Research Highlight |
Featured
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Correspondence |
Field research stations are key to global conservation targets
- Timothy M. Eppley
- , Kim E. Reuter
- & Russell A. Mittermeier
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Career Column |
Developing an inclusive culture at South Africa’s research institutions
To fully desegregate science, institutions should bolster mentorship, safe spaces and a culture of belonging, say Phakamani M’Afrika Xaba, Ferozah Conrad and Tlou Masehela.
- Phakamani M’Afrika Xaba
- , Ferozah Conrad
- & Tlou Masahela
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Research Highlight |
Off the hook: electrical device keeps sharks away from fishing lines
Such interventions could greatly reduce accidental catches of threatened species.
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Research Highlight |
Overfished lobsters get big and plentiful when offered safe haven
Crustacean populations boomed after Norway established marine sanctuaries.
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Article
| Open AccessPathogen spillover driven by rapid changes in bat ecology
A study reveals how land-use change and climate interact to drive the spillover of a zoonotic virus, and identifies an ecological mechanism that prevents spillover.
- Peggy Eby
- , Alison J. Peel
- & Raina K. Plowright
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News & Views |
Shedding light on declines in diversity of grassland plants
A field experiment provides a new way to investigate the mechanisms by which grazing, fertilizer use and light availability can affect the biodiversity of a grassland plant community.
- Eric Allan
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News & Views |
The point of no return for species facing heatwaves
A climate-driven rise in exposure to extreme temperatures will hasten mortality. To predict such losses, we need to know how quickly organisms succumb to stressful temperatures. A study shows how heat-failure rates vary across species.
- Susana Clusella-Trullas
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News |
Deforestation slowed last year — but not enough to meet climate goals
Report finds that most nations are not on track to meet global pledge to protect Earth’s forests.
- Natasha Gilbert
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News |
Tuna catch rates soared after creation of no-fishing zone in Hawaii
Enormous size of protected area and its shape could be helping populations to rebound.
- Giorgia Guglielmi
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News |
Orangutan genome mix-up muddies conservation efforts
Reanalysis of landmark paper finds that eight genome sequences were mistakenly assigned to the wrong orangutans. The impacts on research are as-yet unclear.
- Freda Kreier
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Correspondence |
Iran and India: work together to save cheetahs
- Jamshid Parchizadeh
- & Jerrold L. Belant
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News & Views |
Global soil map pinpoints key sites for conservation
A map of Earth reveals hotspots of soil biodiversity and regions to target for conservation. Many of these areas are currently unprotected, which suggests that it is time to rethink our soil management and conservation priorities.
- Peter C. de Ruiter
- & Elly Morriën
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News & Views |
New catalogue of Earth’s ecosystems
Echoing the hierarchical Linnaean system for naming species, ecologists have developed a definitive classification of Earth’s ecosystems. This feat, achieved by a massive effort, could anchor conservation efforts for decades to come.
- Brian J. McGill
- & Stephanie N. Miller
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Article
| Open AccessA function-based typology for Earth’s ecosystems
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Global Ecosystem Typology has been developed to provide a systematic framework for data on all of Earth’s ecosystems in a unified theoretical context to support biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services.
- David A. Keith
- , José R. Ferrer-Paris
- & Richard T. Kingsford
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Article |
Global hotspots for soil nature conservation
A global field survey that analyses samples of soil from all continents identifies hotspots for soil nature conservation, and shows that different ecological dimensions of soil are associated with different priority areas for conservation.
- Carlos A. Guerra
- , Miguel Berdugo
- & Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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Research Highlight |
This rare primate will not survive deforestation
Modelling suggests that tree cutting is a greater threat to the Milne-Edwards’s sifaka than are climate extremes.
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Correspondence |
Save the world’s forest giants from infernos
- David M. J. S. Bowman
- , Grant J. Williamson
- & Brett M. Mifsud
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News |
Sea turtles swim easier as poaching declines
An estimated 1.1 million sea turtles were illegally harvested from 1990 to 2020 — but today poaching poses less of a threat to these endangered reptiles.
- Freda Kreier
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News |
Lost trees, booster benefits — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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News Feature |
The loneliest trees: can science save these threatened species from extinction?
There are trees so rare that only a single specimen remains. Some conservationists want to save them all — but others question this lofty goal.
- Aisling Irwin
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Career Q&A |
Treading carefully: saving frankincense trees in Yemen
Conservation biologist Kay Van Damme works with locals on the Socotra archipelago to help save ancient trees and colourful invertebrates.
- Shihab Jamal
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Editorial |
We must get a grip on forest science — before it’s too late
Trees are one of our biggest carbon hopes. Supporting the scientists studying them should be a much higher priority.
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Where I Work |
Face-to-face with a 250-kg grizzly: how I study bears in the Rocky Mountains
Clayton Lamb tracks bears to help reduce conflict with humans.
- Rachael Pells
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Where I Work |
Slow science: how I’m protecting sloth species
Rebecca Cliffe is equipping the world’s slowest mammal with data-logging backpacks to better understand sloths’ behaviour.
- Jack Leeming
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Restoration prioritization must be informed by marginalized people
- Bernardo B. N. Strassburg
- , Alvaro Iribarrem
- & Piero Visconti
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Research Highlight |
A feeding frenzy of 150 whales marks a species’ comeback
One of the largest known congregations of filter-feeding whales is recorded off the coast of Antarctica.
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Matters Arising |
A path forward for analysing the impacts of marine protected areas
- Ray Hilborn
- & Michel J. Kaiser
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Research Highlight |
Found: hideout of some of the last primordial pigeons
Rock doves on some Scottish islands show almost no sign of having interbred with domestic pigeons.
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Research Highlight |
A catastrophic collapse for the ‘flying banana’ of the Kalahari
The numbers of fledglings of the southern yellow-billed hornbill have declined steeply at one South African locale.
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News & Views |
25 years of valuing ecosystems in decision-making
The economic value that the world’s ecosystems provide was first estimated in 1997, eliciting a wide range of reactions. How have such valuations advanced since then, and what are today’s frontiers in using these values for decision-making?
- Gretchen C. Daily
- & Mary Ruckelshaus
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News Round-Up |
Dark-matter-free galaxies, alarming tree deaths and the dawn of farming
The latest science news, in brief.
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Correspondence |
Sustainable seas: overdue SDG target could be met this year
- Sarat Babu Gidda
- , R. V. V. Padmavati
- & Jo Mulongoy
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Research Highlight |
Online pet shops are crawling with spiders captured in the wild
The vast and unregulated global trade in arachnids includes many species scooped up directly from their native habitats.
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News |
Trees are dying much faster in northern Australia — climate change is probably to blame
The rate of trees dying has doubled in Queensland’s old-growth forests over the past 35 years.
- Bianca Nogrady
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Comment |
Want to prevent pandemics? Stop spillovers
Decision-makers discussing landmark agreements on health and biodiversity must include four actions to reduce the risk of animals and people exchanging viruses.
- Neil M. Vora
- , Lee Hannah
- & Aaron S. Bernstein
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Research Highlight |
Gentle-giant sharks are on a collision course with mighty ships
Tracking data from nearly 350 whale sharks suggest that the endangered fish are being killed by large vessels.
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Editorial |
How to make Africa’s ‘Great Green Wall’ a success
One of the world’s most ambitious plans to restore degraded land needs a more meaningful way to measure its achievements.
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Article
| Open AccessA global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods
An extinction-risk assessment of reptiles shows that at least 21.1% of species are threatened by factors such as agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species, and that efforts to protect birds, mammals and amphibians probably also benefit many reptiles.
- Neil Cox
- , Bruce E. Young
- & Yan Xie
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Research Highlight |
Pork dinners fuel huge crocodiles’ return from near-extinction
Saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia have thrived after adding feral pig to the menu.
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Comment |
Analysis: the biodiversity footprint of the University of Oxford
Every large organization should plot a path to net gain in biodiversity — here’s how.
- Joseph William Bull
- , Isobel Taylor
- & E. J. Milner-Gulland
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Article |
Protected areas have a mixed impact on waterbirds, but management helps
Using a combined before–after control–impact approach shows that existing studies using either before–after or control–intervention methods incorrectly estimate the effectiveness of protected areas in maintaining waterbird populations.
- Hannah S. Wauchope
- , Julia P. G. Jones
- & William J. Sutherland
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Correspondence |
Argentina: wildfires jeopardize rewilding
- Mario S. Di Bitetti
- , Carlos De Angelo
- & Alejandro R. Giraudo
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Where I Work |
Net benefit: using a turtle excluder device in the Adriatic Sea
Marine biologist Laura Aiudi is working on a net that saves the lives of endangered species — but still protects the livelihood of fishermen.
- Jack Leeming