Conservation biology needs to be accessible to the masses Are we doomed to repeat our mistakes in Conservation Biology?

Since its earliest days, when private collectors amassed great stores of specimens collected from the farthest reaches of the Earth, natural history studies often have been a pursuit of the economically well-off and of intellectually elitist scientists. One of the most important spinoffs of these natural history studies has been Conservation Biology. Unfortunately, the culture of exclusivity appears to have also infected Conservation Biology. Technical jargon, restricted access to data, and poor communication among researchers, amateur enthusiasts and political decision-makers have colluded to keep it a clubby affair that may be hurting goals of sustainable use of resources, long term management policies, and species and habitat conservation.
Now, in a paper published in The Journal of Insect Conservation, Arizona State University biologist David L. Pearson and his lawyer co-author, Fabio Cassola, argue that Conservation Biology doesn't have to be this way. They say making the science more accessible to the masses will enhance public support for conservation initiatives and accelerate the accumulation of information about the world around us.

Termites can make ethanol.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), says that termites can be used to make eco-friendly ethanol. He cites U.S. government backed research showing that "microbes living in the guts of termites have potent enzymes able to efficiently and cost effectively transform woody wastes into sugars for ethanol production."
"Ethanol yields from termite technology could, within a few years, out strip those from crops like maize and even sugar cane," he adds.
Noting that current biofuel production in fraught with environmental and social concerns, Steiner says that the effort to develop next generation biofuels has researches focused on some of the world's smallest creatures.

Small insects tell us Earth is warming.

The findings suggest that "warmer-water midges began to edge out cooler-water midge species around these remote lakes" beginning about 25 years ago.
“People would like to believe that these mountainous environments may be immune to climate change, but these are some of the first areas to feel the impact of warmer temperatures,” Porinchu said.
The researchers found that surface water temperatures in the lakes they studied have increased from 0.5 to 1 degree since the 1980s.
“Although that doesn't seem to be a huge increase, just a slight fluctuation in water temperatures can significantly affect the rate of egg and larval development,” Porinchu said. “Above-average surface water temperatures typified the late 20th century in all of the lakes that we studied. It's clearly an indication that something is happening that is already affecting aquatic ecosystems in these fragile, high-elevation lakes.”

Invasive ants use genetic differences to distinguish friend from foe Argentine Ants.

A study led by University of California, San Diego biologists shows that invasive Argentine ants appear to use genetic differences to distinguish friend from foe, a finding that helps to explain why these ants form enormous colonies in California.
In the December issue of the journal Molecular Ecology, the biologists provide the first data on territorial interactions among Argentine ants in the field. In California, Argentine ants form expansive “supercolonies” containing millions of nests and stretching hundreds of miles. Researchers have disagreed on the reason for the lack of aggression between ants from different nests in the same colony.
“Some ecologists have hypothesized that environmental factors act to reduce aggression among Argentine ants in California,” said David Holway, an assistant professor of biology at UCSD and senior author on the study. “However, we found that while ants from the same supercolony do not fight, clashes between ants from different supercolonies occur commonly along territorial borders.”