theconversation.com / .theconversation-com-us-environment

Animal welfare laws don't protect invertebrates, but there's evidence that some, such as octopuses, are as intelligent as many mammals - even if their cognition takes very different forms.

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the air are making plants grow larger and faster, but diluting their nutritional content. This could threaten the health of herbivores worldwide.

Will protecting monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act improve their chance of surviving? Not necessarily, 2 entomologists caution.

If federal streamgages were bolstered by networks of cheaper monitors run by communities, the results could save lives.

That delay can tip ranchers' finances into the red. While the land needs time to recover, studies raise questions about whether two years is really necessary.

Evolution is often depicted as a steady forward march from simple to complex forms. But new research shows that certain ferns can evolve 'backward.'

Nearly 10% of the planet's human inhabitants live within 3.1 miles of the coast where the risk of climate disasters is often highest.

More architects are using wood construction for large buildings. A resource economist argues any increase in demand for wood will push commercial growers to better manage forests.

Rapid changes underway in the Arctic affect the region's people and wildlife, and the entire planet.

Private conservation groups channel huge sums of money to parks and protected areas around the world, but often have failed to protect basic rights of Indigenous people living on those lands.