Cattle ranching, agriculture and other human activities are turning Costa Rican forests into isolated patchy fragments, causing more problems for native plant populations than for monkey species sharing the same habitat.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shed new light on how mountain pine beetles produce an important pheromone called trans-verbenol, which could aid in efforts to better predict outbreaks.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists have developed the first laboratory test that can pick up traces of manatees’ genetic material in the waterways where they live.  Using a water sample collected in the field, the innovative environmental DNA test can reveal whether one or more of the elusive marine mammals has been in the area within the past month.

Three University of Victoria researchers have been awarded a total $935,000 in federal funding to study the impact of underwater noise on endangered southern resident killer whales and the chinook salmon they depend on for almost 80 per cent of their diet.  

  In years when food is abundant for squirrels, males kill the young of rival males, according to new research from University of Alberta biologists.

Researchers in the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) have developed a fast, portable and inexpensive way to test humans and animals for different types of chronic and infectious diseases. This new “point of care” method tests for signals of infection, such as specific antibodies, in blood, milk or saliva samples.

They might seem like unlikely allies, but ranchers and prairie conservationists have a future working together.

The mountains of East Africa are a treasure trove of biodiversity. However, their ecosystems may be at a higher risk than previously realized. Dr. Andreas Hemp and Dr. Claudia Hemp have discovered that Mount Kilimanjaro is turning into an "ecological island". Agriculture and housing construction have eliminated the natural vegetation that used to serve as a bridge to the surrounding area, enabling the diversity of species to develop to its current levels. Neighbouring mountain regions are presumably also being isolated from their surrounding areas. The researchers have published their study in the journal Global Change Biology.

Homeowners concerned about the decline of bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects need look no further than their own back yards, says ecologist Susannah Lerman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the USDA Forest Service. In new research, she and colleagues suggest that homeowners can help support bee habitat in suburban yards, specifically their lawns, by changing lawn-mowing habits.

When it comes to improving habitat for beleaguered native bee species, doing less may accomplish more.