Coral reef scientists and policy makers from the world’s most prominent coral reef nations are meeting in Australia this week to develop urgent action plans to rescue the world’s richest center of marine biodiversity from gradual decline.

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For the first time it is now possible to get a comprehensive overview of which alien species are present in Europe, their impacts and consequences for the environment and society. More than 11,000 alien species have been documented by DAISIE, a unique three year research project with more than 100 European scientists, that provides new knowledge on biological invasions in Europe.

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The results of the biggest and most comprehensive survey of Britain’s countryside and its natural resources are unveiled in a report published this week by the Countryside Survey partnership.

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Marginal plants, particularly trees, play a crucial role in sustaining the biodiversity of Europe’s big river systems, according to new research. This finding provides important clues for protecting Europe’s rivers against a combined onslaught from human development and climate change, which are tampering with existing ecosystems and changing both the physical and biological forces acting upon them.

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Researchers have found that restoring degraded wetlands — especially those that had been converted into farm fields — actually decreases soil bacterial diversity. More than half of original wetland acreage in the U.S. has been destroyed or degraded, but some has been restored in recent decades under the federal government’s “no net loss” policy.

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