Tuesday, April 19th, 2016
Aiken, S.C. – Thirty years ago, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, became the site of the world’s largest nuclear accident. While humans are now scarce in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, continued studies—including a just-published camera study conducted by researchers from the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory—validate findings that wildlife populations
Thursday, April 7th, 2016
Boersma, a conservationist and professor of biology at the University of Washington, is applauding new regulations by the government of Ecuador to protect the waters around the Galapagos Islands as a marine preserve. “It is very exciting,” said Boersma, who is a finalist for the 2016 Indianapolis Prize for her decades of penguin research and
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2016—WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) took part in a Public Forum of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, which brings private sector companies together to fight wildlife trafficking. The following statement was released by John Calvelli, WCS Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Director of the 96 Elephants campaign: “Targeting wildlife trafficking is
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016
A new study offers hope for cold-water species in the face of climate change. The study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, addresses a longstanding paradox between predictions of widespread extinctions of cold-water species and a general lack of evidence for those extinctions despite decades of recent climate change. The
Monday, April 4th, 2016
The importance of measuring species diversity as an indicator of ecosystem health has been long recognized and it seems that satellite remote sensing (SRS) has proven to be one of the most cost-effective approaches to identify biodiversity hotspots and predict changes in species composition. What is the real potential of SRS and what are the
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016
The Indonesian Peat Prize launched in Jakarta as part of the Indonesian Climate Festival. The Head of BIG, Priyadi Kardono, representing the Host of the Prize and the Director of WRI Indonesia, Tjokorda Nirarta Samadhi, representing the Prize administrator, attended the event. Forest and land fires have been a problem in Indonesia for several decades,
Friday, February 26th, 2016
Aquatic life can suffer when high concentrations of dissolved salts enter freshwater ecosystems, a process known as salinization. An international, multi-institutional team of researchers that includes a Virginia Tech graduate student recommends ways that humans can protect freshwater from salts in an article Friday (Feb. 26) in the journal Science. The recommendations include the use
Wednesday, February 24th, 2016
With forests and farmland, mountains and desert and almost 900 miles of scenic coastline, California’s vast terrain is both dramatic and varied. The newly published “Ecosystems of California” (UC Press, 2016) provides a comprehensive synthesis of this biologically diverse state examining its myriad landscapes through multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and
Monday, January 25th, 2016
European Space Imaging (EUSI) released a new case study outlining the success of using satellite imagery to help protect UNESCO World Heritage sites this week. Working together with experts at the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) they explain what high-quality satellite data reveals about the situation on the ground at
Thursday, January 21st, 2016
Arlington, Va., USA (January 19, 2016) – Biodiversity in tropical forest protected areas may be faring better than previously thought, according to a study publishing in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology on January 19th. The study, “Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End is Not in Sight,” was based
