Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

Here we report severe apparent declines in mammal populations that coincide temporally and spatially with the proliferation of pythons in ENP. Before 2000, mammals were encountered frequently during nocturnal road surveys within ENP. In contrast, road surveys totaling 56,971 km from 2003–2011 documented a 99.3% decrease in the frequency of raccoon observations, decreases of 98.9% [...]

Few scientists have tried to systematically assess the biodiversity of interior as opposed to exterior spaces. Ecologists at North Carolina State University have mounted a large citizen-science survey-the first of its kind-to compile microbial data from thousands of homes in different parts of the world in order to explore whether the microbial makeup of homes [...]

As indicated in the graph above, a 2009 study documented a wide range of changes inside marine reserves, but nearly all of the effects were positive. This global review of peer-reviewed marine reserve studies revealed that fishes, invertebrates, and seaweeds had the following average increases inside marine reserves: Biomass, or the mass of animals and plants, increased [...]

Ocean acidification (OA) is a reduction in oceanic pH due to increased absorption of anthropogenically produced CO2. This change alters the seawater concentrations of inorganic carbon species that are utilized by macroalgae for photosynthesis and calcification: CO2 and HCO3− increase; CO32− decreases. Two common methods of experimentally reducing seawater pH differentially alter other aspects of [...]

Many studies in recent years have investigated the effects of climate change on the future of biodiversity. In this review, we first examine the different possible effects of climate change that can operate at individual, population, species, community, ecosystem and biome scales, notably showing that species can respond to climate change challenges by shifting their [...]

Recent discoveries of the various other human species that have recently walked the earth, raises an interesting question. Scientists are finding that our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans so it would seem technologically possible to transfer some of their DNA to human embryos and raise them as our own. The question is, should we? [...]

In the United States local land trusts preserve and conserve land to protect water quality and supply, farmlands, habitat for native plants and animals, areas of cultural or historical significance, and scenic views. We surveyed the 24 active, local land trusts in North Carolina (U.S.A.) to determine how they report progress toward attaining such conservation [...]