Biodiversity

"TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A one-two punch of excessive nutrients and ravenous mussels is causing a sharp drop-off in Great Lakes fish populations and the worst outbreak of algae blooms in decades, says a report released Tuesday."

"GAINESVILLE -- Florida has the world's worst invasive amphibian and reptile problem, and a new 20-year study led by a University of Florida researcher verifies the pet trade as the top cause of the non-native species introduction into the state's environment."

"ALBUQUERQUE -- Acquisition of 570 acres to establish a national wildlife refuge along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque has been approved, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today in Albuquerque."

"So what the heck is a pawpaw?"

"Florida horticulturists worry palm trees throughout the Sunshine State and Southeast could vanish as a new bacterial condition ravages the state’s most iconic scenery."

"The glassy stares of the dead, the garbage piling up in the streets, the frightened, angry mobs smashing their way into drugstores and attacking food lines. The images in the thriller Contagion may be delivered with Hollywood flair, but they also have a ring of truth to those on the medical front lines.

Joan Guilfoyle, the new head of Interior's wild horse and burro program, faces a dilemma. The 38,000 animals roaming 34 million western acres are breeding rapidly. If she moves to fast to cull them, she faces the wrath of conservationists; if she moves too slowly, she faces the wrath of ranchers.