Category Archives: Ecological Restoration

Burmese python invasion in Florida a hidden legacy of Hurricane Andrew

Watch the CBSN Originals documentary, "Burmese Python Invasion: Fighting Invasive Species," in the video player above. The full hour special premieres on CBSN Sunday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET. It's been 26 years since Hurricane Andrew became the costliest storm in Florida's history, but today residents of the Sunshine State are…

Researchers find genomic evidence of rapid adaptation of invasive Burmese pythons in Florida

Florida has become a haven for invasive species in the United States, but perhaps the most well-known of the State's alien residents is the Burmese python. These giant snakes, native to Southeast Asia, have become well-established over the past few decades and even flourish in their new environment. "In Burmese pythons, we observed the rapid…

‘Environmentally, we’re in trouble:’ A cry for help for Miami’s coral reefs and mangroves

Mira Lehr’s Tracing the Red Thread is arguably one of the most beautiful cries for help. The exhibition, at The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, is a call to arms. “We’re in trouble,” says the Miami artist. “Environmentally, we’re in trouble.” A disciple of futurist Buckminster Fuller, Lehr has long held that mankind can — and…

Half the planet should be set aside for wildlife – to save ourselves

If we want to avoid mass extinctions and preserve the ecosystems all plants and animals depend on, governments should protect a third of the oceans and land by 2030 and half by 2050, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity. So say leading biologists in an editorial in the journal Science this week. It’s not just…

Nurseries Restore Staghorn Coral in the Florida Keys

Wide-eyed, she said, “This is what it should look like? It’s beautiful!” Despite spending a year helping to restore staghorn coral in the Florida Keys, this was the first time my snorkeling partner, Christina, from Coral Restoration Foundation had seen a huge staghorn colony in the wild. We were snorkeling at Pulaski Shoal, one of the…

Could a super snake emerge from Everglades pythons? New DNA study raises possibility

What started out as a straightforward genetic study of Florida’s invasive python population has turned up a surprising plot twist: a small number of crossbred Burmese and Indian pythons with the potential to become a kind of Everglades super snake. For the study, published Sunday in the journal Ecology and Evolution, U.S. Geological Survey researchers examined the tail…

What is red tide? Why is it killing fish? And can it make humans sick?

We’re answering some of your biggest questions about red tide and its impact on Manatee County and Anna Maria Island. What is red tide? According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: “A red tide, or harmful algal bloom, is a higher-than-normal concentration of a microscopic algae (plantlike organism). In Florida and the Gulf of…

The Trump administration wants to roll back the Endangered Species Act. These 10 animals might not be here today without it.

Since it was passed 45 years ago, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has protected thousands of plants and animals that humans have pushed from their habitats and driven close to extinction. Today, there are more than 2,300 plants and animals with protected status in the US and abroad, with the Louisiana pine snake becoming the…

Coastal scientists have developed a new global framework to more accurately assess how mangroves along different types of coastlines from deltas to lagoons store carbon in their soil. They found that previous studies have underestimated the blue carbon levels in mangroves by up to 50 percent in some regions and overestimated levels by up to…

Global warming can turn monarch butterflies’ favorite food into poison

LSU researchers have discovered a new relationship between climate change, monarch butterflies and milkweed plants. It turns out that warming temperatures don't just affect the monarch, Danaus plexippus, directly, but also affect this butterfly by potentially turning its favorite plant food into a poison. Bret Elderd, associate professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences, and…