Biodiversity
We need to get smarter to save shorebirds from rising seas
Every year five million shorebirds migrate between the Arctic and Australia along a bird superhighway known as the East Asian-Australasian flyway. Coastal development is destroying the tidal flats birds depend on, and sea level rise is emerging as an additional threat. A new artificial intelligence technique offers a conservation solution.
Australia: riding on the insect’s back
Insects play an invaluable role in our ecosystems and sustain our society. It's a role that often goes unnoticed and one that we still don't fully understand.
A long view of ecosystem health in the Murray-Darling Basin
New research has examined over 100 years of historical data on Murray-Darling Basin ecosystems to provide an indication of long-term trends in the Basin’s ecological condition.
Farming carbon can be a win for wildlife, if the price is right
Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are two of the greatest environmental issues of our time. Is it possible to address both of those problems at once?
Five seasons in Australia? Meet sprinter and sprummer
It’s autumn – or so you may think. But did autumn really start on 1 March? And why do we observe four seasons, each exactly three months long?
Biological treasures need breathing room to cope with climate
With three UNESCO World Heritage Areas under threat from climate change, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, scientists have put forward a new approach to making iconic ecosystems more resilient—and it's not just about reducing global emissions.
Small, beautiful, new and very old: meet the Enigma moth
We recently celebrated one of the most exciting discoveries in entomology in the last 40 years – the discovery of a new family of primitive moths. It was found right in our own backyard, on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
Mapping East Asia’s disappearing tidal flats
Who speaks for the tidal flat? There are many voices for the mangrove forest, the coral reef and the seagrass meadow, but the chorus for the mud, sand and silt flats that sit hidden under shallow water for most of the tidal cycle is often silent.