News from Nature - Already suffering from a decade of drought, Colorado's forests are under attack by the mountain pine beetle. The micro-sized bark beetle has infested 1.5 million acres of woodlands and the United States Forest Service predicts that within five years 90 percent of mature pines in the region will be killed. The epidemic is staggering, but conservationists hope the unstoppable infestation will eventually lead to a healthier forest less susceptible to pine beetles. Stories from the Wild - Over the past two decades the Magellanic penguin population in Argentina has dropped by 22 percent. To discover what is threatening the population, National Geographic grantee Dee Boersma uses state-of-the-art technology to count the penguins and monitor their movements between the beach and the sea as they forage for food. Thanks to Boersma's research, penguin colonies and the coastal habitat they share with other species are better protected. Field Reports - In Australia, a highly toxic, alien invader is attacking the protected habitat of Moreton Bay's endangered green sea turtles. Destroying all vegetation in its path, fireweed is wreaking havoc on the turtle's natural diet and challenging the comeback of these ancient creatures. Researchers deploy National Geographic's Crittercam® to learn how the turtles are coping as they search for ways to protect the turtles from the invading slime. Adventure and Exploration - Florida's warm weather and lush landscape offer an attractive habitat to a number of invasive species that are wreaking havoc on local ecosystems. Wild Chronicles investigates how these non-native species, including green iguanas, lionfish and a plant called hydrilla, first arrived. Conservationists suggest the ultimate culprits may be humans who release exotic species into an environment not prepared for their presence.
