Biodiversity

"When Reed Cammack hears the first meadowlark of spring, he knows his family has made it through another cold, snowy winter on the western South Dakota prairie. Nothing’s better, he says, than getting up at sunrise as the birds light up the area with song."

"It’s a seemingly harmless act: smooching a tiny turtle as it sits in the palm of your hand. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning animal lovers not to do it."

"The loss of ice in one region of Antarctica last year likely resulted in none of the emperor penguin chicks surviving in four colonies, researchers reported Thursday."

"The heat, a new study suggests, makes for an ideal breeding ground for these eight-legged animals."

"Even bird enthusiasts will admit the southwestern willow flycatcher isn’t very flashy. But in studying the DNA of this brownish-olive songbird, scientists say they have found something remarkable: evidence that the endangered bird is adapting at the genetic level to climate change."

"Native Hawaiians say the tragedy is being used as a pretext to roll back their gains in securing water supplies".

"Ecuadorean referendums to ban oil drilling in a part of the Amazon and mining in a forest outside Quito easily passed, drawing cheers on Monday from Indigenous leaders and environmentalists despite warnings from oil and mining groups about billions of dollars in lost income."

"Climate change is one of the top five drivers of extinction, but it’s not always a zero-sum game. In general, scientists expect species will have to move upward in elevation or latitude to cope in a warming world. However, in California, many animals have been adapting to their mutating environments in ingenious ways."

"This summer a Tribal ceremony celebrated the return of sacred fish, lost for generations."

"When habitat loss is one of the biggest issues facing wild animals, why has Alaska given an uninhabited, remote island to feral cattle?"