Conservation Science

The plastics on Mahahual's picturesque beaches are more than an eyesore. They may threaten the fragile coral reef and mangrove ecosystems of the Yucatan Peninsula, said H. Bruce Rinker, an ecologist at the Maine-based Biodiversity Research Institute and science advisor to Sustenta.com. "If we turn our backs, we risk harming the integrity of those systems," Rinker said. Read full story

The subtle rust and charcoal hues of the robin’s plumage told me it was a female, and her feathers shone fresh and porcelain smooth in the sunlight. She cocked her head, hopped, and then lunged forward to root at something in the soil. Tilting upright again, she suddenly launched skyward, turning sharply around a fence post and swooping up at an impossible angle to land on an alder branch. Perched there, the robin shook her tail and fluffed up her body feathers before letting everything settle back into place.

This image was captured in the Mendocino National Forest in Califoria as part of a study on black-tail deer survival. The study targets understanding how predation and habitat quality and spatial arrangement contribute to deer survival in order to manage mammal populations in a changing world. Tavis Forrester and his team use the cameras to get a relative density of predator species in fawning areas to determine if this density affects survival probability for deer fawns.

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EcoHealth Alliance (formerly Wildlife Trust) has launched a new program called PetWatch, a first-of-its-kind mobile-friendly website that guides consumers to make informed decisions about exotic pets. Rooted in scientific research on global wildlife trade, PetWatch provides rankings for the Best, Fair and Worst choices of exotic pets for the well being of your family and the environment. Switzer supported the development of PetWatch with a Collaborative Grant to Fellows Kate Smith (2004) and Myra Finkelstein (1998), who developed the project for EcoHealth Alliance.