Imagine what people would say if a band of hunters strung a mile of net between two immense all-terrain vehicles and dragged it at speed across the plains of Africa. This fantastical assemblage, like something from a Mad Max movie, would scoop up everything in its way: predators such as lions and cheetahs, lumbering […] Read More »
Review by David Baron
In conservation circles there is a fact of nature that many consider impolitic to mention: big cats on occasion eat human beings. Just look at how environmental groups respond whenever a cougar jumps an L.A. mountain biker or a leopard drags off a Bombay slum dweller. The cat must have […] Read More »
By Douglas Fox
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
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Discussion Questions
The article reports that many species have shifted their range in response to a “miniscule” temperature rise of just 0.6 degrees Celsius over the last century. How can a seemingly miniscule amount of change have resulted in major range shifts? […] Read More »
By Fred Pearce
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
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Discussion Questions
What is “the myth of the pristine environment”?
The article portrays disagreement, based on recent findings, over the degree of wildness in places like the Amazon. Could this be, in part, due to different views of what wild means? What […] Read More »
By Staff
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
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Discussion Questions
How might biofuel production (biodiesel, ethanol and the like)—even though it replaces dependence on fossil fuels—end up as a negatively influencing biodiversity?
What is meant by “humanity’s footprint”? Have you ever assessed your own ecological footprint? How many square feet is […] Read More »
By Martin Meredith
January-March (Vol. 8, No. 1)
An increasing number of scientists appear willing to cross into the forbidden territory of anthropomorphism in their quest to understand the animal world. In the case of elephants, a recent spate of brutal attacks has prompted some notable examples of how some animals are more like […] Read More »
Letters and Comments
The Author Responds
Mark Jerome Walters wrote about efforts to save the ‘alala in “Do No Harm,” in the October-December 2006 issue. Below he responds to comments from John Marzluff, a professor at the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, and Burr Heneman, director of the Commonweal Ocean Policy Program.
By […] Read More »
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
A Southern Baptist Replies
Dear Dr. Wilson:
Thank you for your beautiful and heartfelt letter regarding the Creation and why we all must consider how to work together to save it. We have many common interests and grounds to respect one another. Like you, I was raised in […] Read More »
Books
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
REVIEW
The Man-Eaters of Eden by Robert Frump
Whales, Whaling, and Ocean Ecosystems Edited by James A. Estes et al
EXCERPT
The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat by Charles Clover
Back to Books Index >>
REVIEWS
A Most Dangerous […] Read More »
Photo: Alexandra Morton
By Robin Meadows
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
Krkošek, M. et al. 2006. Epizootics of wild fish induced by farm fish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(42):15505-15510.
Conservationists and aquaculturists are at odds over whether fish farms threaten wild stocks by spreading diseases. Now, new research shows that […] Read More »
Photo: Scripps/J.T. Smith
By Robin Meadows
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
Jablonski, D., K. Roy and J.W. Valentine. 2006. Out of the tropics: evolutionary dynamics of the latitudinal diversity gradient. Science 314(5796):102-106.
New research establishes that most of the marine bivalve lineages worldwide that first appeared in the past 11 million years did […] Read More »
Photo: Thomas Sachler
By Robin Meadows
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
Spottiswoode, C.N., A.P. Tøttrup and T. Coppack. 2006. Sexual selection predicts advancement of avian spring migration in response to climate change. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273(1605):3023-3029.
As the world warms, many birds are migrating earlier in the spring, […] Read More »
Photo: Nicholas J. Gotelli
By Robin Meadows
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
Gotelli, N.J. and A.M. Ellison. 2006. Food-web models predict species abundances in response to habitat change. Public Library of Science Biology 4(10):1869-1873.
Bigger habitats aren’t always better. New research shows that the mix of species—and how they affect each other—may matter […] Read More »
Photo: © 2006 National Academy of Sciences
By Robin Meadows
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
Greenleaf, S.S. and C. Kremen. 2006. Wild bees enhance honey bees’ pollination of hybrid sunflower. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(37):13890-13895.
Wild bees have a surprising way of boosting crop production: according to new research, they […] Read More »
Photo: Owen Newman
By Robin Meadows
January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1)
Grenyer, R. et al. 2006. Global distribution and conservation of rare and threatened vertebrates. Nature 444(7115):93-96.
While many conservation strategies are based on the assumption that hotspots for one group of imperiled species will also be rich for other groups, new research […] Read More »
