Protected areas, as a research topic, encompass geographically defined spaces that are formally designated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives, typically the long-term maintenance of biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and associated ecosystem services. Scientific inquiry focuses on their design (e.g., size, shape, connectivity), governance regimes, management effectiveness, and socio-ecological outcomes, including impacts on species persistence, genetic diversity, habitat integrity, and local communities. Research also examines zoning, threat mitigation, monitoring frameworks, and the integration of protected areas into broader landscape and seascape planning, as well as their role in meeting international conservation targets and informing evidence-based environmental policy.
Taxonomic endemism and phylogenetic endemism are both important measures of biodiversity. The former describes the number of distinct species found nowhere else, whereas the latter shows the amount of evolutionary branch ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 31, 2026
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The UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) on Sunday approved the listing of 40 new species for international protection, including the snowy owl featured in the Harry Potter saga.
Plants & Animals
Mar 30, 2026
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22
Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, newly hatched sea turtles emerged on a Gabonese beach to embark on the treacherous 10-meter (33-foot) scramble across the sand to the ocean.
Ecology
Mar 27, 2026
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20
To protect the vulnerable biodiversity of the Arctic, researchers from the University of Alberta and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) have identified a new conservation strategy in western Hudson Bay: using polar bears ...
Ecology
Mar 25, 2026
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26
New research led by James Cook University (JCU) emphasizes that the success of marine protected areas (MPAs) depends largely on understanding and influencing people's behaviors within their borders. The study demonstrates ...
Ecology
Mar 20, 2026
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21
As we move through the world, we leave behind invisible traces of ourselves encased in the hair, skin, and other bodily matter we shed. These tiny pieces of DNA—known as environmental DNA or eDNA—have major conservation potential. ...
Ecology
Mar 12, 2026
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Mangrove forests protect tropical coasts from storms, store large amounts of carbon and provide vital habitats for plants and animals, serving, for example, as nurseries for fish and crabs. They also supply local communities ...
Ecology
Mar 12, 2026
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107
New genetic testing from the University of the Sunshine Coast has uncovered the extraordinary lengths a group of Queensland seabirds will travel to keep love blossoming on their little island. It's a common complaint for ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 11, 2026
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80
Cattle grazing at a nature reserve in the Yorkshire Dales has increased plant diversity by more than 40%, according to research by the University of Leeds. Allowing native cattle breeds to roam large areas of the landscape ...
Ecology
Mar 9, 2026
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17
Payments that enable landowners to rewild ecologically degraded land—in the form of biodiversity credits bought by investors wishing to offset their impact on nature—could be an effective component of the emerging market ...
Environment
Mar 8, 2026
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