Liz Kimbrough
Mongabay
Portland, OR, United States
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Past articles by Liz:
Last chance: Study highlights perilous state of ‘extinct in the wild’ species
Hundreds of thousands of European bison once grazed the grassy slopes from Spain to Ukraine — until they gradually went extinct in the wild by 1927. But when the last free-roaming individual was shot, that wasn’t the end of the story for the species. Fifty-four bison remained in captivity, and from this small group a […] → Read More
Do elections spur deforestation? It’s complicated, new study finds
Ahead of the presidential election in Brazil last October, deforestation in the Amazon reached its highest level in 15 years. Was this an anomaly, or part of a pattern? Are elections and deforestation somehow linked? To answer these questions, a group of researchers examined deforestation and election data from 55 countries in the tropics between […] → Read More
Newly described DiCaprio’s snake and others threatened by mining in Ecuador and Panama
With its blood-red eyes and red, black and yellow scales, the Marley’s Snail-eating snake looks like it could end your life with a bite. But this delicate snake, Sibon marleyae, is harmless, as are the four other snail-eating snake species recently found in Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia. Researchers described these five new-to-science snakes from the […] → Read More
New gecko species from Timor-Leste hints at island’s unknown diversity
While exploring a cave in Timor-Leste, a small island nation sandwiched between Indonesia and Australia, scientists saw a gecko dashing across the limestone. Because the cave was so remote, said Chan Kin Onn, a herpetologist at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore, “the potential for this gecko to be a new species was high.” […] → Read More
No croak: New silent frog species described from Tanzania’s ‘sky island’ forests
Up in Tanzania’s Ukaguru Mountains, researchers have found a new-to-science frog species with a unique trait: it doesn’t make a sound. The small, silent Ukaguru spiny-throated reed frog (Hyperolius ukaguruensis) doesn’t croak, chirp, sing or ribbit. “It’s a very odd group of frogs,” said Lucinda Lawson, a conservation biologist and assistant professor at the University […] → Read More
Western monarch populations reach highest number in decades
The population of western monarch butterflies reached its highest numbers since the year 2000, with more than 335,000 butterflies counted at their California and Arizona overwintering sites during the 26th annual Thanksgiving Western Monarch Count. “We can all celebrate this tally,” Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist at the Xerces Society and western monarch lead said in […] → Read More
Canopy bridges connect forests, wildlife, and international researchers
Roads and highways wind through forests worldwide, forming an expanding network that connects humans but can hurt animals. Animals are hesitant to cross roads, and for those that move only through the treetops, such as arboreal mammals, a road can represent an impassible barrier. “For arboreal animals, the barrier effect is profound. They will not […] → Read More
To restore large carnivore populations, make people wealthier, study finds
The decline of big carnivore populations like lions, bears and lynx is most closely associated with rapid economic growth, according to a study published this week in Nature Communications. The study looked at 50 species of large carnivores worldwide over the past 50 years and found that social and economic factors, like people’s quality of life, […] → Read More
Study identifies priority forests in Oregon for max conservation benefit
The haunting deep-green forests of Oregon are more than a backdrop for angsty teen vampires in the Twilight series. These coastal temperate rainforests on the west coast of the United States are some of the most important carbon storage facilities in the world and, at a local scale, shelter 80% of the drinking water for […] → Read More
Across the tropics, mammal activity doesn’t vary much, study shows
When do weasels sleep? Where do the wild pigs roam? And do jaguars keep their prey up at night? A new study published in the journal Nature Communications examines when and why mammals eat, sleep and move about, using 2.3 million camera trap photos from the Neotropics, Afrotropics, and Indo-Malayan tropics. The team found surprisingly […] → Read More
In Ecuador, communities protecting a ‘terrestrial coral reef’ face a mining giant
INTAG VALLEY, ECUADOR — Hundreds of moths land on a white sheet, lit like a false moon in the still, dark forest. Elegant silver ones, fist-sized moths with spots on their wings, fuzzy little citrine fellows, some exquisitely camouflaged in neutral tones, and some shouting their toxicity in vivid color. For three nights, we lure […] → Read More
Top 15 species discoveries from 2022 (Photos)
A resplendent rainbow fish, a frog that looks like chocolate, a Thai tarantula, an anemone that rides on a back of a hermit crab, and the world’s largest waterlily are among the new species named by science in 2022. In this well-trodden world, finding a new species is a glimpse of the uncharted riches of […] → Read More
Mongabay’s Conservation Potential series investigates: where do we need to protect biodiversity?
From microbes to meerkats, the wealth of species on Earth are the glue that hold the cycles of life together: producing food, regulating climate, building soil, maintaining ecosystems, and more. Tropical forests are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, and scientists estimate that we have only discovered a small percentage of the […] → Read More
For water quality, even a sliver of riverbank forest is better than none
Trees and plants along the banks of waterways are more than picturesque. They serve as a line of defense, absorbing pollutants and keeping harmful runoff out of rivers and streams. But how much forest needs to be preserved along the rivers to do the job? Even a small strip of forest can make a difference, […] → Read More
Beef is still coming from protected areas in the Amazon, study shows
Some of the world’s largest beef exporters are still buying cattle that grazed in protected areas of the Amazon rainforest, despite commitments to stop this practice, according to a new study. The report, published today in the journal Conservation Letters found that millions of cattle grazed in protected areas (PAs) in the Brazilian states of Mato […] → Read More
Heat-sensing drone cameras spy threats to sea turtle nests
Sea turtles lumber from ocean to shore to lay their eggs in the sand. In some places, this effort is protected by humans who patrol beaches on foot, warding off poachers, predators and naïve tourists. But might there be a more effective way? Researchers used thermal infrared sensors mounted on drones to monitor sea turtle […] → Read More
Toxic new frog species from Ecuador named after Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane
On a mountaintop in Ecuador, a researcher spotted some spots. The polka-dotted frog, it turned out, was new to science and has now been named Hyloscirtus sethmacfarlanei in honor of Seth MacFarlane, the U.S. film and television creator responsible for the show Family Guy and a long-time supporter of the NGO Rainforest Trust. “It seemed […] → Read More
A new method assesses health of Chile’s headwaters, and it’s not good news
Follow any river to its upper reaches and you will encounter the headwaters, the flowing streams that join to carry water, nutrients and life to downstream ecosystems and economies. Troubles here, at the river’s origins, quite literally trickle down. Headwaters are complex and notoriously difficult to study, but given their vital role, understanding where and […] → Read More
The mystery of narwhal behavior, solved by chaos theory
Narwhals are chaotic. At least, that’s what researchers thought until they developed a new math-based method to detect patterns in their seemingly irregular movements. Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are known as the unicorns of the sea due to their distinctive single tusk, which is actually a feeling, enlarged tooth with up to 10 million nerve endings. […] → Read More
How close is the Amazon tipping point? Forest loss in the east changes the equation
Scientists warn that the Amazon is hurtling toward a tipping point, beyond which it would begin to transition from lush tropical forest into a dry, degraded savanna, unable to support the immense diversity of life that call the world’s largest rainforest home. This change could be triggered when 25% of the forest has been lost […] → Read More