PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Conservation actions have improved the state of biodiversity worldwide

2024-04-25
(Press-News.org) A global meta-analysis of 186 studies reveals that conservation actions – particularly those targeted at species and ecosystems – yield significant positive impacts on biodiversity, according to a new study. Each year, billions of dollars are spent globally on conservation actions designed to halt and/or reverse the loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems. Despite this, many international conservation goals, including those set by the Convention on Biological Diversity, remain unmet. While it could be concluded that current actions are insufficient or ineffective, researchers lack an understanding of how conservation actions contribute to conservation goals compared to the predicted outcomes without intervention. According to the authors, a robust evaluation of policy targets and an assessment of whether current conservation interventions result in positive outcomes for biodiversity is crucial to guide future efforts. Penny Langhammer and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of the impact of a wide range of conservation interventions globally and found that in two-thirds of cases, conservation efforts had a net positive effect, either improving the state of biodiversity or at least slowing declines. Specifically, Langhammer et al. discovered that interventions targeted at species and ecosystems, such as invasive species control, habitat loss reduction and restoration, protected areas, and sustainable management, are the most effective and have the largest effect sizes. However, while successful, the authors note that conservation efforts must be scaled substantially to reverse the global biodiversity crisis. “Such an increase in conservation action and associated outcomes will require expanded implementation and significant additional investment across many sectors of society, particularly beyond the traditional conservation sector,” write Langhammer et al.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Corporate emission targets are incompatible with global climate goals

2024-04-25
In a Policy Forum, Yann Robiou du Pont and colleagues argue that any method to derive company-level emissions targets inherently distorts competition in favor of existing companies and penalizes emerging or growing businesses. According to du Pont et al., despite their growing importance, companies’ emissions targets are not meaningful indicators to assess the ambition of their decarbonization plans and their alignment with the Paris Agreement. To meet international climate goals, it’s well understood that the ...

Vitamin D alters mouse gut bacteria to give better cancer immunity

2024-04-25
Francis Crick Institute press release Under strict embargo: 19:00 BST Thursday 25 April 2024 Peer reviewed Experimental study Animals and people Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Aalborg University in Denmark, have found that vitamin D encourages the growth of a type of gut bacteria in mice which improves immunity to cancer. Reported today in Science, the researchers found that mice given a diet rich in vitamin D had better immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers and improved ...

Escape the vapes: scientists call for global shift to curb consumer use of disposable technologies

2024-04-25
Scientists have called for a concerted global effort to stem the tide of disposable electronic technologies – such as vapes – contributing to international waste accumulation and environmental degradation. Writing in the journal Science, researchers from across the UK have highlighted how disposable vape sales quadrupled in the UK between 2022 and 2023, with consumers now throwing away around 5 million devices each week. In the United States, 4.5 disposable vapes are thrown away each second, and it is fast becoming an issue replicated right across the world. One of the main upshots, scientists say, is that vapes and other disposable ...

First-of-its-kind study definitively shows that conservation actions are effective at halting and reversing biodiversity loss

First-of-its-kind study definitively shows that conservation actions are effective at halting and reversing biodiversity loss
2024-04-25
A new study published online today, April 25, in the scientific journal Science provides the strongest evidence to date that not only is nature conservation successful, but that scaling conservation interventions up would be transformational for halting and reversing biodiversity loss—a crisis that can lead to ecosystem collapses and a planet less able to support life—and reducing the effects of climate change. The findings of this first-ever comprehensive meta-analysis of the impact of conservation action ...

A shortcut for drug discovery

A shortcut for drug discovery
2024-04-25
For most human proteins, there are no small molecules known to bind them chemically (so called “ligands”). Ligands frequently represent important starting points for drug development but this knowledge gap critically hampers the development of novel medicines. Researchers at CeMM, in a collaboration with Pfizer, have now leveraged and scaled a method to measure the binding activity of hundreds of small molecules against thousands of human proteins. This large-scale study revealed tens of thousands of ligand-protein interactions that can now be explored for the development of chemical tools and therapeutics. Moreover, ...

Food in sight? The liver is ready!

Food in sight? The liver is ready!
2024-04-25
What happens in the body when we are hungry and see and smell food? A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research has now been able to show in mice that adaptations in the liver mitochondria take place after only a few minutes. Stimulated by the activation of a group of nerve cells in the brain, the mitochondria of the liver cells change and prepare the liver for the adaptation of the sugar metabolism. The findings, published in the journal Science, could open up new avenues for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The researchers ...

Climate change could become the main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century

2024-04-25
Global biodiversity has declined between 2% and 11% during the 20th century due to land-use change alone, according to a large multi-model study published in Science. The projections show that climate change could become the main driver of biodiversity decline by the mid-21st century. Land-use change is considered the largest driver of biodiversity change, according to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). However, scientists are divided over how much biodiversity has changed in past decades. To better answer this question, an international team of researchers modeled the impacts of land-use change ...

Voluntary corporate emissions targets not enough to create real climate action

2024-04-25
Companies’ emissions reduction targets should not be the sole measure of corporate climate ambition, according to a new perspective paper. Relying on emissions can favour more established companies and hinder innovation, say the authors, who suggest updating regulations to improve corporate climate action. The paper, published today in Science, is by an international team led by Utrecht University, which includes Imperial College London researchers. Lead author of the study Dr Yann Robiou Du Pont, from the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht ...

Curiosity promotes biodiversity

Curiosity promotes biodiversity
2024-04-25
Exploratory behavior is one of the fundamental personality traits of animals – and these traits influence their probability of survival, among other things. For example, curious individuals can inhabit different areas in their habitats compared to more cautious conspecifics. At the same time, however, they expose themselves to a greater risk of being discovered and eaten. Exploratory behavior as a factor in evolution The cichlids of Africa’s Lake Tanganyika exhibit extraordinary diversity in terms ...

Warming Arctic reduces dust levels in parts of the planet

2024-04-25
Climate change is a global phenomenon, but its impacts are felt at a very local level. Take, for example, dust. Dust can have a huge impact on local air quality, food security, energy supply and public health. Yet, little is known about how global climate change is impacting dust levels. Previous studies have found that dust levels are actually decreasing across India, particularly northern India, the Persian Gulf Coast and much of the Middle East, but the reason has remained unclear. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are working to understand how ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Post-LLM era: New horizons for AI with knowledge, collaboration, and co-evolution

“Sloshing” from celestial collisions solves mystery of how galactic clusters stay hot

Children poisoned by the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has risen in the U.S. – eight years of national data shows

USC researchers observe mice may have a form of first aid

VUMC to develop AI technology for therapeutic antibody discovery

Unlocking the hidden proteome: The role of coding circular RNA in cancer

Advancing lung cancer treatment: Understanding the differences between LUAD and LUSC

Study reveals widening heart disease disparities in the US

The role of ubiquitination in cancer stem cell regulation

New insights into LSD1: a key regulator in disease pathogenesis

Vanderbilt lung transplant establishes new record

Revolutionizing cancer treatment: targeting EZH2 for a new era of precision medicine

Metasurface technology offers a compact way to generate multiphoton entanglement

Effort seeks to increase cancer-gene testing in primary care

Acoustofluidics-based method facilitates intracellular nanoparticle delivery

Sulfur bacteria team up to break down organic substances in the seabed

Stretching spider silk makes it stronger

Earth's orbital rhythms link timing of giant eruptions and climate change

Ammonia build-up kills liver cells but can be prevented using existing drug

New technical guidelines pave the way for widespread adoption of methane-reducing feed additives in dairy and livestock

Eradivir announces Phase 2 human challenge study of EV25 in healthy adults infected with influenza

New study finds that tooth size in Otaria byronia reflects historical shifts in population abundance

nTIDE March 2025 Jobs Report: Employment rate for people with disabilities holds steady at new plateau, despite February dip

Breakthrough cardiac regeneration research offers hope for the treatment of ischemic heart failure

Fluoride in drinking water is associated with impaired childhood cognition

New composite structure boosts polypropylene’s low-temperature toughness

While most Americans strongly support civics education in schools, partisan divide on DEI policies and free speech on college campuses remains

Revolutionizing surface science: Visualization of local dielectric properties of surfaces

LearningEMS: A new framework for electric vehicle energy management

Nearly half of popular tropical plant group related to birds-of-paradise and bananas are threatened with extinction

[Press-News.org] Conservation actions have improved the state of biodiversity worldwide