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Kelp forests, which provide numerous benefits such as sheltering biodiversity and sequestering carbon, are facing rapid decline in California due to factors like marine heat waves and disease outbreaks. These forests are the largest coastal marine habitat on Earth and are highly biologically diverse. Despite their importance, kelp forests are often overlooked and undervalued. They are estimated to be worth around $500 billion annually, and they play a crucial role in combating climate change by absorbing carbon. Efforts are being made to restore kelp forests, including removing excess sea urchins and reintroducing otters as predators. However, the future of kelp forests remains uncertain due to ongoing climate change. [Extracted from the article]

In 2023, as a wet winter following drought promised another superbloom, authorities acted fast to protect both people and habitat, announcing in February Walker Canyon's immediate closure to visitors. Amid blooming California poppies, the state's official flower, tourists walk off-trail along a new path carved out by previous visitors to Walker Canyon in the spring of 2019. Transformed by heavy rains after years of drought, the dun-colored hillsides of Southern California's Walker Canyon (above) exploded with carpets of vibrant orange poppies in spring 2019 - as once-calm country roads became gridlocked by visitors vying to see the flowers (below). [Extracted from the article]

A bright splash of color amidst the muted tones of a flooded forest, the prothonotary warbler is nicknamed "swamp canary" for its vivid golden feathers and the male's lyrical springtime song. "That sweet, sweet, sweet song is a sound that says you're in a Carolina swamp", says Jay Keck, a habitat manager for National Wildlife Federation affiliate South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF). Project Prothonotary Prothonotary warblers have declined in part because they are such habitat specialists. [Extracted from the article]

GOLDENROD Goldenrods are critical late-season plants for bumble bees (brown-belted bumble bee, Bombus griseocollis, Wisconsin, right). In a field of wildflowers just outside Baltimore, Maryland, a female common eastern bumble bee makes her way methodically from bloom to bloom around a bright yellow clump of cup plant in late August. ASTER Bumble bees (lemon cuckoo bumble bee, Bombus citrinus, Wisconsin, right) are active from early spring through late fall, so it's important to provide a variety of flowering plants that bloom throughout that entire period. [Extracted from the article]

In response to concerns about the red knot, in 2013, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a regional regulatory body, restricted the bay's horseshoe crab bait harvests to male crabs only and set an annual harvest quota of no more than 500,000 Delaware Bay crabs. "Shorebirds are among the fastest-declining groups of birds, and the fastest-declining shorebirds are species that migrate through Delaware Bay and depend on the eggs of horseshoe crabs", Niles says. Winter 2023 Each May through June, the Delaware Bay attracts hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs, the world's largest gathering of these important and imperiled "living fossils.". [Extracted from the article]

Female birds have long been overlooked and understudied by bird watchers and scientists, who tend to focus on male birds due to their bright colors and conspicuous behavior. This bias is reflected in bird guides, reference materials, and museum collections, where male birds are overrepresented. However, this male favoritism can have significant consequences for research and conservation efforts. For example, the study of bird song has been affected by male bias, with scientists traditionally considering singing to be a male trait. Additionally, conservation plans for neotropical migratory birds often overlook sexual segregation, leading to the loss of winter habitat for female birds. The field of ornithology is also dominated by men, which may contribute to the male bias. Efforts are being made to promote inclusivity and appreciation of female birds, such as the Female Bird Day organized by the Galbatross Project. Overall, paying more attention to female birds is important as they play a crucial role in the survival and reproduction of bird species. [Extracted from the article]