Africa’s Conservation ConundrumArticle 05.15.2023The trophy hunting industry in Africa is dying, and that should concern all of us. What, if anything, replaces it will prove critical for the protection of the continent’s wildlife and wild places.
Of Moths and MarsupialsArticle 04.26.2023The ancient relationship between the mountain pygmy possum and the bogong moth reveals the complexity of global climate change—and the lengths people may have to go to save some species from extinction.
Seeing the River for the FishArticle 11.03.2022Scientists and local communities are working to save an iconic but little-known species of fish in India—but first, they have to find it.
A River’s Right to FlowArticle 10.22.2021Indigenous communities and conservationists around the world are challenging the view of water as a human commodity, and fighting to keep this precious resource in the ecosystems it sustains. Can the same approach work in the arid Southwest?
Letters Between TreesArticle 09.09.2021With a pandemic and record-breaking fire season raging, two individuals, seemingly worlds apart, find solace in their connections with one another and within the ecosystems they call home.
Signs of the TimesArticle 07.08.2021Despite their perceived abundance, the periodical cicadas that emerged across the eastern United States this summer point to a growing set of threats facing both the insects themselves and the ecosystems they help support.
Antarctica’s Upside Down WorldArticle 05.12.2021Clinging to the underside of ice hundreds of meters thick, strange communities of sea life eke out a living in perpetual darkness. Now, researchers are racing to find and study these creatures before they—and their ice sheets—disappear.
Life, Death, and Renewal in the Campo RupestrePhoto Essay 04.22.2021In a little-known region of Brazil that calls to mind Tolkien’s Middle-earth, unique lifeforms have evolved to endure innumerable environmental challenges. Can they survive the country’s latest era of deregulation?
Home on the RangeArticle 03.23.2021Once thought to be extinct, tule elk have returned to roam across California’s Point Reyes National Seashore, but the park—which also supports beef and dairy cattle—is getting crowded.
Saving Slovenia’s “Human Fish”Article 12.15.2020Scientists in this Central European country are leading the charge to understand and protect a charismatic, cave-dwelling salamander—and the subterranean habitats that supply much of the region’s drinking water.
Mother LoadSpotlight 12.11.2020Multitasking bat moms carry their nursing pups underwing all while navigating a growing array of threats in the Australian forests they call home.
Chennai Ran Out of Water — But That’s Only Half the StoryArticle 10.30.2020To reduce flooding and bridge droughts, India’s southern coastal metropolis is using ancient knowledge, community action, and wetlands restoration to harness its monsoon rains.
Saving Mexico’s Lost WorldArticle 02.18.2020Microbes have lived in Cuatro Ciénegas for 500 million years. They’ve survived countless cataclysms and extinctions. But can they survive us?
Records of ChangeVideo 01.17.2020Thanks to foresight and meticulous records collected nearly a century ago, scientists are reconstructing a picture of some of Mexico’s most important ecosystems before they were transformed.
Refilling the Carbon SinkPhoto Essay 11.12.2019Long seen as wastelands, Scotland’s bogs are now the scene of an intense restoration effort in which millions of exotic trees are being felled to fight climate change.
Layers of LifeSpotlight 11.12.2019On a crowded coral reef, species often make their homes on top of one another (literally), living lives that are tightly intertwined both biologically and evolutionarily.
The Secret GardenPhoto Essay 09.11.2019The crystalline rivers of the Serra da Bodoquena offer a window into Brazil’s freshwater biodiversity. But with deforestation on the rise, that window is becoming cloudier.
A Precarious PerchArticle 08.27.2019Swallow-tailed kites have lost much of their habitat in the southeastern United States, but thanks to an unlikely ally, their numbers are beginning to climb.
The Lobster WarsArticle 05.29.2019In one coastal Mexican town, a sustainable fishery anchors the community. So why has Florida outlawed the same fishing methods?
Spirit of the SaharaPhoto Essay 05.13.2019For the residents of the world’s most iconic desert, including tiny fennec foxes, it will take grit and perseverance to weather a challenging suite of threats. Fortunately, those are two traits the desert dwellers have in abundance.