Biodiversity

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A water dragon with a fungal infection

‘Alarming’ mystery fungus putting Australian reptiles at risk

A fungal infection found growing on Brisbane water dragons poses a risk to half the reptile species in Australia, researchers warn.

  • Julius Dennis

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A Sydney scientist has turned to a favourite crumpet-topper to fights against antimicrobial resistance.

This crisis kills 100 Australians a week. A solution might be in your pantry

New research has drawn a direct link between the biodiversity of the Australian bush, drug resistance and your favourite crumpet-topper.

  • Angus Dalton
Footage of a lizard in the bat cave in Uganda.

Stunning bat cave footage captures disease spread risk for first time

Researchers were astonished to film at least 14 different species, including monitor lizards, leopards and monkeys, visiting the cave to feast on potentially disease-ridden bats.

  • Arthur Scott-Geddes
Fire ants were first recorded at the Port of Brisbane in 2001.

Fire ant eradication attempts may be helping the invaders, study finds

Mass pesticides could be killing the ants’ predators and wasting millions of dollars, according to a new study on the contentious national program.

  • Julius Dennis
Inside or out? What to do with Australia’s cats?

Don’t bell Australia’s cats. Just make it illegal to own one

It is rightly illegal to own or import a fox, and yet we allow the breeding and selling of cats, which do about 10 times more damage.

  • Antone Martinho-Truswell
A release of endangered Manning River turtles that have been bred in captivity back into a wild river.

Hayley’s team took in 12 endangered turtles. Then the hard work began 

Understanding the romantic life of Manning River turtles led to the first successful breeding of the reptiles in captivity and a release of the next generation into the wild Barrington River.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
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Land clearing at Cuttabri in north-western NSW in 2023. There is no suggestion the land clearing was illegal.

‘On extinction path’: Land clearing laws failing native species

An area of high-biodiversity land in NSW equivalent to four Sydney Harbours was cleared between 2016 and 2023, new research says.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
A cane toad (Rhinella marina) in a shallow pond in Boondall Wetlands.

What to do if you find a cane toad in your backyard

The community is being asked to collect, euthanise and hand in the destructive pests as part of the annual Great Cane Toad Bust.

  • Dominique Tassell
Perth has far too little tree canopy, which increases the heat island effect.

WA’s long-awaited tree canopy ‘roadmap’ panned as ‘directionless’

Advocates had hoped the strategy would provide an explicit pathway to nearly double tree coverage to 30 per cent by 2040 – as promised by Labor ahead of last year’s election.

  • Hamish Hastie
The former Greens leader Adam Bandt, now heading the Australian Conservation Foundation, says the organisation will use people power to force change.

Former Greens leader Adam Bandt emerges from the wilderness

After last year’s election drubbing for the Greens, Bandt wants to reinvigorate the nation’s environment movement in his new role as chief of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

  • Nick O'Malley