Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

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 [...]

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 [...]

The development of a new carbon economy has the potential to offer win–win outcomes for environments and economies. Large-scale tree plantations are expected to play a major role in carbon economies but could have negative ecological and economic consequences when key environmental values such as biodiversity conservation are not considered. We discuss three potential “bio-perversities”—negative [...]

Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors [...]

[SANTIAGO, CHILE] Genetically modified (GM) cotton genes have been found in wild populations for the first time, making it the third plant species — after Brassica and bentgrass  — in which transgenes have established in the wild. The discovery was made in Mexico by six Mexican researchers investigating the flow of genes to wild cotton [...]