Conservation Science

Supporters and opponents of the Strauss Wind Energy Project agree on one point: San Miguelito Canyon is unique. .... Golden eagles aren’t the only protected species found in San Miguelito Canyon. It’s also a significant location for the endangered Gaviota tarplant. The yellow petals on this wildflower bloom in late summer and fall, when few other plants are flowering, according to Nick Jensen, a conservation scientist with the California Native Plant Society.

Phalaropes are tiny shorebirds that cover tens of thousands of miles in their migrations between North and South America. They especially depend on large salt lakes in Western North America and in the South American Andes, where they eat brine flies and shrimp at these special, globally threatened habitats. Ryan Carle and Margaret Rubega came together to plan and host a working group meeting on phalaropes at Mono Lake, California, during June 2019.

Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date. Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said, from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.

The goal of American Bird Conservancy's project under this Switzer Network Innovation grant was to develop a comprehensive community engagement strategy that would enable a fair and transparent consideration of a biotechnology approach to addressing the threat of avian malaria in Hawai'i. Hawai'i has an extremely high rate of extinction for birds, and introduced mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit are a leading threat.

Hundreds of journalists from across the country took part in day-long tours Thursday, Oct. 10, as part of the 29th annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists hosted by Colorado State University. The tours included experts from CSU and ran the gamut, exploring the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, National Renewable Energy Lab, Rocky Mountain National Park, farms and a dairy operation, and the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods in north Denver for a discussion on environmental justice.

Few things are as embedded in Maine's culture — or its mud — as clams, and an environmental group thinks the key to saving the shellfish might be growing a different kind of bivalve along the state's coast. Manomet, based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is proposing the shellfish shift as a way to beat predators that plague Maine's clam diggers. Seafood lovers have sought Maine's softshell clams in chowders and clam rolls for decades, but wild harvesters are collecting fewer of those clams, in part because of the spread of crabs and worms that prey on them.

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, by Rachel Kippen: So it’s clear that you all like shearwaters. After detailing the sooty shearwater journey in a recent column, I received heartening and heartwarming stories from dozens of readers who identify with the enchanting anticipation of the sooty migration arrival every year (thank you for that outpouring of enthusiasm).

Fellow Amy Rogers is now working with DroneSeed, a company that works in post-fire environments to plant native trees and vegetation using drone swarms and spray to protect them. Learn more

Scientists from ETH Zurich were once again hugely successful in the latest round of the prestigious ERC Starting Grants: 3 women and 12 men each received an average of 1.5 million euros for their research projects. In total, ETH Zurich will receive 23 million euros. The selected projects cover a range of disciplines, from astronomy and mathematics to climate modelling. The researchers work in nine different ETH departments (see project details below).