Category: Global Systems Science

Staying current for Chapter 4 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2026-07-10. Ancient DNA solves Medici murder mystery. By Taylor Mitchell Brown, Science. Excerpt: It was a warm October day in 1587 when Grand Duke Francesco de Medici succumbed to fever. At the time, doctors suspected malaria, but it didn’t […]

Staying current for Chapter 3 See Non-chronological resources for this chapter { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2026-04-15. Ten thousand years ago, human evolution went into overdrive. By Andrew Curry, Science. Excerpt: Ancient DNA reveals “massive” genetic shifts tied to rise of farming, wheels, and metal tools. After modern humans made it to Europe some 50,000 […]

Staying current for Chapter 2  { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2026-05-05. Trump administration moves to push bison off Montana land. By Julia Gomez, USA TODAY. Excerpt: Bison are the national mammal of the United States and are seen as a symbol of the West. Now, the Trump administration is pushing to move the animals from public […]

Staying current for Chapter 1 {2021}-{2011–2020}-{2001–2010} See Non-chronological resources { Losing Biodiversity Contents } 2026-07-06. Early hunter-gatherers had a mammoth craving. By ScienceAdvisor. Excerpt: According to a team of archaeologists, the Paleoindians—the first humans to spread across the Americas—specialized in hunting the biggest animals the continents had to offer and paid little mind to smaller, […]

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 […]

{ Losing Biodiversity Contents } The Predatory Bird Research Group is located at the Long Marine Lab of the University of California, Santa Cruz in California. This story combines mystery, high adventure, and camaraderie, all dedicated to a creature of sky and cliffs. In the 1970’s, a small team of California biologists set out to […]