Biodiversity, Conservation & Ecosystems

With an unparalleled network of environmental monitoring stations, research field sites and cyber infrastructure, UArizona pioneers fundamental and use-inspired ecosystem science to help save species and conserve the lands, forests and wildlife of the western U.S. and beyond.

Our research

How microbes in permafrost could trigger a massive carbon bomb

Genomics studies are helping to reveal how bacteria and archaea influence one of Earth’s largest carbon stores as it begins to thaw.

Threats to Wildlife Persist Even as US Halts Border Wall Construction

On the day President Joe Biden took office, he put a pause on border wall construction, a centerpiece of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

Critical fire weather hits Arizona

High temperatures.

Bone dry fuels.

High winds.

Yep. Critical fire weather.

And it’s just barely March.

Saving the West’s most iconic cactus from climate change

A warming world means an invasive grass is threatening the famous saguaro

How Trump’s Attempt at a Wall on U.S.-Mexico Border Damaged the Environment & Local Wildlife

Now that President Joe Biden has stopped the construction of Trump’s wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, media outlets and environmental organizations are finally getting a clearer view of the destruction that has been done to the borderlands.

Along the Southwest Border, Trump’s Wall Is Only One of the Insults He Left Behind

Here’s what Biden should do about the poverty, discrimination and environmental destruction.

Enough habitat exists to support return of Mexican wolves in Southwest, study says

A U.S.-Mexico partnership could aid the long-term recovery of the endangered Mexican wolf, a subspecies of the North American gray wolf, and its eventual removal from the U.S. endangered species list, according to a new study.

Tribal Coal Fields Will Test Biden’s Environmental Justice Goals

A massive coal plant, demolished in December, was a linchpin of the Navajo and Hopi economies for nearly 50 years.

Psychedelic Toads Pushed To The Limit, Conservationists Urge Synthetic 5-MeO-DMT Option

Careful analysis of breakthroughs & trends in psychoactive substances