Conservation Science

We'd probably like to think that clean, safe food goes hand in hand with pristine nature, with lots of wildlife and clean water. But in the part of California that grows a lot of the country's lettuce and spinach, these two goals have come into conflict. Environmental advocates say a single-minded focus on food safety has forced growers of salad greens to strip vegetation from around their fields, harming wildlife and polluting streams and rivers.

“We have no doubt our more than one million annual visitors will be in awe of this new exhibit experience that will connect them with hands-on learning and unforgettable, up-close animal encounters,” said Dr. Deborah Jensen, President and CEO of Woodland Park Zoo, in a press release. “But we see that awe as just a starting point, the kernel of curiosity, hope and inspiration that moves our visitors to take action on behalf of wildlife.” Read the full story

Preserving The World's Big Cats: The big, wild cats of the world aren't faring well. Humans and developments cover land they used to roam. Can we share the planet, or is the battle for preservation one we are always fighting? Biological corridors are one new effort at preservation; from Mexico to Argentina for jaguars and through the Indo–Himalayan region for tigers. How do these corridors work? Dr. Alan Rabinowitz has worked with warring armies, government officials and local civilians to set land aside for these animals.

Spotting an animal's fresh footprints in the wild can conjure a world for the hiker: Why did the deer tracks disappear? Where did the cougar turn off the trail? What does it mean when two sets of footprints seem to coincide? This beautifully illustrated field guide, the first devoted to the tracks and signs of California animals--including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates like spiders and beetles--blends meticulous science with field experience to provide an engaging companion for both armchair exploration and easy field identification.

Tavis writes: I recently landed a 3-year post-doc position with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as the project coordinator for eMammal, a large-scale NSF- funded citizen science project using volunteers and remote cameras. eMammal is a further development of SI Wild, an existing project that has pooled camera-trapping images from all over the world and will soon be expanded to allow volunteers on our project to upload data, and then expanded again to allow visitors to analyze and visualize data.

Coral reefs are one of the most threatened ecosystems world wide. This project collects critical data for the Kenya Wildlife Service to promote effective coral reef conservation and management of marine protected areas.

Using small electronic tags, Marin scientists have been able to track the surprisingly long migration of golden-crowned sparrows to Alaska and back to Point Reyes. Biologists from PRBO Conservation Science based at the Palomarin Field Station near Bolinas attached the small tags to 33 sparrows wintering in and near Point Reyes National Seashore in 2010 before they headed north on spring migration.

Current ecological thought suggests the more diverse a plant community is, the more productive it is. But scientists don’t fully understand why this is so. “We’re exploring the possibility that plant-soil feedbacks may also be a critical but underappreciated factor in plant community development,” says Andrew Kulmatiski, assistant research professor in Utah State University’s Ecology Center and Department of Plants, Soils and Climate. Read the full story

Laura Meyerson of the University of Rhode Island works at the Institute of Botany in Pruhonice on exploring genetic qualities of a very common plant phragmatis australis.This global research project can help to develop better understanding of the invasive species. Watch the video