Biodiversity

"MELBOURNE, Fla. — The first hint that something was amiss here, in the shallow lagoons and brackish streams that buffer inland Florida from the Atlantic’s salt water, came last summer in the Banana River, just south of Kennedy Space Center. Three manatees — the languid, plant-munching, over-upholstered mammals known as sea cows — died suddenly and inexplicably, one after another, in a spot where deaths were rare."

Research biologists are studying the elusive Cascades frog, which lives in alpine meltwater ponds in Washington's Olympic Mountains, to understand how warming climate might affect the ecosystems they depend on.

"NEW YORK -- The vast highlands and open spaces of China, Tibet and Mongolia – once roamed by snow leopards, wild camels and yaks, Tibetan gazelles, wild sheep and goats – are increasingly dominated by domestic goats that produce hair for the lucrative cashmere trade. Soft and warm, cashmere scarves and sweaters, and cashmere-wool blend coats and suits fetch top prices in exclusive shops."

"TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A $50 million federal plan released Wednesday for keeping hungry Asian carp from reaching the valuable fish populations of the Great Lakes calls for reinforcing electrical and other barriers currently in place and for field-testing other methods, including the use of water guns and hormonal fish love potions."

"WASHINGTON -- Environmentalists on Monday filed a petition with the U.S. government requesting regulatory safeguards for 81 particularly vulnerable marine wildlife species, from corals to sharks."

"Across the Midwestern corn belt, a familiar battle has resumed, hidden in the soil. On one side are tiny, white larvae of the corn rootworm. On the other side are farmers and the insect-killing arsenal of modern agriculture."

"A meeting of 24 nations and the European Union in mid-July will decide the fate of two proposed ocean reserves in Antarctica."

"AMSTERDAM -- Australia will try to persuade judges that Japan's scientific whaling program is commercial whaling in disguise in a case between the countries that opens in The Hague on Wednesday."

"Climate change is altering and destroying important habitats that America’s migratory birds depend on, the National Wildlife Federation said Tuesday in a report."