When the Rio Grande figures in US news reports, it’s usually in relation to stories about immigration, drug trafficking or trade. But the river is also an important water source – and it’s shrinking.

Keeping landscapes connected can help protect wild animals and plants. In the US Southwest, border wall construction is closing off corridors that jaguars and other at-risk species use.

Record heat and low rainfall are drying up water sources shared by the American Southwest and northern Mexico.

Government policies and dangerous conditions affect the ability of researchers working on both sides of the US-Mexico border to conduct scientific fieldwork.