Taxonomy term

By Eric Freedman

Empty lots in deindustrialized cities like Detroit may contribute to bird species diversity, says a new study by researchers at MSU and Carleton University in Canada. The study is based on sound recordings collected at 110 sites in 11 Detroit neighborhoods. The study recommends that vacant land management in the city takes a balanced approach that considers the needs of both residents and birds. There are other concerns about vacant land, too, including as sites for solar arrays.

By Victoria Witke

New research shows Anishinaabe fire practices shaped today’s Great Lakes ecosystems. The region’s forests never existed and can’t continue to exist without people – or fire.

By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva

In the late 1970s, when most wildlife conservation programs in the United States focused almost exclusively on game species, a quiet but historic shift began in Minnesota. It was here that one of the nation’s first state programs dedicated to protecting so-called nongame wildlife emerged from butterflies and bats to bald eagles and river otters. That story is now told in detail by Carrol Henderson in his new book, “A National Legacy: Fifty Years of Nongame Wildlife Conservation in Minnesota."

By Bauyrzhan Zhaxylykov

Across Michigan, religious institutions, local governments, schools and nonprofits are turning to a federal program called Elective Pay to help pay for solar panels and other clean-energy projects.