What are we humans doing to biodiversity in the Anthropocene? Causing Earth’s sixth mass extinction? (e.g. Barnosky et al. 2011 and others).  How about something completely new to biodiversity on this planet?   How about a massive globalization of species leading to the widespre... [More]

What happens when a talented science writer brings together a diverse group of ecologists and conservationists chasing a new vision of nature?  If that writer is Emma Marris, the answer is: Rambunctious Garden- a new book to be released this September 1. Using her great gift for storytelling... [More]

Should we conserve nature even if it is not wild?  Humans have transformed 40% of earth’s ice-free land into crop fields, pastures and settlements, and have embedded another 37% within used and populated landscapes (anthromes).  While 23% is still free of people and their u... [More]

Are pristine rainforests the only ones that matter?  We know that forests do change as they age, developing some unique characteristics when mature, and that some species cannot live outside of large swaths of ancient tropical forests. But what about the rest of tropical forests- the... [More]

The Biosphere is home to all life on Earth.  Now that we humans are living in and/or using almost all of it, the future of the biosphere is in our hands.  Keeping human influence out of the biosphere is no longer a relevant conservation strategy.  At this point in history, the only ... [More]

Conservation of biodiversity requires the conservation of habitat, and for a long time, this has meant preserving the largest possible "pristine" habitats and excluding humans.  Now that humans have fragmented most of earth's landscapes into mosaics that combine cro... [More]