Island Conservation
New beetle species discovered in Paris museum is already extinct, but leaves us with some important messages. Tucked away among the shelves of a museum in Paris for 140 years was a new discovery waiting to happen. To the untrained eye, it would appear to be just another beetle in a diverse collection. But in fact, there […]
Study shows bat biodiversity in the Caribbean will take 8 million years to recover. Once biodiversity is lost, can it be recovered? A paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, “Recent Extinctions Disturb Path to Equilibrium Diversity in Caribbean Bats,” by Luis Valente, Rampal S. Etienne, and Liliana M. Dávalos offers helpful new insight into this complex question. The […]
New research explores the connection between geographical distribution and the colors of bird feathers. Birds have reasons for looking the way they do–and we have modest understandings of these. Blending in can offer protection, while standing out can promote reproduction. Gloger’s rule states that birds living in humid climates tend to have darker pigmentation. Darker feathers […]
Long-term study of Azores arthropods proves rich for research and practical for conservation. The Azores make up an archipelago about 800 miles off the coast of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean. Of all the things you might notice about the Azores, the presence of arthropods is probably not the first. But, for researchers conducting a […]
Research finds important ecological linkages between the terrestrial and marine environments of the Line Islands. The Line Islands are positioned approximately 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, which also serves as the nearest land mass. With notable contrast to the surrounding barren open ocean, the modest sprinkling of isolated atolls is bursting with life. Though remote, the islands and […]
Invasive predators have contributed to hundreds of extinctions. Island species are some of the most vulnerable to impacts from invasives. A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, edited by Island Conservation Board Member Daniel Simberloff, sheds light on native wildlife deaths amassed by invasive predators. The New Zealand native Stephens Island Wren is […]
A new report released in the journal Nature examines never before seen self-medicating behavior in Galápagos Finches. Galápagos Finches served as inspiration for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in the 19th century. Today, these iconic birds, commonly referred to as “Darwin’s finches”, have drawn the attention of scientists once again–but this time it’s not because of the size and shape […]
A paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details how invasive species removal can restore island ecosystems and protect native species. Ecosystems around the world suffer from the presence of invasive species. Invasive species, when introduced to a foreign environment, can cause sudden and disastrous shifts in the ecosystem. Although invasive species erode ecosystem vitality around […]
A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that invasive predators have contributed to close to 60% of extinctions of birds, mammals, and reptiles. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature classified 596 species listed as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered due to invasive species. The actual number is believed to be higher […]
New research finds that some islands arise out of deep earth material containing diamonds. Some islands exist due to the breaking apart of larger land masses. Other islands are created by a process that can take more than two and a half billion years. A new study published in Nature by researchers at Columbia University sheds […]