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Items tagged with: biodiversity

📰 Apex Predators Are Quietly Reshaping the West

🦅 Western U.S.: Bald eagles, gray wolves, condors, and black bears are back from the brink due to decades of environmental policy, habitat restoration, and public support.

🌄 Their return is restoring ecological function at landscape scale, from scavenger networks to trophic balance, even as some species adapt to more urbanized terrain.

🤝 Coexistence now depends on community‑level choices: wildlife‑friendly ranching, lead‑free hunting, habitat connectivity, and everyday tolerance that allows wide‑ranging species to move, feed, and reproduce safely.

🔗 ktla.com/news/nationworld/apex…

#SolarPunkSunday
#WildlifeRecovery #ApexPredators #HabitatConnectivity #Conservation #WildlifeConservation #EcologicalRestoration #Biodiversity

#biodiversity #conservation #solarpunksunday #wildlifeconservation #ecologicalrestoration #wildliferecovery #apexpredators #habitatconnectivity

🌿 A small Finnish daycare experiment found that changing a play yard's biodiversity can change children's microbial exposure and immune-regulation markers.

Researchers added forest floor, sod, plants, and peat blocks to parts of four urban daycare yards. After 28 days, 3- to 5-year-old children showed changes in skin and gut microbiota, along with shifts in IL-10, IL-17A, TGF-β1, and regulatory T-cell measures.

A later placebo-controlled study found similar immune-related changes after children played with microbially diverse soil. The evidence is promising, but it does not yet prove that dirt prevents allergies or autoimmune disease. Nor does it show that recycled-rubber playgrounds are poisoning children.

Primary studies:
doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba2578
doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.…

#Science #ChildHealth #Biodiversity

#science #biodiversity #childhealth


Likweli: A remarkable new species of Colobus monkey from the Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

We describe and name a new species of African monkey, Colobus congoensis sp. nov. (Primates, Cercopithecidae), from the interfluve region of the Lomami and Congo (Lualaba) Rivers in east-central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
journals.plos.org
#biodiversity #conservation #primate #monkey

yur daily ARThropod

#Malaysia #moth #insect #bug #biodiversity #animal #wildlife #nature #macro #photography

an arthropod known as the picasso moth (Baorisa hieroglyphica) for the abstract art-like patterns on its wings.
#photography #nature #bug #biodiversity #wildlife #macro #animal #insect #malaysia #moth

#MothOfTheDay sees the return in 2026 of the vividly yellow and oh so cute:

CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN
Ennomos alniaria

Fairly common in the UK, attracted to light and larvae feed on various trees.

#moths #moth #mothsandbutterflies #butterflies #MothsMatter #nature #wildlife #britishwildlife #lepidoptera #entomology #insect #cute #garden #yellow #summer #july #conservation #biodiversity #alttext #science #educate #yellow

Front on shot, slightly out of focus of a moth on a stick. Its wings are pointed vertically in a V shape above its thorax. Its wings are mottled yellow, but its head and thorax and very bright, vivid yellow and furry. It has two compound eyes close together either side of two palps, and two yellow feathered antennae sweep backwards from its head. Its thin grey legs grip a blue lolly stick.
Side on shot of canary shouldered thorn moth on a blue lolly stick. It faces left. It has a thick chunky pale yellow beige abdomen fronted by a thick shock vivid yellow fur at its thorax and head. Its large scalloped wings and mottled yellow with purple suffusion near the outer edge and a black mark right in the centre. They are held vertical and back like a billowing cape. Its head is canary yellow with two palps that resemble a tiny beak and a black compound eye.
#nature #garden #science #Summer #biodiversity #AltText #wildlife #cute #insect #conservation #yellow #butterflies #entomology #moths #moth #mothoftheday #mothsandbutterflies #mothsmatter #britishwildlife #lepidoptera #july #educate

#MothOfTheDay is

OAK EGGAR
Lasiocampa quercus

Name comes from its acorn-shaped cocoon. Larvae actually feed on heathers, brambles and hawthorns.

BONUS PICTURE - just for fun, 11 of the 14 Elephant Hawk-moths to pay a visit last night. Three were photo-shy and flew off.

#moths #moth #mothsandbutterflies #butterflies #MothsMatter #nature #wildlife #britishwildlife #lepidoptera #entomology #insect #cute #garden #yellow #summer #july #conservation #biodiversity #alttext #science #educate

An overhead photograph of a large female Oak Eggar moth resting on a person's index finger. The finger points right, but the moth hangs off it vertically. The moth has a stout, robust body shape covered in a dense, fluffy mane of golden-brown or tawny-orange hair. The forewing is smooth and triangular, coloured in a gradient of warm ochre-brown. A distinct, slightly curved dark brown line runs horizontally about halfway down separating the darker upper end from a slightly lighter orange-brown rear section. Two prominent, bright white oval spot sits near the centre of each forewing. Two short, pale orange antennae curve upward from the head. The background features a blurred green garden and chicken wire.
A side-profile of a female Oak Eggar moth resting on my index finger. It faces left. It is very large - about 5-6cm long and very chunky The moth has a robust body and its head and nape are covered in a dense, fluffy mane of golden-brown or tawny-orange hair. The forewing is smooth and triangular, coloured in a gradient of warm ochre-brown. A distinct, slightly curved dark brown line runs vertically down the outer third of the wing, separating the more intensely coloured top end from a slightly lighter orange-brown rear section. A prominent, bright white oval spot sits near the centre of the forewing. Two short, pale orange antennae curve upward from the head. The background features a blurred green garden and chicken wire.
Overhead shot of an egg tray with 11 pink and olive coloured elephant hawkmoths in different positions. The hawkmoths are about 6cm long and fighter jet shaped. The egg box is green-grey.
#nature #garden #science #Summer #biodiversity #AltText #wildlife #cute #insect #conservation #yellow #butterflies #entomology #moths #moth #mothoftheday #mothsandbutterflies #mothsmatter #britishwildlife #lepidoptera #july #educate

How many storms did it survive? How many birds found shelter in its branches? How many forests began from its seeds? An old tree is a lifetime of giving. Let's be the generation that protects, not destroys, our natural heritage.
#trees #biodiversity #environment #ecology #ecosystem #forestry #nature #ClimateAction #photography #fediverse #linux #mastodon #agroforestry #afforestation #Reaforestation #deforestation #Greenyouthmovement #wildlife #EcoConservation
gofund.me/8da0ff4a0

Donate to Empower Ugandan Families with Green Youth Movement, organized by Jesse Davis

Imagine a family that struggles to afford enough nutritious food for th… Jesse Davis needs your support for Empower Ugandan Families with Green Youth Movement
gofundme.com
#Environment #fediverse #Linux #photography #nature #mastodon #biodiversity #wildlife #trees #ecology #climateaction #déforestation #ecosystem #agroforestry #afforestation #reaforestation #greenyouthmovement #ecoconservation #forestry

🌱 The US has 40 million acres of lawn. It's our largest irrigated crop, and most of it is an ecological dead zone.

But you don't have to nuke your whole yard. Some alternatives:

Clover lawns: fix their own nitrogen (no fertilizer needed), need far less water, stay green in drought, and Dutch white clover alone supports 55 bee species.
nationalgeographic.com/environ…

Bee / pollinator lawns: mix low-growing native flowers into turf. A Cornell demo plot now needs zero fertilizer, pesticides, or irrigation and supports 4x the insect diversity of conventional turf.
wildones.org/what-is-a-pollina…

Wildflower meadows: one study found converting lawns to meadows supported 35 bee species in just two years.
blog.nwf.org/2024/04/grow-beyo…

The key finding: you don't have to go all in. Converting even 10-20% of a yard makes a measurable difference. And "No Mow May" alone isn't enough, year-round reduced mowing is where the real benefit is.

#nativeplants #pollinators #biodiversity


Here's why people are ditching their grass lawns for clover

Perfectly manicured turf grass takes a toll on the environment, leading some to embrace unconventional lawn alternatives.
Ally Hirschlag (National Geographic)
#biodiversity #nativeplants #pollinators

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