#habitat-loss

#habitat-loss

Whether dazzlingly red, deep green or ghostly pale, the richness of a tropical forest provides butterflies with a diversity of habitats in which to communicate, camouflage and reproduce. As humans replace tropical forests with environments such as eucalyptus monocultures, however, those requirements are changing. In a plantation, the ecological backdrop is stripped bare and drab species do better. Being bland like your surroundings becomes an advantage.

It is home to 4,300 species, including many of the state's remaining manatees, whose large, paddle-tailed bodies graze slowly through the shallows. For decades, the lagoon has also been a destination for Florida's municipal sewage. State law long ago aimed to stop much of the flow from wastewater plants, but in practice continued to allow dumping during heavy rains. Residential septic tanks have kept leaching into the water, too. Over time, that pollution fed algae blooms that choked out the area's seagrass-manatees' main food source.

The global rhino count shows a notable increase in Black rhinos, rising from 6,195 to 6,788, indicating conservation efforts are positively impacting this species.

Bees, like people, may cope with rising heat by retreating to cooler environments, such as shade or their nests, to avoid overheating, researchers found.

The extinction crisis is unprecedented in modern times, with over 500 bird species potentially vanishing due to habitat loss, increasing this number threefold from past centuries.