Biodiversity Science

Recent work on bird populations on the Wakatobi archipelago has revealed that many smaller bird species are morphologically and genetically distinct from their mainland relatives. The outcome could be that the Wakatobi islands qualify for Important Bird Area status

A study into tarsiers on Buton Island, Sulawesi, shows that, counter-intuitively, they favour disturbed habitats over areas that have been least affected by human impact, particularly when choosing their sleeping sites

A team of botanists has been engaged in recording plants used in herbal medicine in Buton, Indonesia, to ensure the knowledge persists beyond any future spread of Western treatments and medicines

A study on sound recordings of reef noise from different habitats has revealed that the highest quality reefs are also the noisiest, potentially attracting more larval recruits using sound to orient towards reefs

A study which took place on Buton Island, Indonesia on the crop-raiding behaviour of the Buton macaque has found that some troops spend up to a third of their time feeding on crops in farmers’ fields

The story of the cleaner fish provides an insight into complex interspecific behaviours and an early warning of the state of our coral reefs

A study into coral reef resilience and the ability of specialist reef species to adapt has found that fish can change their feeding behaviour depending on habitat quality