‘Insecticide imidacloprid not main cause of bee CCD’

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Sixth mass extinction underway: 75% of species could die out in next 300 years

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

The Earth is en route to its sixth mass extinction, say a group of paleobiologists in the latest edition of Nature.

Eastern cougar officially extinct

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Coral reefs threatened with extinction by 2050

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

1998: 58% coral reefs threatened 2011: 75% coral reefs threatened 2030: 90% coral reefs threatened 2050: 100% coral reefs threatened

Bumblebee CCD in US?

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Recently we witnessed positive news with respect to the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) of honeybees. In December British scientists announced in Parasites & Vectors they had discovered a method to combat a parasitic mite that kills honeybee colonies, varroa destructor, … Continue reading →

‘No climate geoengineering affecting biodiversity’

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

The failure of Copenhagen brought the world on the geoengineering track. ‘Not so fast,’ says Nagoya, where 193 nations showed UN conferences can actually agree on environmental treaties.

‘Genes cannot be patented’

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because ‘they are part of nature’, says (PDF) the US Department of Justice on behalf of the government, revoking longstanding policy – and practice of government agencies like the Patent … Continue reading →

Nagoya results: nature gets 17 percent

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

After two weeks of negotiations, yesterday, on the final day of the big UN biodiversity conference in Nagoya, Japan, countries agreed on a new treaty for the protection of species and ecosystems. The percentage of Earth’s land surface under official … Continue reading →

Royal Philosophy: biodiversity loss is bad

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

We may not know the exact sum figures of biodiversity, nor the precise percentages of species decline. It may also be irrelevant. Although ecology is in fact all about counting – we have to become aware that we are loosing … Continue reading →

Conservation efforts are effective but lacking

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Jorn van Dooren

It paints a sad picture, the latest assessment of the world’s vertebrates by the IUCN. Of the almost 26,000 vertebrates on the IUCN Red List as much as a fifth face a serious risk of extinction. With an average of … Continue reading →

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