Author: Zach

Staying current for Chapter 5 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2025-01-08. ‘Good boy!’ Truffle-sniffing dogs are helping uncover hidden underground ecosystems. By Christie Wilcox, Science. Excerpt: Mere moments after getting out of the car, Rye—a golden retriever with a nose for truffles—has already sniffed out something in this oak […]

Staying current for Chapter 4 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2024-11-14. Meet Evo, the DNA-trained AI that creates genomes from scratch. By Mitch Leslie, Science. Excerpt: ChatGPT, the famous artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, can summarize Moby Dick, write computer code, and serve up a recipe for chicken à la king […]

Staying current for Chapter 3 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2024-10-10. Ecological speciation in Darwin’s finches: Ghosts of finches future. By Jeffrey Podos and Katie M. Schroeder. Science. Editor’s summary: When we think of a species adapting to environmental change, we mostly think about one trait. However, changes in one trait will likely […]

Staying current for Chapter 2  { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2023-10-16. Blood Memory–The American Buffalo. [https://www.pbs.org/video/american-buffalo-episode-1-blood-memory/] or [https://www.pbs.org/show/the-american-buffalo] Documentary By Ken Burns. Description: For untold generations, America’s national mammal sustained the lives of Native people, whose cultures were intertwined with the animal. Newcomers to the continent bring a different view of the natural world, and […]

Staying current for Chapter 1 {2021}-{2011–2020}-{2001–2010} See Non-chronological resources { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2025-01-09. Dietary breadth in kangaroos facilitated resilience to Quaternary climatic variations. By Samuel D. Arman et al, Science. Editor’s summary: Much can be said about what a species ate based on the form of their teeth. In Australia, it has been hypothesized that […]

Staying current for Chapter 1  Articles from 2001–2010 Stay current index page for chapter 1 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2010 Nov 26. The Fight for Yasuni. By Eric Marx, Science. Abstract: Over the past decade, biologists working in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park and the adjoining Waorani Ethnic Reserve, a 17,000-kilometer section of the Amazon Basin […]

Staying current for Chapter 1  Articles from 2011–2020 Stay current index page for chapter 1 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2020-12-17. Ivory From Shipwreck Reveals Elephant Slaughter During Spice Trade. By Rachel Nuwer, The New York Times. Excerpt: In 2008, workers searching for diamonds off the coast of Namibia found a different kind of treasure: hundreds of […]

Staying current for Chapter 1  Articles from 2021 Stay current index page for chapter 1 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2021-11-18. Europe’s declining butterflies find new refuge: old quarries and coal mines. By Warren Cornwall, Science Magazine. Excerpt: Abandoned limestone quarries provide a better habitat than some meadows… [https://www.science.org/content/article/europe-s-declining-butterflies-find-new-refuge-old-quarries-and-coal-mines] 2021-10-14. The Most Important Global Meeting […]

Chapter 8 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”– Aldo Leopold, 1948 Visit Yellowstone today, and despite roads and tourists everywhere, you may […]

Chapter 7 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } “It is early morning. I am alone on the deck of the research ship Calypso. “The sea is flat and grayish-blue. The air is hot and sultry. There is hardly any breeze. Overhead, heavy dark clouds are silently piling up into billowing pyramids… “What is it about the […]