Natural History Wanderings

The NY Times recently wrote about the economic benefits of environmental protection.  Biologists and Economists are finding ways to quantify the economic benefits of environmental protection.  Software has been developed to “map and value nature’s goods and services that are essential for humans”.  For example, in Costa Rica native birds and bats that eat alien insects that attack coffee plants, helping to increase the coffee yields.  To learn more read Nature’s Economist Calculates the Need for More Protection – NYTimes.com.