Posts Tagged "biodiversity"

  • Help rebut misleading and mean-spirited anti-biodiversity Forbes article

    [caption id="attachment_1136" align="alignleft" width="185" caption="Forbes blogger Larry Bell is wrong about the biodiversity crisis and wrong about global warming"][/caption] I've used this blog as a forum to highlight authors who deny the biodiversity crisis as a scam or hoax. We now have another example, unfortunately featured on the widely-read business website Forbes. I posted

  • Research article in PLOS open-access science journal explains global biodiversity patterns

    [caption id="attachment_1123" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Global patterns of terrestrial vertebrate diversity analyzed in the study. Each of the 32 bioregions is colored by its vertebrate species richness (amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal richness combined; dark green represents the lowest values and dark red represents the highest values -- click on image for full size)."][/caption] Explaining the variable distribution and abundance of species such as latitudinal gradients has been the goal of

  • A list of biodiversity institutes is a resource for researchers

    Our sister site, SavingSpecies has published a directory of biodiversity institutes around the world. The list includes 27 organizations whose primary mission is related to biodiversity and science. The list is open access for all who might benefit from a one-stop directory. The list is also available for additions and editing so that it can keep track of new institutions. Scientists, researchers, job-seekers and funding agencies could benefit from the list. For more information about the list, see the SavingSpecies post: A directory listing biodiversity

  • Does the word biodiversity hinder public awareness and what can we do about it?

    I recently commented on the relative stagnation in searches for the word “biodiversity” during the first three quarters of 2010 -- a possible failure of the UN’s Year of Biodiversity. It’s hard to say if the lackluster performance of search results reflects lack of public interest in biodiversity. At least part of the problem may be in the term itself. In this, the Year of Biodiversity, the BBC reports that when members of the public were asked what they thought what

  • Save time using the biodiversity news feed on Alltop

    [caption id="attachment_1013" align="alignleft" width="114" caption="Alltop curates feeds from the best blogs on specific topics"][/caption] I am pleased to announce that Alltop has adopted my suggestion for a biodiversity topic feed on the site. You can now get the best biodiversity blog posts in one place. The page features the most popular stories to the top left of the listed sites, so it's a great way to save time getting the latest news on biodiversity. Alltop is an aggregator site that collects "the headlines

  • Linkedin group for biodiversity professionals

    [caption id="attachment_1006" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Our logo for the Biodiversity Professionals group on Linkedin"][/caption] Biodiversity has been in the news recently (yay!). And thousands of people are actively engaged in various aspects of biodiversity (also yay!). But there are not a lot of professional networking resources specifically for folks in biodiversity careers (boo!). A lot of the social networking resources revolve around Facebook and Twitter. These are great, but the conversation tends to be a bit scattered and is often cause-based or promotional. Biodiversity professionals need a place where they can engage in more focused conversations.

  • Daily Telegraph is wrong! Biodiversity is NOT a scam

    [caption id="attachment_993" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="A Daily Telegraph blogger asserts that biodiversity is a scam. But he's the one who's scamming."][/caption] Blogger James Delingpole has got me mad. He wrote a post on the Daily Telegraph blog claiming that environmentalists are "ditching climate change" as a cause. Instead, he says, they are taking up biodiversity as "the new big lie." Wrong. One big lie is that environmentalists are ditching climate change in favor of biodiversity. Anyone who follows the field knows that climate change is one cause

  • The best biodiversity blogs: reviews and rankings

    [caption id="attachment_930" align="alignleft" width="204" caption="Forest fruits from Barro Colorado illustrate tropical rainforest biodiversity. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)"][/caption] Biodiversity is in the news. 2010 is the UN Year of Biodiversity, which has done much to raise public awareness. So inevitably we are seeing more blogs dedicated to the topic. Yay! But it's hard to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Google "biodiversity blog" (with quotes) and you get several thousand hits. Which of those can you put into your RSS reader? Which bloggers

  • Online network connects journalists with biodiversity information

    [caption id="attachment_913" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Biodiversity Media Alliance aims to boost the quantity and quality of media coverage of biodiversity issues."][/caption] Biodiversity Media Alliance is a Ning social network for media professionals who are covering biodiversity issues. The International Institute for Environment and Development, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Internews created the site to help connect journalists with sources of information about biodiversity. The site's tagline is "Linking Journalism With

  • New rules for biodiversity should boost options for biological pest control

    [caption id="attachment_479" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Larva of the lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea feeding on an aphid. Lacewings are often available from biological pest control dealers. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)"][/caption] Our increasingly interconnected world is helping crop pests spread ever faster and more widely. Chemical pest controls are effective but expensive and soon become obsolete as organisms evolve resistance. Biological pest controls are a natural solution to agricultural pests that, compared with chemical pesticides, need fewer repetitive treatments, are less likely to engender resistant pest strains and don't present pollution problems. But

  • Will Ecuador’s plan to raise money for not drilling oil in the Amazon succeed?

    Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is full of wealth: it is one of the richest places on earth in terms of biodiversity; it is home to the indigenous Waorani people, as well as several uncontacted tribes; and the park's forest and soil provides a massive carbon sink. More

  • Suit Seeks to Protect 70,000 Additional Acres for Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

    WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and Florida Biodiversity Project filed suit today to obtain a larger protected area for the highly endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow by reversing a Bush-era decision that struck down 70,000 acres of critical habitat identified by scientists as essential for the survival of the rare songbird. The lawsuit is part of a larger campaign on the part of the Center to undo a slew of decisions by the Bush administration that ignored the government’s own scientists and weakened protections for endangered species. More