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 …
Several decades of seemingly unrelated policies, ranging from increases in elk hunting to the reintroduction of wolves, have combined to cut a population of mountain lions in the western United States by 48 percent, a recent study has found. Over a span of 14 years, a team of biologists tracked …
Human-induced environmental and climate change are widely blamed for causing rapid global biodiversity loss, but direct estimation of the proportion of biodiversity lost at local or regional scales are still infrequent. This prevents us from quantifying the main and interactive effects of anthropogenic environmental and climate change on species loss. …
In collaboration with a nature reserve in Namibia, researchers funded by the SNSF are developing a new approach to counting animals: combining drone flights and automated image analysis. In collaboration with a nature reserve in Namibia, researchers funded by the SNSF are developing a new approach to counting animals: combining …
The mode and tempo of extinctions and extirpations after the first contact phase of human settlements is a widely debated topic. As the last major landmass to be settled by humans, New Zealand offers a unique lens through which to study interactions of people and biota. By analyzing ancient DNA …
Populations of much-loved British mammals including hedgehogs and water voles have dropped by up to two-thirds over the past 20 years, and many more are threatened with imminent extinction. Even some apparently common creatures such as rabbits have been driven into decline by human pressures such as harmful farming activities …
The Zambian government on Tuesday denied reports that it has authorized the culling of 2,000 hippopotamuses in a national park with a high population of the mammals. Born Free, a conservationist organization which two years ago led protests against plans by the government to cull elephants in the famous Luangwa …
A team of scientists mined previous studies for estimates of the total mass of carbon found in each group of organisms on Earth as a way to measure relative biomass. Plants house some 450 gigatons of the 550 gigatons — or about 80 percent — of the carbon found in …
Since the late Pleistocene, large-bodied mammals have been extirpated from much of Earth. Although all habitable continents once harbored giant mammals, the few remaining species are largely confined to Africa. This decline is coincident with the global expansion of hominins over the late Quaternary. Here, we quantify mammalian extinction selectivity, …
The scientific models that ecologists and conservation biologists rely on to determine which species and habitats to protect lack critical information to help them make effective decisions, according to a new study. Angela Strecker, an environmental science professor at Portland State University and the study's co-lead author, said that species …
Four mammals – including the northern hairy-nosed wombat and the numbat – have been upgraded to endangered or critically endangered on the updated Australian threatened species list published on Thursday. The northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) has been steadily contracting its range to a single area within Queensland’s Epping Forest …
They are better than reptiles and amphibians at extending their habitats, finds a study Mammals and birds stand the best chance of all animals of surviving Earth's rapidly changing climate, researchers said Monday. An analysis of how nearly 11,5000 species fared over 270 million years of hot-and-cold fluctuations showed that …
Hunting wild animals for food and recreational sports like hiking and mountain biking pose the two biggest threats to the world’s protected areas, a new study shows. Ten researchers studied data collected over the last decade by managers at about 2,000 protected areas, including untouched forests and national parks or …
The Trump administration has declined to list the Pacific walrus as endangered after deciding that the huge tusked mammals may be able to adapt to the loss of the sea ice that they currently depend upon. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said that the walruses were unlikely to be …
This study is the first record of the use of animal products in traditional medicine in Angola. Data were obtained by performing interviews with the users of these products who use parts derived from wild mammals to treat 12 diseases. It was found that one or more products that were …
The biggest and the smallest of the world's animals are most at risk of dying out, according to a new analysis. Size matters when it comes to extinction risk, with vertebrates in the so-called "Goldilocks zone" - not too big and not too small - winning out, say scientists. Action …
Bats have been shown as important mammal resevoirs to carry a variety of zoonotic pathogens. To analyze pathogenic species in bats from southeast coastal regions of China, we performed metagenomic sequencing technology for high throughput sequencing of six sentinels from southeast coastal area of China. Original Source
Climate warming is altering the diversity of plant communities but it remains unknown which species will be lost or gained under warming, especially considering interactions with other factors such as herbivory and nutrient availability. Here, we experimentally test effects of warming, mammalian herbivory and fertilization on tundra species richness and …
Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, Nicaragua – The howl of a spider monkey that swayed from branch to branch alerted a group of green macaws to our presence and eventually took flight and disappeared into the forest. From one moment to another, the gentle wind that refreshed us turned into an …
More than 300 animal species face different degrees of threat in Bahia state. The State Environment Secretariat (SEMA) has published a list of 331 species of amphibians, birds, mammals, reptiles, continental invertebrates, fish, marine invertebrates, and the so-called "social interest" species-those exploited by traditional communities for sustainable use or subsistence. …
The study quantified mammal numbers in forests and landscapes with varying degrees of human impact in Malaysian Borneo. Across 57 mammal species recorded with live and camera traps, the average number of all animals combined was 28 percent higher in logged forests -- where hunting wasn’t an issue -- compared …
