Global biodiversity is becoming more threatened as the human population continues to grow and use the world’s resources. Turtles have the misfortune of being on the leading edge of biodiversity decline and serve as an indicator of ecosystem degradation.

Researchers have identified 16 turtle “hotspots” around the world. These regions host the many native species of tortoises and freshwater turtles. By focusing on such areas, conservationists can target preservation efforts where the greatest effects can be achieved.

Scientists from the Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, and State University of New York at Stony Brook recently published an article in the journal Chelonian Conservation and Biology that names three types of hotspots—biodiversity hotspots, high-biodiversity wilderness areas, and turtle priority areas. Taxon richness and endemism values are offered for the 16 identified hotspots, which host 262 species, or 83 percent of all turtle species.

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Oregon State University researchers have patented a new strain of a succulent red marine algae called dulse that grows extraordinarily quickly, is packed full of protein and has an unusual trait when it is cooked.

This seaweed tastes like bacon.

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A collection of fossilized owl pellets in Utah suggests that when the Earth went through a period of rapid warming about 13,000 years ago, the small mammal community was stable and resilient, even as individual species changed along with the habitat and landscape. By contrast, human-caused changes to the environment since the late 1800s have caused an enormous drop in biomass and “energy flow” in this same community, researchers reported today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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If it seems like you're pulling more bass than trout out of Ontario's lakes this summer, you probably are.

Blame it on the ripple effect of climate change and warming temperatures. Birds migrate earlier, flowers bloom faster, and fish move to newly warmed waters putting local species at risk.

To mitigate the trend and support conservation efforts, scientists at the University of Toronto (U of T) are sharing a way to predict which plants or animals may be vulnerable to the arrival of a new species.

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Una investigación de la University of British Columbia (UBC) muestra que las poblaciones de aves marinas monitoreadas en el mundo, han caído 70 por ciento desde la década de 1950, una indicación cruda de que los ecosistemas marinos no están bien.

Michelle Paleczny, estudiante de maestría de la UBC e investigadora en el proyecto Sea Around Us, y co-autores, recopilaron información sobre más de 500 poblaciones de aves marinas de todo el mundo, lo que representa 19 por ciento de la población global de aves marinas. Encontraron que, en general, las poblaciones habían disminuido en un 69,6 por ciento, lo que equivale a una pérdida de cerca de 230 millones de aves en 60 años.

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El condado rural de Tulare, California, está siendo llamado el epicentro de esta sequía.

Eso es porque al menos 1,300 pozos residenciales se han secado, lo que afecta al menos a 7.000 personas. Cuando sus grifos comienzan a entregar aire aquí, usted llama a Paul Boyer y su equipo.

Bajo un castigador sol de media tarde, Boyer descarga hasta cinco de estos tanques de agua de 200 litros de una plataforma. Él ayuda a ejecutar una organización no lucrativa local que está a cargo de la distribución de estos tanques de agua de 2,500 galones, a víctimas de la sequía.

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