During the last twenty years, scientists worked hard to protect and restore the scattered patches of a dilapidated forest and its surroundings of agricultural and fallow vegetation in southern Benin. With the help of their locally recruited assistants, Peter Neuenschwander, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Benin, and Aristide Adomou, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, successfully thinned out […]
Contrary to what scientists have known for over 100 years, the Painted Rocksnail turns out to have never existed outside the Coosa River system Alabama has some of the highest diversity of freshwater snails in the world, but many snails are at high risk of extinction. An essential part of determining extinction risk is knowing […]
Lions belong to the world’s most charismatic megafauna. However, lion numbers and range have declined alarmingly over the last two decades. “To turn the tide, international cooperation is crucial,” says a team of lawyers, conservation biologists and social scientists. In their recently published review article in the journal Nature Conservation, they assess the current and potential […]
In a follow-up to a recent special issue, 8 research articles outline a set of verified guidelines for the monitoring of 5 saproxylic beetle species listed in the Habitats Directive In a set of eight research publications, scientists tested various methods for the monitoring of five European saproxylic (i.e. dependent on dead wood) beetle species […]
Three new, rare ant species recently discovered in Africa were named after important figures for the African biodiversity conservation – the former United States president Barack Obama, the Nigerian writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the world-renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson. The scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), […]
Grains have been reported to regularly trickle from hopper cars travelling via the railway located within the Canadian Banff and Yoho National Parks, attracting the local red squirrels. As a result, the rodents have grown used to foraging on the spilled seeds, which they collect in underground storage areas where they can be discovered and dug up by grizzly […]
Hermit beetles (Osmoderma eremita) are considered at risk, but in order to be effectively protected, they first need to be identified and consistently monitored. However, this turns out to be a tough task, given that the species is only present for a short time as an adult while it is also extremely elusive. On the […]
A collection of thirteen research papers has been published to address the conservation of saproxylic beetles and other insects listed in the Habitats Directive With biodiversity loss well underway, conservation measures are urgent on a global scale and the European Union is no exception. However, for efficient strategies and actions to be put in place, […]
Characterised with its immense biodiversity and high levels of endemism, the Atlantic Tropical Forest has been facing serious anthropogenic threats over the last several decades, demanding for such activities and their effects to be closely studied and monitored as part of the forest dynamics. Cattle farming, expanding agricultural land areas and mining have reduced the […]
It is a well-known fact that environmental factors such as soil texture and drainage determine to a very large degree the vegetation appearance, richness and composition at any site. However, there has been little research on how these variables influence the flora in the marvellous savannas – large open areas characterised by a complex and […]
