The return of the platypus

Recent surveys have found no sign of the duck billed platypus in the Royal National Park south of Sydney, but environmentalists are optimistic the iconic animal can be successfully reintroduced.

Sixth sense

Neither Labor or the Coalition are keen to discuss the parlous state of Australia’s environment and existential threat of climate change in the current election campaign, but the issue remains of the utmost importance for the future of this country and the world.

Australia’s yellow crazy antagonist

In a setback to Australia’s iconic Wet Tropic World Heritage Area, the federal budget has failed to explicitly fund the successful yellow crazy ant control program run by the Wet Tropics Management Authority in Cairns.

Walking on water

From the Murray-Darling system to Great Artesian Basin, ‘invisible’ underground groundwater is often the only available water supply but its over-exploitation is threatening the future of this vital resource.

Improving urban wetlands

Today is World Water Day, an appropriate time to note new studies at Flinders University into removing toxins from polluted waterways and improving infiltration at urban wetlands.

Native life returns to NSW’s ‘wild deserts’

Three native mammal species – bilbies, crest-tailed mulgaras and Shark Bay bandicoots – are booming since their recent reintroduction to Sturt National Park in the far-west NSW outback.

The mysterious case of the sea scorpion

A fossil ‘cold case’ in Queensland Museum’s geosciences collection has led to the description of a new species of sea scorpion, and the first of its kind in the state.

Watching the river flow back

Even after they have closed mines still leak poisoned water into the environment, but the Wollangambe River in the Blue Mountains is an encouraging example that a clean-up is possible in even the most polluted environments.

The mystery of the megamountains

Giant mountain ranges at least as high as the Himalayas and stretching up to 8,000 kilometres across entire supercontinents played a crucial role in the evolution of early life on Earth, according to a new study by researchers at The Australian National University.

In search of the buff-breasted button-quail

The last known buff-breasted button-quail was shot by a collector in humid savanna on Cape York Peninsula a hundred years ago, but there are hopes the species may still survive in remaining pockets of its habitat.

Soil regeneration lags behind revegetation

The restoration of cleared and degraded Australian landscapes takes time and patience, but the extent of residual soil deficiencies surprised researchers studying the results of a six-year native planting project in South Australia.

There aren’t plenty of big fish left in the sea

Humans have selectively bred domestic animals to change their size, shape and behaviour for thousands of years, but pressure on wild populations is also imposing a form of ‘artificial selection’.