Evolution, genetics, animal behaviour, conservation
Agricultural nitrogen pollution is global threat, but circular solutions await
As the world grapples with escalating climate change, policymakers remain laser-focused on CO2, with humanity striving to decarbonize energy systems, capture carbon, issue carbon credits, and plant millions of trees to absorb emissions. But carbon dioxide is just one of several powerful greenhouse gases destabilizing the global climate, and just one of the human-produced pollutants severely impacting the natural world and threatening to push Earth out of its current habitable state. Another substance that rarely enters the limelight, but arguably has an even greater impact on our planet’s li
The strange science behind the 'rainbow' tree
In the tropical rainforests of the Philippines, New Guinea and Indonesia, grows a tree that looks more like a painting than a plant. The rainbow eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta) is named after the vibrant coloured stripes on its trunk, which appear because the trees shed their thin bark throughout life.
The brown outer bark peels off in long, narrow strips, revealing neon-green inner bark that gradually changes colour when exposed to air — transitioning to blues and purples, then shades of re...
Snake Island: The bizarre true story of Earth’s most venomous isle
Just off the coast of southern Brazil lies the island of Queimada Grande, known as ‘Snake Island’. Covering just 43 hectares (106 acres), this rocky island is home to between 2,000 and 4,000 highly venomous golden lancehead vipers (Bothrops insularis), which can grow to 70cm (just over 2ft). The snakes were trapped there around 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, when rising sea levels cut them off from the mainland.
No mammals live on the island, so the snakes had no predators ...
Habitats
I researched and wrote nine chapters for this wonderful ecological guidebook.
From the depths of the ocean to soaring mountain peaks - via coral reefs, deserts, rainforests, and even cityscapes - discover how unexpected wildlife partnerships make up the habitats plants and animals call home. Each habitat section starts with a fascinating illustration to explain how it works, exploring the combination of conditions, plants, and animals that make it up. It then delves deeper, ...
Vampires, Yetis, the Kraken… Here’s what monsters could actually be real, according to science
Tales of fantastical beasts and supernatural beings are as old as human history. From werewolves and vampires to yetis and deep-sea monsters, mythical creatures have inspired countless folk tales and works of culture – not to mention some elaborate hoaxes.
They have also driven many intrepid explorers into the wilderness, in the hope of gathering definitive proof of the existence of such beings. Several have been identified as real species, some have been confirmed as fiction, and still other...
Microplastics pose risk to ocean plankton, climate, other key Earth systems
Trillions of microplastic particles in the ocean threaten marine life, from huge filter-feeders to tiny plankton. Although not lethal in the short term, the long-term impacts of microplastics on plankton and marine microbes could disrupt key Earth systems such as ocean carbon storage and nitrogen cycling.
Oceans represent Earth’s largest natural carbon store and are crucial to mitigate atmospheric CO2 increase. Carbon taken up by plankton and stored in the deep ocean — known as the biological...
The world’s tallest tree is ridiculously large – but far from its theoretical limit
The world’s tallest tree is a 116m (380ft) redwood in California, USA. Scientists think it comes close to the maximum height a tree can grow. Trees grow very tall when water and nutrients are plentiful and there is intense competition for sunlight. But as they grow, gravity gets stronger. Plants and trees carry water to their leaves for photosynthesis in a tube called the xylem. If there isn’t enough water, or gravity is very strong, this water column can break, creating potentially deadly ai...
Mongabay Explains: How high-tech tools are used for successful reforestation
This Mongabay Explains’ episode is part of a four-part Mongabay mini-series that examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency.
Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
Advanced computer modeling, machine learning, drones, niche models using data, robotics and other technologies are helping to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest worldwide.
New Tree Tech: Real-time, long-term, high-tech reforestation monitoring
Satellites are mapping and remapping the entire planet daily, providing real-time data that can be used to monitor forests remotely. Drones can fly over or through forests to collect data on tree growth, bridging the gap between on-site measurements and distant satellites.
Sensors can be installed to monitor individual trees directly, while people can collect and analyze the data electronically from a safer and easier-to-access location. Multiple sensors can form a distributed network that returns detailed information on the growth of each tree within huge reforestation plots...
New Tree Tech: Cutting-edge drones give reforestation a helping hand
Restoring hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest worldwide will require a gigantic effort, a challenge made doubly hard by the fact that many sites are inaccessible by road, stopping manual replanting projects in their tracks.
Manual planting is labor-intensive and slow. Drone seeding uses the latest in robotic technology to deliver seeds directly to where they’re needed. Drones can drop seeds along a predefined route, working together in a “swarm” to complete the task with a single human supervisor overseeing the process...
New Tree Tech: Data-driven reforestation methods match trees to habitats
To create healthy, diverse ecosystems, native tree species need to be identified that will thrive at each unique site within a habitat. But with more than 70,000 tree species worldwide, gathering and analyzing the data needed to understand species’ needs, habitat preferences and limitations is no small feat. Environmental niche models use data on climate, soil conditions and other characteristics within a species’ range to calculate a tree’s requirements. Artificial intelligence helps sort through vast data sets to make informed predictions about the species suited to an ecosystem, now and ...
New Tree Tech: AI, drones, satellites and sensors give reforestation a boost
This four-part Mongabay mini-series examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency. Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity. Current forest restoration efforts fall far short of international goals, and behind the hype lies a string of failed projects and unintended environmental consequences that have left a ba...
What gives clouds their shape? A scientist explains
If you’ve ever tried to make out faces or animals in the contours of the clouds, you might have wondered why they come in such a variety of shapes. Moisture is always present in the air as water vapour, but when it condenses into liquid droplets or solid ice particles, these particles scatter light, making them visible as clouds. The shape of a cloud is determined by air temperature, density and movement. Differences in temperature and density prevent water-laden air from mixing with the surr...
Here’s the fastest (and cheapest) way to dry your clothes indoors, according to science
When drying clothes indoors, three main factors determine drying time: temperature, humidity and airflow. The water molecules trapped in the fabric’s fibres must evaporate by turning into water vapour. This happens as water molecules jostling within the fabric gain enough energy to turn into a gas, a process that is accelerated if the material is warmer. At the same time, water molecules in the air randomly condense onto the fabric. So, the drier the air, the higher the ratio of evaporation t...
Why your chewing gum could be secretly destroying the planet
Globally, people chew roughly 100,000 tonnes of gum each year, but what happens once we’ve finished with it? Ancient civilisations chewed tree resins such as chicle, but by the 1950s this had been replaced by synthetic gums.