Benjamin Birch

Chimps share 'building blocks of musical rhythm' with humans

Just like humans, chimps have rhythm when drumming, which suggests that the trait evolved in our common ancestor

Australia is in an extinction crisis – why isn’t it an issue at this election? Some of the country’s most loved native species, including the koala and the hairy-nosed wombat, are on the brink. Is this their last chance at survival?

The biodiversity crisis is existential for humanity. I’m angry that it’s being ignored. Use your vote to force politicians to recognise your concerns

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Riparian Vegetation and Water Quality: A Case Study of Protected and Unprotected Rivers in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.01.646576v1

🌊 We're Hiring 🌊 Project Seahorse is looking for a Research Associate to help advance the conservation of seahorses and their relatives through research, expert collaboration, and community engagement. To apply visit buff.ly/Q299wEc

#Hiring #ProjectSeahorse

How a surprising twist on rewilding could help settle our carbon debt We’ve pumped huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that needs to be paid back. Large animals like wolves, bison and whales may already be tackling the problem

We’ve pumped huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that needs to be paid back. Large animals like wolves, bison and whales may already be tackling the problem.

Hi, new followers! If you love marine biology and ocean conservation, give these fine folks a follow.

go.bsky.app/HYBnbQn

🌎🧪🦑🐠

Active wetland restoration kickstarts vegetation establishment, but natural development promotes greater plant diversity 🌊 🧪

Results imply that restoration projects face a trade-off 💭 🌏

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Ningaloo and Great Barrier Reef hit by ‘profoundly distressing’ simultaneous coral bleaching events Scientists say widespread damage to both world heritage-listed reefs is ‘heartbreaking’ as WA reef accumulates highest amount of heat stress on record

Not cool! #Ningaloo and #GreatBarrierReef hit by ‘profoundly distressing’ simultaneous coral bleaching events www.theguardian.com/environment/... #coralbleaching #climatechange 🔥🌊🪸☠️

The 2025 State of the Birds Report finds birds from almost all habitats continue to decline. The declines are staggering. It’s time to act to bring birds back. Action to help: spread the word! #BringBirdsBack #BirdersUnite #BirdWatching #ProtectBirds

www.stateofthebirds.org/2025/

Natural forest regeneration in the tropics has the potential to sequester 23.4 gigatonnes of carbon

A recent model estimates that 215 million hectares in tropical regions – an area greater than that of all Mexico – have potential for natural forest regeneration, representing an above-ground carbon sequestration potential of 23.4 Gt C over 30 years. Read more here:

USAID funding cuts jeopardize creation of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area For more than 10 years, researchers, civil society and community members and government officials in Ghana worked to create the West African nation’s first marine protected area (MPA). In January, the...

The U.S. foreign aid freeze blocks the establishment of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Ghana’s small pelagics — sardines, anchovy and mackerels — make up about 60% of local fish landings and serve as a primary source of protein for almost two-thirds of the country’s population.

Fully funded PhD in Plant Ecophysiology at UBC in Vancouver 🍁! Possible topics include leaf physiology, thermal ecology, microclimates, scaling, tree physiology, forest ecology & more. Start Jan/May/Sept 2026. michaletzlab.org
Please share!
#PlantEcoPhys #Ecology #Botany #PhDposition #GradSchool

Censor, purge, defund: how Trump following the authoritarian playbook on science and universities I have mapped 35 of the Trump administration's attacks on science and universities to the authoritarian playbook - and consider what it means for attacks still to come

My latest post is now out.

I show how Trump's attacks on science and universities are neither random nor new - they fit very precisely into the authoritarian playbook.

This means we can guess what might come next and prepare - and we must!

christinapagel.substack.com/p/censor-pur...

An aerial shot of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

JOB: Join us as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity Genomics & help unlock the genetic secrets of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest 🌿

From microbial diversity to bioactive compounds, your work will help shape conservation & bioeconomy research

📅 Apply by 13 April

👉 careers.kew.org/vacancy/post...

View of rainforest with distant mountains in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

Join us! Exciting three-year postdoc opportunity integrating the latest techniques to estimate current levels of biodiversity and carbon storage and predict the recovery potential of rainforest restoration sites. Deadline: 17 March 2025. More details here: web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103...

New paper! Shallow water habitats provide high-quality foraging environments for Spoon-Billed Sandpipers doi.org/10.1016/j.av.... Shows, via fieldwork at world's most important SbS staging site, Tiaozini in China's Yellow Sea #WorldHeritageSite, key is to conserve upper tidal flats. #ornithology

📣PhD opportunity!
We are looking for a candidate to develop a project on the spatial ecology of #waterbirds using rice fields. Check for the complete details below, and get in touch until the 21st of March!
drive.google.com/file/d/1R8MI...

#ornithology #movement #tracking #connectivity

Climate-driven habitat loss and natural fragmentation increase extinction risk and compromise population viability in freshwater fish https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.02.641059v1

Lack of access/understanding furthers disconnect reducing future voices due to shifting baselines. Also, nature restoration in places like UK can benefit migratory species that breed here e.g., nightingale. Shouldn’t focus be on changing consumer habits i.e., reduced meat vs less nature overall.

Time to fix the biodiversity leak The risk that locally successful nature conservation may be shifting problems elsewhere can no longer be ignored

See our response letter below this Science article Time to fix the biodiversity leak | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... thanks to @ianconvery.bsky.social for leading this effort!

Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change Understanding the capacity of forests to adapt to climate change is of pivotal importance for conservation science, yet this is still widely unknown. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in high-b...

If yesterday's excellent paper in Nature wasn't enough for @jeaggu.bsky.social, today he has a new worrying but significant study out in Science where we show that tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change | awesome job Jesus! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Amazing jackdaw roost just up from the house, I don’t think they get the appreciation they deserve, truly a spectacle 👌

Aves de Colombia

A glimpse of bird diversity from northwestern South America's complex corner, where the Andes bisect the Amazon-Orinoco basins from the Chocó, across a mosaic of sierras, valleys, deserts, and wetlands - a biodiversity hotspot.
#ornithology #birding #biodiversity #colombia pop

Are you able to help us survey raptors in Wales? Sign up here: www.bto.org/CudyllCymru 🦅 #RaptorResearch

Three subspecies of Black-tailed Godwit share non-breeding sites in the world's largest river delta | www.sciencedirect.co... | Avian Research | #ornithology 🪶

Farmers used trash to grow crops in barren sand 1000 years ago Crops don't generally thrive in desert-like ground, but 1000 years ago farmers in Israel utilised refuse such as ash and bones to turn sand into fertile land

Farmers used trash like bones, charcoal and ash to grow crops in sand in Israel 1000 years ago.

Fossil proteins may soon reveal how we're related to Australopithecus

Australopithecus came before us, but that doesn't necessarily mean any specific individual is our ancestor. The fossil record is spotty in places, but the latest finds could give us enough clues to pin down how we are linked.

An independent analysis by @mongabay.bsky.social has found that almost half of Mexico's 232 federally protected areas (46.5%) do not have management plans.

Among those without plans are protected areas that were decreed more than 50 years ago.

See 🧵:

Beautiful female badger in the backyard this evening, chomping up some left over bird seed 👌

Land sparing outperforms land sharing for Amazonian bird communities regardless of surrounding landscape context Landscape wildlife friendliness (WF) provided through land sharing is of limited benefit to many tropical forest-dependent species that are unable to move across or utilise pasture, even at high leve...

Our study in the Colombian Amazon reveals that land sparing—intensive farming coupled with preserving large contiguous forest areas—supports higher bird species richness than land sharing, regardless of surrounding landscape context.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....