Conservation projects that protect forests and encourage plant and animal diversity can benefit humans. But improved human health is not among those benefits when health is measured through the lens of infectious disease. That’s the main finding of a paper published April 24 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, which analyzed the relationship between infectious diseases and their environmental, demographic and economic drivers in dozens of countries over 20 years.
Read more at UW Today »Congrats to Aquatic and Fishery Sciences' Chelsea Wood, ESA Early Career Fellow
Chelsea Wood, an assistant professor at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, has been named an Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The ESA chooses members for this distinction who have made or show potential to make outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by the society. Such contributions can include those who advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector through outstanding contributions to research, education and/or outreach.
Read more »UW-led study shows global evidence of the role of humans, urbanization in rapid evolution
It has long been suspected that humans and the urban areas we create are having an important — and surprisingly current and ongoing — effect on evolution, which may have significant implications for the sustainability of global ecosystems. A new multi-institution study led by the University of Washington that examines 1,600 global instances of phenotypic change — alterations to species’ observable traits such as size, development or behavior — shows more clearly than ever that urbanization is affecting the genetic makeup of species that are crucial to ecosystem health and success.
Read more at UW Today »Songbirds divorce, flee, fail to reproduce due to suburban sprawl
Suburban development is causing some songbirds to divorce and leave their nests, causing a lapse in reproduction, according to a new University of Washington study.
Read more at UW Today »Put people at the center of conservation, new study advises
People must be part of the equation when it comes to conservation projects in order to increase local support and the overall effectiveness of the conservation efforts. That’s the main conclusion of a study published online on Nov. 29 in Biological Conservation. In it, a group of scientists from around the world recognize the need to consider the livelihoods of humans, their cultural traditions and dependence on natural resources when planning and carrying out conservation around the world.
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