Biodiversity

"A projected spate of extinctions of animals and plants this century may be less drastic than feared because the most widely used scientific method can exaggerate losses by more than 160 percent, a study said on Wednesday."

"The rare Canada lynx, whose range has shrunk considerably in recent decades, faces a grave threat from rising temperatures in Maine, federal wildlife experts said on Tuesday."

"[On Tuesday] the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a national management plan to combat white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed more than a million hibernating bats in eastern North America since it was discovered in caves near Albany, New York in 2006."

"Traveling through a rural part of the U.S. state of Georgia recently, Charles Seabrook heard a high-pitched whirring so loud he thought the engine of his pickup truck was overheating."

"For the crime of snacking on endangered salmon, dozens of sea lions have been sentenced to die."

"California is cracking down on invasive species, and that could have a big impact on national regulations due out later this year. The state has passed the strictest rules in the country to prevent cargo ships from bringing foreign plants and animals to San Francisco Bay. But the standards are so high, California may not be able to enforce them."

"The Obama administration will seek to allow the unlimited sale of a corn variety genetically engineered by Monsanto Co. to resist drought, the Department of Agriculture announced [Wednesday]."

"Hate insects? Afraid of germs? Researchers are reporting an alarming combination: bedbugs carrying a staph 'superbug.' Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant staph bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients from a downtrodden Vancouver neighborhood."

"The Interior Department, facing an avalanche of petitions and lawsuits over proposed endangered species designations, said Tuesday that it had negotiated a settlement under which it will make decisions on 251 species over the next six years."

"Federal protections for some 1,200 gray wolves in Montana and Idaho end on Thursday under unprecedented legislation passed by the U.S. Congress last month removing them from the endangered species list."