rss9m ago

Robert Ricklefs, ecologist who helped generations understand nature, has died at 83

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56602

Robert Ricklefs, ecologist who helped generations understand nature, has died at 83 - Abolish Capital!

At the mouth of the Carmel River, a teacher set up a spotting scope and let a boy look through it. The birds were the first thing he saw. The habit of looking came next. He saw that the world could be understood, though not quickly, and that its order did not reveal itself to those in a hurry. Later he would say he never recovered from that experience. The remark was light, but also true. A childhood near Monterey, with woods behind the house and the Pacific within walking distance, gave him the subject of his life. Robert “Bob” Ricklefs, who died on June 7th, a day after his 83rd birthday, spent that life asking how living things came to be where they are, and why they lived as they did. He became one of the most influential ecologists of his generation: an ornithologist, biogeographer, theorist, teacher, author and member of the National Academy of Sciences. His textbooks, Ecology and The Economy of Nature, shaped how thousands of students first encountered the field. Their authority came from clarity. He could take a tangled subject and find a usable path through it. Birds were his beginning. As a boy he joined weekend outings with the local Audubon Society and gained the status, modest but real, of a child with a serious interest. At Stanford he briefly followed the spirit of the space age into engineering, then returned to biology. At the University of Pennsylvania he entered the circle of Robert…This article was originally published on Mongabay [https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/robert-ricklefs-ecologist-who-helped-generations-understand-nature-has-died-at-83/] — From Conservation news [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/] via This RSS Feed [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/].

rss21m ago

Researchers find dramatic restoration on land and sea after island rat removal

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56601

Researchers find dramatic restoration on land and sea after island rat removal - Abolish Capital!

When invasive rats are removed from islands, the ecological benefits can ripple across both land and sea more quickly than scientists expected, according to recent research. Scientists have long assumed that meaningful recovery after the predators are eradicated would take decades. However, researchers with the U.S.-based NGO Island Conservation conducted a rat-removal experiment on Ulong Island in Palau, which provides the first experimental evidence that ecosystems can rebound far more quickly than previously expected. Until recently, rats, which are typically nocturnal, were so abundant on Ulong Island that they were regularly seen during the day. They were a nuisance to campers and deadly for wildlife. As opportunistic omnivores, rats readily prey upon seabird eggs and chicks, devastating nesting colonies on tropical islands. As a result, there were “very few nesting seabirds that we would find,” Coral Wolf, the conservation science program manager at Island Conservation, told Mongabay in a video call. To measure the effects of rat eradication, Wolf designed an experiment in which all the rats were removed from Ulong, while the rats on nearby Ngeruktabel Island remained, serving as a control site. Before the eradication, researchers collected baseline biodiversity data. On land, they recorded bird calls and took soil samples. In the surrounding water, they measured indicators like fish biomass and coral cover. One year after rats were removed, the team repeated the survey and found a dramatic improvement in the biodiversity. Freed from rat predation, seabird activity on the island surged. Detections of bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) calls rose by…This article was originally published on Mongabay [https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/researchers-find-dramatic-restoration-on-land-and-sea-after-island-rat-removal/] — From Conservation news [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/] via This RSS Feed [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/].

rss1h ago

Federal officials say drastic proposed changes to a contracting program won’t affect tribes and Native corporations

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56597

Federal officials say drastic proposed changes to a contracting program won’t affect tribes and Native corporations - Abolish Capital!

Alaska Native corporations rely on contracts awarded through the 8(a) program – especially from the Department of Defense – for a significant portion of their revenue. — From News Stories [https://www.knba.org/news.rss] via This RSS Feed [https://www.knba.org/news.rss].

rss1h ago

Solar geoengineering could shield up to 75% of oceans from heat waves

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56593

Solar geoengineering could shield up to 75% of oceans from heat waves - Abolish Capital!

Most people have experienced a heat wave on land. But heat waves can strike in the ocean too. And as the planet continues to warm, marine heat waves are growing longer and deadlier, hurting the seafood supply that billions of people worldwide rely on for their food and livelihoods. — From Earth News - Earth Science News, Earth Science, Climate Change [https://phys.org/rss-feed/earth-news/] via This RSS Feed [https://phys.org/rss-feed/earth-news/].

rss2h ago

ICT NEWSCAST: Indigenous water rights, hantavirus, nurse loan limits, Native movies and more

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56591

ICT NEWSCAST: Indigenous water rights, hantavirus, nurse loan limits, Native movies and more - Abolish Capital!

mouse near cage as fears of hantavirus surge [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/June-Newscast-Thumbnails-4.jpeg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1] The ICT Newscast for Friday, June 12, 2026, covers Native water rights from the Colorado River, the dangers of hantavirus, potential loan limits on nursing degrees, Indigenous films and a Native hair dresser. Check out the ICT Newscast on YouTube for this episode and more. Tribal Water Rights at Stake Amid Colorado River Disputes --------------------------------------------------------- Tribal Water Rights at Stake Amid Colorado River Disputes [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1] Native American tribes are fighting to protect their water rights to the Colorado River as Western states dispute whether tribes are making use of their allocations. University of Colorado-Boulder Law Professor Mark Squillace says limited infrastructure access has undercut tribes’ ability to use their water but it’s not a reason to exclude Indigenous people from future negotiations. — Hantavirus Deaths Spark Pandemic Fears, But Experts Urge Calm ------------------------------------------------------------- Hantavirus Deaths Spark Pandemic Fears, But Experts Urge Calm [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-1.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1] A hantavirus strain linked to several U.S. deaths has raised public concern, but Epidemiologist Dean Seneca says the threat is being overstated. Hantavirus outbreaks are not new, the Andes strain is hard to transmit between people, and Indigenous rural communities have been managing outbreaks for decades, including the largest known U.S. outbreak in 1993. Health officials recommend wearing PPE and practicing safe cleaning practices when around areas with rodents, the virus’s primary carriers. — Proposed Loan Cap Threatens Native Students in Health Fields ------------------------------------------------------------ The Trump administration is moving to reclassify graduate degrees in nursing, public health, and social work, which would subject students to stricter federal loan caps. Advocates warn the change could hit Native American students especially hard, as they already face greater obstacles to completing advanced degrees, and could worsen the nationwide nursing shortage which is an especially large problem for rural hospitals on the reservation. Trump Administration Proposed Loan Cap Threatens Native Students in Health Fields [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-2.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1] — Filmmaker Eva Thomas Explores Police Corruption and Indigenous Sisterhood ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Filmmaker Eva Thomas Explores Police Corruption and Indigenous Sisterhood [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-3.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1] Indigenous filmmaker Eva Thomas is drawing attention with her latest film examining police corruption and the bond between Indigenous women. She credits her strategic move to Canada as a key turning point in building her career behind the camera. — Milwaukee Stylist Builds Community One Chair at a Time ------------------------------------------------------ Bailey Skenandore, Indigenous owner of Sweet Grass Salon in Milwaukee, says running her business is an act of community-building as much as a career. She encourages other Natives with entrepreneurial dreams to take the leap, saying an honest look at the pros and cons often reveals the downsides aren’t as daunting as they seem. Indigenous Milwaukee Stylist Bailey Skenandore Builds Native Community One Chair at a Time cutting hair [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-4.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1] — New Film Tells California’s History Through Native Eyes ------------------------------------------------------- New Film Tells California's History Through Native Eyes [https://i0.wp.com/ictnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-5.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1] Pechanga Studios Director Bradley Munoa’s new film People of the West tells history through the perspectives of California’s tribes, from creation stories to the present. The documentary includes classroom materials for teachers and, while the history is dark, Munoa says it is ultimately a story of resistance and survival. — View previous ICT broadcasts here [https://ictnews.org/newscasts] every week for the latest news from around Indian Country. Keywords: Native American news 2026, Indigenous news, Native American news today, Tribal news, First Nations news, Native American representation, Native American Entertainment, Native Entertainers, Native American artist, Native artists, Indigenous artists, Indigenous, Community, Culture, Identity, Native, Traditional, Heritage, Land, Music, Art, Water is life, pandemic, Indigenous healthcare, Native American healthcare, Trump administration, Big Beautiful Bill, history, water rights. The post ICT NEWSCAST: Indigenous water rights, hantavirus, nurse loan limits, Native movies and more [https://ictnews.org/newscasts/ict-newscast-indigenous-water-rights-hantavirus-nurse-loan-limits-native-movies-and-more/] appeared first on ICT [https://ictnews.org/]. — From ICT [https://ictnews.org/feed] via This RSS Feed [https://ictnews.org/feed].

rss3h ago

Bornean ferret badger only lives in Borneo. Could it be a conservation symbol?

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56571

Bornean ferret badger only lives in Borneo. Could it be a conservation symbol? - Abolish Capital!

The Bornean ferret badger is a small carnivore with the slinky body of a ferret and a face mask like a badger. A new study confirms that it lives only in the mountains of Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo.  Ferret badgers are nocturnal carnivores, widespread across Southeast Asia, but the Bornean ferret badger (Melogale everetti) lives only in a narrow mountain range on the island of Borneo. A group of researchers from the Bornean Carnivore Programme, part of the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), Sabah Forestry Department, and Sabah Parks set out to understand the Bornean ferret-badger’s distribution within Sabah. Between 2021 and 2024, the research team set up 188 camera-trap stations across Sabah’s western highlands and recorded the badgers more than 400 times, discovering a new population in the process. The new population in the Nuluhon-Trusmadi Forest Reserve of Malaysian Borneo, expanded the known range of the species, but photo-traps and habitat modeling showed that Bornean ferret badgers are only found within the greater Sabah’s Kinabalu-Crocker-Trusmadi mountain landscape.  “I grew up in Tambunan and had never seen or even heard of the Bornean ferret badger,” said Mohammad Aliyuddin bin Jaini, field manager of the Bornean Carnivore Programme in a press release. “I decided to place some camera traps around my family’s farm simply to see what wildlife might be there, and I was amazed when a Bornean ferret badger appeared in the photographs. To discover that an Endangered species found only in…This article was originally published on Mongabay [https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/bornean-ferret-badger-only-lives-in-borneo-could-it-be-a-conservation-symbol/] — From Conservation news [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/] via This RSS Feed [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/].

rss3h ago

Mozambique completes first white rhino breeding population in decades

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56569

Mozambique completes first white rhino breeding population in decades - Abolish Capital!

On June 6, nine female white rhinos arrived in Mozambique’s Zinave National Park following a two-day translocation. Their arrival marks the culmination of nearly 10 years of rhino reintroduction efforts in the park, aimed at rebuilding a viable breeding population of the mammals in Zinave after decades of local extinction. The white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) were transferred from the Manketti Game Reserve in South Africa and join another 30 white rhinos and 22 black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) introduced to Zinave since 2022. “[The translocation] went fantastically well,” Antony Alexander, a regional manager for the conservation nonprofit Peace Parks Foundation, which manages Zinave and organized the translocation, told Mongabay by phone. “I’m sure they’re happy to be in the wild again.” Zinave, which covers around 4,090 square kilometers (1,580 square miles) in the southern province of Inhambane, has previously been called a “silent park” after decades of civil war wiped out much of its wildlife. “You could almost sense the very low levels of life with insects and birds and smells and sounds,” said Alexander, describing Zinave before wildlife restoration efforts began. “That’s changed dramatically over the last 10 years.” Among the species reintroduced since 2016 are the critically endangered black rhino and Selous’ zebra (Equus quagga selousi), as well as the endangered African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), vulnerable leopard (Panthera pardus) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). The rhinos help maintain Zinave’s ecosystem as they are bulk grazers, eating a high volume of grass. This helps prevent fire risk, as overgrown…This article was originally published on Mongabay [https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/mozambique-completes-first-white-rhino-breeding-population-in-decades/] — From Conservation news [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/] via This RSS Feed [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/].

rss4h ago

Gulf Stream shifted north during 12,900-year-old cold snap, first direct evidence shows

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56567

Gulf Stream shifted north during 12,900-year-old cold snap, first direct evidence shows - Abolish Capital!

During an abrupt global cold snap nearly 13,000 years ago, the Gulf Stream ocean current shifted farther north, temporarily disrupting eastern Canada’s oceanic ecosystems, a process that could happen again as the climate changes, a new study by UCL researchers finds. — From Earth News - Earth Science News, Earth Science, Climate Change [https://phys.org/rss-feed/earth-news/] via This RSS Feed [https://phys.org/rss-feed/earth-news/].

rss4h ago

‘Flamingo Revolution’ aims to stop Kushner-backed resort on protected Albanian delta

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56562

‘Flamingo Revolution’ aims to stop Kushner-backed resort on protected Albanian delta - Abolish Capital!

VJOSA-NARTA, Albania — In late April, heavy machinery began moving into the Pishë Poro-Narta protected landscape on Albania’s Adriatic coast without permits or public notice. Bulldozers and excavators felled coastal pine trees, flattened sand dunes, and cut new roads through previously untouched habitat. Then, barbed wire fences went up along the shoreline. The incursion was the realization of a luxury resort development backed by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The development plans of Kushner’s Affinity Partners, a private equity fund, stretch from the uninhabited Sazan Island into the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape, the delta region of Albania’s Vjosa River that includes Pishë Poro-Narta. Roughly twice the size of Paris, the Vjosa-Narta area shelters flamingos, Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus), loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and more than 70 endangered species, among them the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). Neither Affinity Partners nor the office of the prime minister of Albania responded to Mongabay’s requests for comment.   When protesters arrived at the site, security guards confronted them. Video of a demonstrator being dragged across the dunes on May 30 near the village of Zvërnec went viral. Soon demonstrations erupted in Tirana, the Albanian capital, in what has since been dubbed the Flamingo Revolution. The protests have grown larger every day, with tens of thousands demanding accountability for corruption, an end to environmental abuses, and the resignation of Edi Rama, Albania’s prime minister. On June 6, hundreds of demonstrators made their way to Dalan Beach for a symbolic rally near the…This article was originally published on Mongabay [https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/flamingo-revolution-aims-to-stop-kushner-backed-resort-on-protected-albanian-delta/] — From Conservation news [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/] via This RSS Feed [https://news.mongabay.com/feed/].

rss5h ago

Jurassic viral gene may have helped apple snails start laying eggs on land

https://news.abolish.capital/post/56558

Jurassic viral gene may have helped apple snails start laying eggs on land - Abolish Capital!

Pomacea canaliculata, commonly known as the apple snail, is a pest commonly found in Hong Kong’s wetlands and farmlands. It feeds on aquatic plants and produces toxic pink egg masses resembling miniature grapes that adhere to plants or stone bunds. It is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) among 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species. — From Biology News - Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology [https://phys.org/rss-feed/biology-news/] via This RSS Feed [https://phys.org/rss-feed/biology-news/].