News

L.A. is rich with biodiversity. It’s also rich with concrete, noise pollution and artificial light. How these realities coexist is the subject of a new study from a team of researchers led by Joseph Curti, a doctoral student in ecology at UCLA. According to the results, Los Angeles still has a long way to go in promoting and preserving the growth of native species, working towards its major green goals...
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Two new studies in widely varying environments—southern England and southern California—argue against writing off urban areas as arks of biodiversity...
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In California, this exciting new study by @joeycurti3, @mtingley and colleagues that uses iNaturalist data to understand how urbanization impacts species is getting media coverage in places like Science Friday, Science Daily, and Popular Science....
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The Earth is losing animals, plants and other living things so fast that some scientists believe the planet is entering its sixth mass extinction. But there’s some surprising good news: Urban areas may be key to slowing down or even reversing this crisis...
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UCLA biologists have some good news and some bad news for lovers of urban wildlife in Los Angeles. The good news? Unexpected pockets of biodiversity pepper the city. The bad news? It will be a challenge to elevate the level of overall biodiversity of the city. Of all the major taxonomic groups studied, only snails and slugs are ‘easy’ to find in Los Angeles, probably because of the abundance of landscaping, gardens and irrigation...
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The bright, noisy, and concrete dominated parts of urban spaces tend to repel many animal species. However, some animals – including Los Angeles’ slugs and snails – might actually prefer living in these environments. They are potentially thriving in the year-round watering of lawns. The slimy findings are detailed in a study published May 29 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE...
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Sunday, June 11th was the biggest event of the year for the Audubon on Campus chapter at UCLA, the Bruin Birding Club. It was our very first bird-themed LGBTQ+ Pride Festival, welcoming LGBTQ+ folks and allies to celebrate, build community, and enhance their relationships with birds and the outdoors. We organized a series of events across the day to give attendees a variety of ways to engage with two key ideas...
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A group of around 20 UCLA ecology and evolutionary biology professors, graduate student teaching assistants and undergraduate students spent more than three weeks conducting research in the Peruvian Amazon basin...
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The life of Los Angeles mountain lion P-22 showed the desire — and, in many respects, ability — of Angelenos to live with the wildlife in their midst. As memorials spring up from the Los Angeles Zoo to the Greek Theater, UCLA researchers examine the lessons that can be learned from this celebrity cougar and ponder how wildlife can live and thrive in urban areas...
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When the bats under a highway overpass in south central Los Angeles suddenly disappear, Andre, a boy on the autism spectrum who is passionate about the winged mammals, becomes desperate to find out what happened...
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Last October, Whitewater Preserve was host to a bat study by PhD candidate Joey Curti! Curti works through a partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Wildlife Genetics Research Laboratory to more accurately assess bat connectivity and genetic health...                                          
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