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Categories: Archaeology: General, Environmental: Biodiversity

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To achieve global biodiversity targets, conservationists and governments must prioritize the establishment and effective management of large, interconnected protected areas with high ecological integrity, researchers argue in a new essay.

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The diversity and ecological functionality of bird communities in tropical agroforestry systems are shaped by the surrounding landscape, in particular the extent and composition of the forest.

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In human populations, it is relatively easy to calculate demographic trends and make projections of the future if data on basic processes such as births and immigration is known. The data, given by individuals, can be also death and emigration, which subtract. In the wild, on the other hand, understanding the processes that determine wildlife demographic patterns is a highly complex challenge for the scientific community. Although a wide range of methods are now available to estimate births and deaths in wildlife, quantifying emigration and immigration has historically been difficult or impossible in many populations of interest, particularly in the case of threatened species.

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A new study shows that climate change has led to decreased pollen production from plants and less pollen diversity than previously thought, which could have a significant impact on food production.

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Variations in water quality can impact the development of the visual system of one species of African fish, suggests a new study.

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A team explored the influence the spatial extent of research -- the geographical coverage of data collected -- has on evaluating the sensitivity of different fish species to climate change.

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Horses crossed the Baltic Sea in ships during the Late Viking Age and were sacrificed for funeral rituals. Studies on the remains of horses found at ancient burial sites in Russia and Lithuania show that they were brought overseas from Scandinavia utilizing expansive trade networks connecting the Viking world with the Byzantine and Arab Empires. Up to now, researchers had believed sacrificial horses were always locally-sourced stallions. But these results reveal horses from modern Sweden or Finland traveled up to 1,500 km across the Baltic Sea. The findings also show that the sex of the horse was not necessarily a factor in them being chosen for sacrifice, with genetic analysis showing one in three were mares.

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Recognizing and respecting the different ways nature is valued can enable better environmental decision-making, according to new research.

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The patterns of dispersal of early humans across continents and islands are hotly debated, but researchers have found that Pleistocene hunter-gatherers settled in Cyprus thousands of years earlier than previously thought. In examining the timing of the first human occupation of Cyprus, research found that large islands in the Mediterranean Sea were attractive and favorable destinations for palaeolithic peoples. These findings refute previous studies that suggested Mediterranean islands would have been unreachable and inhospitable for Pleistocene hunter-gatherer societies.

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Bee and butterfly populations are in decline in major regions of North America due to ongoing environmental change, and significant gaps in pollinator research limit our ability to protect these species, according to a new study.

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A new article has found that climate change is the most prominent threat to pollinators -- such as bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies -- who are essential for biodiversity conservation, crop yields and food security. The research suggests that many of the threats to pollinators result from human activities.

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Grassland provides many services for humans, animals and nature, such as feed production, carbon storage and recreation. Researchers spent two years investigating permanent grassland, its utilization, soils and plant communities in order to quantify the resulting ecosystem services. Grassland performs best when different types of use such as meadows, pastures and unfertilized extensive grassland exist together in a mosaic landscape.

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The researchers found that birds were more evolutionarily similar on smaller, more isolated islands than on larger, less remote places. The team had expected to find that forested areas had more numerous and more varied species of birds compared to farmland areas. But they were surprised to find that the opposite was true: Areas with farms and human settlements had more species of birds and greater diversity than forested areas.

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Despite its benefits and recognition as a keystone practice of ocean stewardship and conservation, adoption of ecosystem-based management has been slow to take hold. To support this change in ocean management, a group of researchers and practitioners investigated the global progress of marine EBM initiatives.

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An international collaboration says the world's largest marine protected areas aren't collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management strategies and a failure to restrict the most impactful human activities.

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After a century of functional extinction on the Australian mainland, a Flat oyster reef has been successfully restored along a metropolitan Adelaide coastline.

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Scientists have confirmed the identity of an unusual, ancient and Endangered species of fish that is living in the coastal rivers of Queensland, about 1400 km north of where it was previously known to live.

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How do city residents feel about animals in their immediate surroundings? A recent study shows how different the acceptance of various wild animals in urban areas is. Important factors are the places where the animals are found and their level of popularity -- squirrels and ladybugs come out on top here. The results have important implications for urban planning and nature conservation.

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Three ingots from the site of Los Escoriales de Do a Rama (Belmez) and dating from the Roman era demonstrate the importance of lead production and exportation in northern Cordoba.

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To preserve the important intertidal areas and salt marshes off our coasts for the future, we need more turbid water. That is one of the striking conclusions from a new study.