Protecting biodiversity

The other environmental emergency

Loss of biodiversity poses as great a risk to humanity as climate change

Technology has a growing role to play in monitoring, modelling and protecting ecosystems, writes Catherine Brahic

Sensors and sensibility

All kinds of new technology are being used to monitor the natural world

Smartphone components have made sensors cheaper, and machine learning can help analyse the resulting data

Cracking the code

The sequencing of genetic material is a powerful conservation tool

You can learn a lot from the faeces, skin cells and other traces that animals leave behind

Crowdsourced science

How volunteer observers can help protect biodiversity

Uploading your holiday snaps can make a difference, too

Simulating everything

Compared with climate, modelling of ecosystems is at an early stage

But it will help sustain biodiversity when more mature

Back from the dead

Reviving extinct species may soon be possible

Banking cells from endangered species can help in other ways, too

Bridging the gap

Technology can help conserve biodiversity

But it can only happen in conjunction with action by policymakers

Sources and acknowledgments