai Life Atlas findings by The Wilderness Project fill a major knowledge gap and will guide conservation and land-use decisions as mining and habitat loss threaten the area. The team, including 16 specialists, aims to study 1.2 million square kilometres of African freshwater wilderness by 2035.

via BBC Wildlife Magazine|

#angola #biodiversity #conservation