News: Environmental Science
Time to wake up to the illegal trade of sleepy lizards
![Smugglers attempt to disguise shingleback lizards as other freight to the detriment of the animals health and wellbeing.](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-07/news-lizard-shingleback-1183-wa.jpg?h=2f83cd36&itok=EmRx2DZt)
Australian reptiles face serious conservation threats from illegal poaching fuelled by international demand and the exotic pet trade.
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Scientists unearth secrets about the evolution of soil-burrowing cockroaches
![A giant burrowing cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros), a species commonly bought as a pet that can reach up to eight centimetres long and weigh 30 grams. Image by Yi-Kai Tea](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-07/soil-burrowing-cockroach-Macropanesthia_rhinoceros.jpg?h=26ecbb49&itok=dnaAw6FJ)
Evolutionary biologists have assessed the phenomenon of parallelism in soil-burrowing cockroaches for the first time.
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New standards to assist conservation and decision-making
![TERN fieldwork](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-06/tern-fieldwork-10.jpg?h=c4dd2c7b&itok=na5OroCD)
University of Adelaide and TERN researchers have partnered with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) to standardise both environmental monitoring and data systems for improved decision-making.
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The Federated States of Degradia
![Carbon Neutral, a Perth-based carbon offset provider, has planted 30 million native trees and shrubs since 2008. Their ambition is to plant a 200km highway of trees across Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, as shown in this image taken using a carbon neutral drone by photographer Russell Ord.](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-06/Federated-States-of-Degradia-Article.jpg?h=f7c3c15a&itok=GI5tfHE5)
With almost a third of arable land classified as degraded, what can we do to reverse the rapid pace of degradation and can we do it in a way that benefits us?
New genetic biocontrol research to help prevent mice plagues
![Paul Thomas microscope](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-06/news-paul-thomas-microscope.jpg?h=c4dd2c7b&itok=FqSXYRKs)
Scientists are partnering with the CSIRO and the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions to fine new solutions to control mice populations.
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Blind dating: Scientists sense the sex life of sea snakes
![Sea snake sex life](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-06/sea-snake-sex-life.jpg?h=c4dd2c7b&itok=4yiraKI_)
Meet the sensitive new age sea snakes that use touch receptors to help them locate and court females.
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Which environments did ancient Aboriginal peoples forage in Australia’s Western Desert?
![Habitat suitability model. Excavated rockshelter sites with long archaeological sequences (lime green) include: (1) Karnatukul (Serpent’s Glen), (2) Bushturkey-3, (3) Kaalpi, (4) Puntuntjarpa, (5) Parnkupirti, (6) Puritjarra, (7) Glen Thirsty, (8) Tjungkupu, and (9) Kulpi Mara.](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-06/news-boone-westerndesert-Fig1_HabitatModel.jpg?h=ff96e258&itok=S7ZlGP-z)
Scientists have used more than two decades of satellite-derived environmental data to suggest the possible foraging habitats of pre-contact Aboriginal peoples living in the Western Desert.
On a mission to discover unknown Australian species
![Insect collections Braggs labs](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-06/news-braggs-insects-31.jpg?h=c4dd2c7b&itok=_bGtn4OD)
New technologies to play vital role in discovering and documenting all unknown Australian species by 2050.
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How are 'cute' social media videos encouraging the exotic pet trade?
![Tiger cub by Jan Van welt from Pixabay](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-05/news-tiger-cub-pb.jpg?h=45f30cf2&itok=o-1AEKXy)
Researchers are concerned video sharing platforms could be contributing to the normalisation of exotic pets and encouraging the exotic pet trade.
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What is a 1 in 100 year weather event?
![Flood photo by sandid, pixabay](/sites/default/files/styles/ua_landscape/public/media/images/2021-04/flood-sandid-pixabay.jpg?h=3ebb19bb&itok=WrLkOpgL)
People living on the east coast of Australia have been experiencing a rare meteorological event. Record-breaking rainfall in some regions, and very heavy and sustained rainfall in others, has led to significant flooding.