Forests are very productive ecosystems accounting for a third of the Earth’s primary productivity. This productivity, and their many layers from forest floor to canopy, make them a great habitat for many bird species across the globe. Worldwide however anthropogenic factors such as logging, introduced invasive species, and land conversion for agriculture, have reduced the…
By Deo Kujirakwinja and Michael Painter [Note: this is the first in a 3-part series during the Global Climate Action Summit, taking place in San Francisco this week, examining the role of Indigenous Peoples in protecting forest resources and mitigating climate change.] In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Batwa people have played a…
By Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley, National Geographic Explorer and Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder The American Cordillera is a jigsaw of mountain ranges that curls southward from the Alaskan coast through my home range, the Colorado Rocky Mountains, to its end in the Antarctic Peninsula. I’m making my first stop along its…
By Jeremy Radachowsky As a child, I spent hours poring through pictures of wildlife in books and magazines. My most treasured possession was a field guide to reptiles and amphibians, its page corners deeply worn from my thumbs. It was the first real book I ever read cover to cover (multiple times, at that!) but…
Are answers to diseases hidden in the leaves and bark of trees such as maples? Researchers are finding out. (Photograph: University of Rhode Island) In the 1992 film Medicine Man, biochemist Robert Campbell, played by actor Sean Connery, searches for new drugs in the Amazon’s vast rainforests. There Campbell finds a cure for cancer not in…
Krystal Tolley is a National Geographic grantee discovering the diversity of reptiles and amphibians in the montane forests of Mozambique. —- The Afromontane archipelago of Mozambique is an unexplored, but potentially biologically important area which has rarely been surveyed. These montane isolates form an important, unexplored linkage between the better studied Eastern Arc Mountains and…
Krystal Tolley is a National Geographic grantee discovering the diversity of reptiles and amphibians in the montane forests of Mozambique. —- The Afromontane archipelago of Mozambique is an unexplored, but potentially biologically important area which has rarely been surveyed. These montane isolates form an important, unexplored linkage between the better studied Eastern Arc Mountains and…
By Julie Mueller, Northern Arizona University How much would you be willing to pay to restore a forest that you can’t see in order to preserve water resources? Researchers at Northern Arizona University found that those who draw irrigation water from the Verde River Watershed in Arizona would be willing to pay an average of $183.50 each…
Big decisions are looming for management of 2.8 million acres of Oregon’s public forestlands – an area covering the size of more than eight Crater Lake National Parks. Because legislation concerning management of the so-called O&C lands could end up undermining some of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water…
The devil’s in the details when it comes to fearsome-looking ant species found recently in Central America and the Caribbean. When viewed under a microscope, some of these 33 new tiny terrors have distinctly fierce jaws and sharp teeth not seen in related ants, according to Jack Longino, an entomologist at the University of Utah. “You…
Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend on radio, or listen below! HOUR 1 Television personalty and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo &…