Background In Zimbabwe, anthrax is endemic with outbreaks being reported almost annually in livestock, wildlife, and humans over the past 40 years. Accurate modelling of its spatial distribution is key in formulating effective control strategies. In this study, an Ensemble Species Distribution Model was used to model the current and future distribution of anthrax occurrence in...
One of the world’s largest rivers and a major tributary of the Amazon, the yawning Rio Negro is a pillar of the rainforest ecosystem that is crucial to the stability of the global climate. But vast sections of the waterway are currently dry.For weeks, an unprecedented drought has pummelled the region, reducing water levels in...
Research on nature reserves and at an allotment has revealed how susceptible caterpillars are to climate change. The University of Cambridge study found the larvae are “really bad at temperature regulation” making them less likely to survive extreme weather. Dr Esme Ashe-Jepson said this could result in fewer “beautiful, charismatic butterflies”, impacting on pollination and...
Some Canary Island ants have picked up an unwelcome stowaway — plastic waste. Plastic entanglement is commonly associated with aquatic and ocean life. Finding plastic-wrapped ants suggests that humankind’s pernicious polymer pollution affects a wider range of wildlife than previously thought, researchers report September 18 in Ecological Entomology. Scientists noticed the tangled insects while studying 113 ants they’d...
As northern Cameroon heats up, elephants are migrating in search of food and water and increasingly finding themselves in face-to-face to humans. On 24 May, a flutter of excitement spread through the sun-scorched city of Maroua in northern Cameroon. Earlier in the day, four elephants had become separated from their herd as they migrated from...
You know the story: Slowly turn up the heat on a frog in a pot of water, and the frog won’t hop out. Oblivious to the imperceptible increase in heat, it will stay put until — well, until it croaks. When it comes to the effect of rising global temperatures on amphibians, the proverbial frog-boiling...