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This Year in Conservation Science: Elephants, Sharks, Mountains, Bees, and More
We asked conservation researchers to send us their best papers of 2024. They surprised us with some powerful and important science.
By The Revelator and John R. Platt
Every month scientific journals publish hundreds of new papers about endangered species and wildlife conservation. It’s a firehose of information in a world that feels increasingly in flames.
That’s why I started writing this column. “This Month in Conservation Science” is an opportunity to sort through some of that critical research and filter it for an audience who can put these scientific discoveries to good use.
Our first few columns looked at papers published over specific four-week periods. This month, as we all wrap up 2024, we asked researchers to send us their best or favorite papers of the past year. We received submissions that offer hope, guidance, analysis, and insight into emerging threats.
Stuart Pimm, president of Saving Nature, recommended a paper he and his colleagues published in Science Advances revealing surprising news for elephants. He wrote: “The public may think that elephants in the African savannah are in freefall. In fact, over the…