Featured
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Global effects of marine protected areas on food security are unknown
- Enric Sala
- , Juan Mayorga
- & Boris Worm
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Article |
Projected decline in European bumblebee populations in the twenty-first century
A quantitative study of past, present and future ecological suitability of Europe for bumblebees finds that for 38–76% of species now considered non-threatened, suitable territory could decrease by at least 30% by 2061–2080.
- Guillaume Ghisbain
- , Wim Thiery
- & Simon Dellicour
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Where I Work |
Protecting peccaries, preserving a people’s knowledge
While working to safeguard habitat for pig-like animals in Argentina, Micaela Camino relies on the region’s Indigenous communities.
- Patricia Maia Noronha
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News |
Legacy of racist US housing policies extends even to bird data
A discriminatory strategy called redlining, which was implemented in the 1930s, has repercussions today for records of urban biodiversity.
- Anil Oza
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Comment |
Four steps to curb ‘ocean roadkill’
There is increasing evidence that ship strikes are a major cause of mortality for whales, sharks and other ocean giants. With the global fleet growing, some simple actions can turn things around.
- Freya C. Womersley
- , Alexandra Loveridge
- & David W. Sims
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Research Highlight |
The right kind of farm helps forest birds prosper
Species in Costa Rica decline on large-scale industrial farms — except species that tend to thrive in degraded habitats.
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News & Views |
Rethinking the effect of marine heatwaves on fish
Marine heatwaves are on the rise. A surprising result from the analysis of data for fish populations in Europe and North America could change ways of thinking about the ecological consequences of such events.
- Mark R. Payne
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News |
Most rare kākāpō parrots have had their genome sequenced
DNA from more than 100 of the critically endangered birds could help to save the species from extinction.
- Katharine Sanderson
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News & Views |
Corals have algal friends for dinner
Biologists have long sought to understand the factors that enable coral reefs to thrive. A careful analysis of nutrient cycling now points to an unexpected food source that helps to sustain corals during food scarcity.
- Virginia M. Weis
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Article |
Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity
Protected areas across mega-diverse Southeast Asia are associated with elevated vertebrate biodiversity inside their boundaries and in surrounding areas.
- Jedediah F. Brodie
- , Jayasilan Mohd-Azlan
- & Matthew Scott Luskin
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Correspondence |
Biodiversity needs both land sharing and land sparing
- Matthew Selinske
- , Sarah A. Bekessy
- & Georgia E. Garrard
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Article |
Future emergence of new ecosystems caused by glacial retreat
By 2100, the decline of all glaciers outside the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets will produce new terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems, posing both challenges and opportunities for conservation.
- J. B. Bosson
- , M. Huss
- & F. Arthaud
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News & Views |
European river recovery might have run out of steam
How has river quality in Europe changed over time? A detailed analysis of invertebrate data provides a picture of biological recovery from past problems, but also points to remaining challenges.
- Ian P. Vaughan
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News & Views |
Assessing the values of nature to promote a sustainable future
Understanding the diverse ways in which the natural world provides value aids informed policy decisions. The generation of a detailed catalogue of this diversity, and ways to assess values, paves the way to a more sustainable future.
- Giulia Sajeva
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News |
Threatened coastal species absent from Chinese protection lists
The lack of legal protections for large coastal animals is leaving them — and their ecosystems — at risk, researchers say.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
AI helps scientists to eavesdrop on endangered pink dolphins
Acoustic tracking technology could feed into conservation projects in the Amazon and beyond.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
Global map of wildlife trade reveals true cost to the planet
By assessing traded animals’ unique traits and their role in ecosystems, researchers can gauge the potential impact of losses.
- Sara Phillips
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal hotspots of traded phylogenetic and functional diversity
Using a global dataset of traded species, it is found that the highest levels of traded phylogenetic and functional diversity are from tropical regions, where high numbers of evolutionary distinct and globally endangered species occur.
- Liam J. Hughes
- , Mike R. Massam
- & David P. Edwards
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Book Review |
To save bears, we must learn to live alongside them
With urban areas expanding and climate change shrinking bears’ habitats, the animals’ interactions with humans will make — or break — efforts to preserve their populations.
- Henry Nicholls
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Article |
Plastic pollution on the world’s coral reefs
Plastics were found in 77 out of 84 coral reefs surveyed in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, including in deeper reefs and remote and near-pristine reefs, such as in uninhabited central Pacific atolls.
- Hudson T. Pinheiro
- , Chancey MacDonald
- & Luiz A. Rocha
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Correspondence |
Biodiversity: an atlas of European reference genomes
- Camila J. Mazzoni
- , Claudio Ciofi
- & Robert M. Waterhouse
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Where I Work |
Helping to protect elephants — using software
Jes Lefcourt aims to guard African wildlife by creating a real-time tracking software.
- Hannah Docter-Loeb
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Comment |
Current conservation policies risk accelerating biodiversity loss
Three approaches that aim to cut the harms of agriculture — land sharing, rewilding and organic farming — risk driving up food imports and causing environmental damage overseas. An alternative approach is both effective and cheaper.
- Ian Bateman
- & Andrew Balmford
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News Feature |
Invasive palms and WWII damaged an island paradise. Could fungi help to restore it?
Researchers ventured to the world’s most remote island to study how fungi in soils could help to revive damaged ecosystems.
- Virginia Gewin
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Where I Work |
How I use science to protect my people’s birthright
Jean-Luc Kanapé combines the ancestral knowledge of his Indigenous Canadian community, the Innu, with technology to protect the region’s caribou from predators and environmental damage.
- Patricia Maia Noronha
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Research Highlight |
Baby whales wither away under avian attack
After gulls switched their focus from southern right whale mothers to calves, scientists recorded a drop in calf survival.
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News |
Deaths of African cheetahs in India shine spotlight on controversial conservation project
Scientists fear that an Indian park is not enough space for the planned population — and that not enough work has been done with locals on how they will respond to the animals.
- Gayathri Vaidyanathan
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Where I Work |
My mission to grow fruit without the plant
Lucas van der Zee hopes to restore current farmland to its natural state by eliminating the vegetation stage of crop-growing.
- James Mitchell Crow
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News |
Accidental DNA collection by air sensors could revolutionize wildlife tracking
Filters at air-pollution monitoring stations trap DNA from a multitude of flora and fauna, researchers find.
- Natasha Gilbert
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News |
Colombia’s ‘cocaine hippo’ population is even bigger than scientists thought
The most comprehensive census yet reveals that there could be twice as many of the invasive animals than previous estimates indicated.
- Luke Taylor
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News |
China is using satellites to police the protection of nature — but will it work?
Scientists say the system will help safeguard nature, but they want more transparency about the zones chosen for conservation.
- Dyani Lewis
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News & Views |
Tree islands boost biodiversity in oil-palm plantations
The cultivation of oil palm is here to stay. However, a five-year study indicates that creating islands of native trees within oil-palm monocultures increases biodiversity and ecosystem functioning without notably lowering crop yields.
- Robert Nasi
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Nature Podcast |
‘Tree islands’ give oil-palm plantation a biodiversity boost
Five-year study shows islands increase ecosystem health without lowering crop yield, and a house built from concrete and nappies.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
Genetic map of Tasmanian devil cancers hints at their future evolution
Most detailed analysis yet pinpoints the contagious tumours’ origins.
- Gemma Conroy
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Editorial |
Is Africa’s Great Green Wall project withering?
The plan to re-green a 7,000-kilometre swathe south of the Sahara is at risk of losing its pan-African vision and ambition.
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Correspondence |
West Africa: make cocoa production truly sustainable
- Thomas Addoah
- , Joss Lyons-White
- & Rachael Garrett
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Where I Work |
Guardian of Ecuador’s diverse — and vanishing — frog species
Conservation biologist Andrea Terán-Valdez aims to protect endangered frogs in Ecuador by breeding populations, cataloguing new species and fighting industrial development.
- Nikki Forrester
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Correspondence |
When legislation to protect wildlife becomes a problem
- Richard Shine
- , Martin J. Whiting
- & Chris Jolly
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Correspondence |
Brazil: plan for zero vegetation loss in the Cerrado
- Ricardo B. Machado
- , Ludmilla M. S. Aguiar
- & José Maria C. Silva
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Research Highlight |
Big bats fly towards extinction with hunters in pursuit
Human hunt at least 19% of bat species worldwide — especially flying foxes, which can have wingspans of 1.5 metres.
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Correspondence |
Legally protect marine food web’s lower echelons
- Johanna Sophie Buerkert
- , Federica Catonini
- & Gregor Luetzenburg
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Where I Work |
This baby turtle surprised scientists by swimming against the current
Satellite transmitters help Cristina Miranda to understand the movements and habitats of endangered hawksbill sea turtles in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
- Virginia Gewin
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Correspondence |
COP15: escalating tourism threatens park conservation
- Ralf C. Buckley
- , Alienor L. M. Chauvenet
- & Sonya Underdahl
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Research Highlight |
Unspoilt forests fall to feed the global supply chain
Export of minerals, wood and energy drives a surprisingly high fraction of deforestation.
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Article |
Future temperature extremes threaten land vertebrates
Future extreme thermal events will force many vertebrate species and assemblages into constant severe thermal stress; however, lowering emissions would greatly reduce overall exposures.
- Gopal Murali
- , Takuya Iwamura
- & Uri Roll
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Career Q&A |
Conservation setbacks? The secrets to lifting morale
Endangered-species specialist Jim Groombridge describes how to lead a conservation field team, even when the species in question disappears.
- Sarah Wild