A Nature feature from 2007 on conservation priorities. Here’s the lede:

Richard Cowling was playing with maps of South Africa on a computer screen when he had his epiphany. He was designing a conservation plan for the Cape Floristic Region, or fynbos, an arid landscape of shrubs and flowers that contains some 9,000 species, many unique to the area. Some of these, such as the mandala-like sunset blooms of the protea flowers, are spectacular. Some — like the geometric tortoises, whose fetching shells help them hide from baboons and secretary birds — are seriously endangered. Cowling, a conservation biologist at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, was working on defining a set of reserves that would maximize the chances of conserving all those species. The project was so large that it would end up as a series of 16 papers by 36 authors that occupied all 297 pages of Biological Conservation’ s July–August 2003 issue. And it was also, Cowling realized as he stared at the screen, “sheer nonsense”.

Emma Marris joins the enthusiasts who think that enriching Earth’s soils with charcoal can help avert global warming, reduce the need for fertilizers, and greatly increase the size of turnips.

A Nature feature, August 10, 2006

Scientists say they gas mice and rats with carbon dioxide because it is humane. It’s also simple, cheap and keeps their hands clean. Emma Marris analyses the final seconds of the lab rodents’ life.

A Nature feature, June 1, 2006

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, coastal experts are trying to gauge the destruction to Louisiana’s marshes. Emma Marris travels to the coast to learn what might be saved — and what might not.

A Nature feature, December 15, 2005

The US government has adopted a tough approach to battling harmful exotic plants: specialist strike teams. But can they prevail? Emma Marris finds out it’s not all black and white.

A Nature feature, November 17, 2005