In the last four decades, dugong (Dugong dugon) aggregations have been rarely reported from the geographically isolated, vast seascape of the Andaman Islands, India. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, hunting, coastal development, and habitat loss are the major causes of this change in the social system of dugongs in …
Wetlands are amongst the Earth's most productive ecosystems. In Bangladesh these are of great importance because of the extensive food webs and rich biodiversity they support. In the past, wetlands have been undervalued. However, in recent times, awareness increases of the fact that natural wetlands provide many services toward mankind …
The National Green Tribunal has sought the reply of Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on a plea against grant of any clearance to any new project in ecologically sensitive Western Ghats. The Tribunal also issued notices to the state governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil …
A Recent Study Notes 13 Direct Sightings Of The Mammal In Gulf Of Kutch Ahmedabad: The rare dugong, also known as ‘sea cow’, is happily grazing underwater off the Gujarat coast. Until now, wildlife experts had known about the existence of the marine mammal largely through carcasses being washed ashore …
MIRZA, May 27 – In a significant development which may be a serious environmental concern, a huge Gangetic river dolphin was killed in the river Brahmaputra recently (the decayed carcass was detected on May 16) by the poachers near Jahirpur area in Chhaygaon LAC in Kamrup district. The full grown …
Coastal districts of the State, including Ernakulam, will witness an awareness campaign for conserving marine biodiversity on May 22. The Kerala State Biodiversity Board has come up with a programme for organising the campaign in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kasaragod and Kannur districts. The United Nations had …
Highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza A viruses occasionally infect humans, but currently do not transmit efficiently among humans. The viral haemagglutinin (HA) protein is a known host-range determinant as it mediates virus binding to host-specific cellular receptors1, 2, 3. Here we assess the molecular changes in HA that would allow …
An engineered influenza virus based on a haemagglutinin protein from H5N1 avian influenza, with just four mutations, can be transmitted between ferrets, emphasizing the potential for a human pandemic to emerge from birds.
It is critical to assess the effectiveness of the tools used to protect endangered species. The main tools enabled under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) to promote species recovery are funding, recovery plan development and critical habitat designation. Earlier studies sometimes found that statistically significant effects of these tools …
The study tracked the waxing and waning of the range and diversity of families of mammals that inhabited the continental United States during this extended period. Diversity is the mammal's best defense when it comes to adapting climatic changes. That is one of the conclusions of the first study of …
Climate change alters species distributions, causing plants and animals to move north or to higher elevations with current warming. Bioclimatic models predict species distributions based on extant realized niches and assume niche conservation. Here, we evaluate if proxies for niches (i.e., range areas) are conserved at the family level through …
With only about 2,000 Gangetic river dolphins left in India, down from tens of thousands just a few decades ago, the Bihar government is planning to set up Asia's first research centre to strengthen conservation efforts to save the endangered mammal. An official in the chief minister's office said the …
India’s phenomenal economic growth over the last decade has been accompanied by a much-needed expansion and improvement in transport and other infrastructure networks. While there are legally mandated assessments of the potential ecological impacts of such infrastructure projects prior to implementation, rarely are there post-implementation assessments of their real ecological …
Fears of global warming, climate change, and irreversible loss of the planet's life support systems notwithstanding, plants and animals thrive within even the seemingly degraded habitats. Life is resilient. And, it is the resilient plant or animal that brings a bit of cheer to the desolate soul, as is evident …
Bird flu experts meeting in Geneva have ruled that controversial research on a mutant form of the virus potentially capable of being spread among humans should be made public. Security assessments must however be carried out first before the two studies can be published and the research can continue, scientists …
The impact of alien predators on native prey populations is often attributed to prey naiveté towards a novel threat. Yet evolutionary theory predicts that alien predators cannot remain eternally novel; prey species must either become extinct or learn and adapt to the new threat. As local enemies lose their naiveté …
Invasive species represent a significant threat to global biodiversity and a substantial economic burden. Burmese pythons, giant constricting snakes native to Asia, now are found throughout much of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park (ENP). Pythons have increased dramatically in both abundance and geographic range since 2000 and …
The hydel project will cause loss of biodiversity and significant environmental impact The Gundia Hydro Electric Project (GHEP) proposed by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) should not be executed “as the loss of biodiversity and environmental impact would be significant,” says a report by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert …
Recent technological improvements have made possible the development of lightweight GPS-tagging devices suitable to track medium-to-small sized animals. However, current inferences concerning GPS performance are based on heavier designs, suitable only for large mammals. Lightweight GPS-units are deployed close to the ground, on species selecting micro-topographical features and with different …
