Biodiversity

"The Obama administration [Friday] released two new proposed rules and a new policy designed to clarify how it designates and protects critical habitat for threatened and endangered species, a key bulwark against extinction."

"A law that would make Vermont the first U.S. state to enact mandatory labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, received final approval from state lawmakers on Wednesday and now heads to the governor's desk."

"In matters of love, nothing says romance like a moonlit beach. Especially if you're a lusty horseshoe crab and the tide is high."

"Sometimes bad things come in small packages. A microbe that spewed humongous amounts of methane into Earth's atmosphere triggered a global catastrophe 252 million years ago that wiped out upwards of 90 percent of marine species and 70 percent of land vertebrates."

"Giant lizards are coming out of hibernation in Florida. Trouble is, Robin Sussingham of WUSF reports, they're members of an invasive species with a taste for the eggs and hatchlings of native animals."

"One of agricultural biotechnology’s great success stories may become a cautionary tale of how short-sighted mismanagement can squander the benefits of genetic modification. After years of predicting it would happen — and after years of having their suggestions largely ignored by companies, farmers and regulators — scientists have documented the rapid evolution of corn rootworms that are resistant to Bt corn."

"MANCHESTER, N.H. — In this small state with a very big legislature, the top official at the association for grocery stores knew he had a lot of people to convince about an important food-labeling bill. But he also had a lot of members on his side."

"A public interest group is asking a court to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to turn over documents explaining its approval of a genetically altered alfalfa even as the department acknowledged the crop's potential to do environmental damage."