Peatland forest destruction raises climate concern

The destruction of tropical peatland forests is causing them to haemorrhage carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, scientists say.The destruction of tropical peatland forests is causing them to haemorrhage carbon dioxide into ...

Real angry birds 'flip the bird' before a fight

Male sparrows are capable of fighting to the death. But a new study shows that they often wave their wings wildly first in an attempt to avoid a dangerous brawl.

Australia's coastal wetlands 'need room to move'

(Phys.org)—As sea levels climb, Australia's coastal wetlands will be increasingly trapped between urban development on land and the rising ocean, imperilling the survival of their unique plants, birds and fish, leading ...

Damage to farms minimal under Basin plan

For the first time, scientists at UNSW have investigated the likely impact of planned environmental flows on farmlands and nature reserves around the Murray-Darling Basin.

Soft-shelled turtles urinate through mouth

Chinese soft-shelled turtles are exquisitely adapted to their aquatic lifestyle, sitting contentedly on the bottom of brackish muddy swamps or snorkelling at the surface to breath. According to Y. K. Ip from the National ...

The battle to identify the world's smallest vertebrate

More and more really tiny species are being discovered, like a 7.9mm fish in 2006 and a 7.7mm frog in 2011. There's increasing competition for the title of the 'world's smallest vertebrate', but exactly how do you determine ...

A minute crustacean invades the red swamp crayfish

The small ostracod Ankylocythere sinuosa measures no more than half a millimetre in length and lives on other crayfish. And, Spanish scientists have discovered it for the first time in Europe. The finding suggests that it ...

Population pressure impacts world wetlands

(Phys.org) -- The area of the globe covered by wetlands (swamps, marshes, lakes, etc.) has dropped by 6% in fifteen years. This decline is particularly severe in tropical and subtropical regions, and in areas that have experienced ...

Palm planters blamed for decline of Borneo monkey

Expanding palm-oil plantations in Malaysian Borneo are rapidly eating into the habitat of the rare proboscis monkey and causing its numbers to decline sharply, officials warned Wednesday.

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