biodiversity – envirobites

Protecting wild animals requires far more data than scientists could collect alone, so researchers often enlist the help of amateur “citizen scientists” to help identify animals in photos. However, with more and more large scale projects that need help from citizen scientists, it is taking an increasingly long time to process all of the photos from any individual study. Marco Willi from the University of Minnesota and his colleagues thought there might be a way to speed things up: by getting computers to identify most of the easy animals, and leaving humans to figure out the extra hard ones.

Environmental Science

Gardeners for Biodiversity: How Surveys can Help Quantify Diversity in Urban Areas

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 Riley Lovejoy 0 Comments biodiversity, Conservation, gardens, urban

Backyard gardens can boast surprising levels of biodiversity. Quantifying the diversity of many small gardens spread out across an urban area, however, can be difficult for scientists. In this study, researchers proposed a survey in which garden-owners were asked to give basic information about their gardens. From the responses, a statistical model was designed to determine the actual number of species present.

Case Studies Ecosystems Environmental Science

Dead trees and utility poles partially offset the impacts of deforestation on birds

July 1, 2019June 30, 2019 Lindsay Green-Gavrielidis 0 Comments biodiversity, birds, Conservation, habitat restoration, land use, Trees

Mature trees serve as important habitats for a variety of species including insects and birds. Birds use trees for many purposes including nesting, perching, and foraging. Conservationists are exploring strategies to maintain bird populations in areas where mature trees are being lost due to agricultural expansion, wood production, and increased urbanization. In a recent study, scientists in Australia measured how utility poles and erected dead trees impacted the number and abundance of bird species in urbanized regions. The results suggest that artificial structures can offset some, but not all, of the bird loss due to deforestation.

Ecosystems Environmental Science

Backyard Biodiversity: Urban Schoolyards Can Play an Important Role in Conservation

June 28, 2019 Olivia Box 0 Comments biodiversity, cities, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecology

Biodiversity matters. Not just in the Amazon, but in your backyard, too. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) took the world by storm; the biodiversity crisis is here, and plants and animals across the globe are facing extinction, ultimately transforming ecosystems as we know it. Since the report, there has been a public outcry about what we can do to slow the impending biodiversity crisis, covered everywhere from scientific journals to media outlets worldwide.

While there are many pathways to address the crisis, a paper from a team of African researchers published in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening points to the importance of addressing a big problem on a small scale, suggesting urban schoolyards can positively impact local biodiversity for both native and exotic species.

Environmental Science

Finally! A Global Documentation of Plant Extinction in the Anthropocene

June 25, 2019June 29, 2019 Andrew Barton 0 Comments anthropogenic stress, biodiversity, Climate Change, extinction, land use

“Most people can name a mammal or bird that has become extinct in recent centuries, but few can name an extinct plant. This study is the first time we have an overview of what plants have already become extinct, where they have disappeared from and how quickly this is happening. We hear a lot about the number of species facing extinction, but these figures are for plants that we’ve already lost, so provide an unprecedented window into plant extinction in modern times.” (Ledford 2019)

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science

Habitats are a work of art: habitat mosaics and fish production

June 18, 2019June 18, 2019 Chelsea Barreto 0 Comments biodiversity, environmental science, fish production, salmon

Biodiversity is continually being threatened by human activities, and it is vital that we protect it. Conserving biodiversity means conserving species and the habitats they live in. We know that habitats vary through space and time, but does this variation impact fish production in the long term? Brennen et al. explores this question using Pacific salmon species in an Alaskan watershed.

Case Studies Ecosystems Environmental Science

Tweet tweet: Using social media to help bird conservation

June 17, 2019July 29, 2019 Brittany Maule 0 Comments biodiversity, Conservation, ecology and society, social media, Sustainability

Conservation areas are vital to maintaining biodiversity, and as a result, it’s important to know which conversation areas humans are most likely to visit. Looking at publicly available social media data, researchers analyzed how many people posted on Twitter and Flickr in over 12,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas across the globe. Understanding how many people visit what areas is important for funding, and eco-tourism, but also to see which areas may have higher threats with so many visitors.

Case Studies Ecosystems Environmental Science

Can we increase agricultural production without threatening biodiversity?

June 3, 2019 Lindsay Green-Gavrielidis 0 Comments agriculture, biodiversity, Conservation, crop production, land management, land use

The world population is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. This increase in population will put pressure on agriculture to produce more food. Many studies have reported that land-use changes, such as cutting down forest to make new farmland, can lead to a loss in the number of species living in an area, known as the biodiversity. It is important to maintain biodiversity because it supports healthy ecosystems and ultimately a healthy planet. A recent analysis of previously published scientific articles suggests that when farming efforts are intensified, agricultural production increases but the number of species supported by the farm decrease. This means that increasing agricultural production comes at a cost.

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science

Fear and Hope: One Million Species at Risk of Extinction

May 24, 2019 Andrew Barton 0 Comments agriculture, anthropogenic stress, biodiversity, Climate Change, extinction, land use, United Nations

“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. “But it’s not too late.” (UN IPBES 2019)

Ecosystems Environmental Science

Protected areas need to be more than just location leftovers of the world

April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 Aleksandra Dolezal 0 Comments biodiversity, Conservation, Protected Areas

Authors Devillers et al. (2015) and Venter et al. (2017) explore the residual nature of the worlds terrestrial and marine protected areas, found to be a consequence of the complex trade‐offs between ecological, socio‐economic and political considerations.

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