A paper just published in the journal Nature [1] has reviewed hundreds of studies on the impact of humans on the movement of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and arthropods. …
AmplificationBiodiversity processesEvolutionExtinctionHumans as animalsNutrient transferWhy animals are important
Are humans top predators? We were before our brains shrunk
One of most exciting studies I’ve read this year just popped up in the journal Quaternary and was summarised on Phys.org [1]. Researchers suggest that human brain size has changed …
AmplificationBiodiversity processesClimate stabilityFood securityMigrationNature-based SolutionsNutrient transferOceansSustainabilityWhy animals are important
Top 5 reasons to conserve ocean animals and ecosystems
Why is ocean conservation important? The temperature, chemistry and nutrientA substance that contains the raw materials for life. At a chemical level, these are contained inside compounds that are absorbed …
Biodiversity processesClimate stabilityFood securityNature-based SolutionsSustainabilityWhy animals are important
Top 5 reasons to conserve land animals and ecosystems
EcosystemsHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other …
Biodiversity processesChaos reductionFeaturedFood pyramidsNature-based SolutionsOceansSharks and RaysSustainability
Sharks scare dugongs and increase seagrass resilience to climate change
A paper just published in the Journal of Animal Ecology [1] looks at how sharks scare dugongs and increase seagrass in a tropical environment. While their modelThe process, either mathematically …
BiodiversityWhat is the definition of biodiversity? When we ask, what is the definition of biodiversity? It depends on what we want to do with it. The term is widely and …
AmplificationBiodiversity processesChaos reductionClimate stabilityFishFood pyramidsFood securityNature-based SolutionsNutrient transferOceansRewildingSustainability
Animals control the health of the sea: it’s why tuna are much better off in the sea
I’ve been asked, is the ocean more important than land? This really depends on your context (as I discussed in this previous blog “Is the Ocean or Land more Important?“). …
AustraliaBiodiversity processesFood securityMegafaunaNature-based SolutionsPest / disease reductionRewildingWhy animals are important
Killing kangaroos destroys Australia’s environment. It makes no sense!
At a time when much of the world is busy rewilding, some Australia’s conservationists want to kill millions of kangaroos including Red Kangaroo, the country’s largest remaining megafaunaThe largest animals …
AmplificationBiodiversity processesChaos reductionClimate stabilityComplex systems dilemmaExtinctionNature-based SolutionsNutrient transferRewildingSustainabilityWhy animals are important
Plants don’t support animals, it’s the other way around
It’s certainly exciting times to be writing on this topic. First off, a big shout out to the /r/ecology /r/nature and /r/megafaunarewilding threads on Reddit. The discussions and content are …
Biodiversity processesChaos reductionFarmlandNature-based SolutionsRewildingWhy animals are important
There is no field of dreams without animals to begin with
Science Daily recently published a piece titled “Study challenges ecology’s ‘Field of Dreams’ hypothesis”. The hypothesis, put simply, is if you build a habitat, the animals will come. The article …
