Accounting for the Gaps in the Fossil Record of Ancient Food Webs
If you want to understand an ecosystem, look at what the species within it eat. In studying food webs — how animals and plants in…
Ecology
Alarming New Climate Research: Earth to Reach Critical Temperature Tipping Point in 20–30 Years
Earth’s ability to absorb nearly a third of human-caused carbon emissions through plants could be halved within the next two decades at the current rate…
Scientists Discover the Secret of Galápagos’ Rich Ecosystem and Unique Wildlife Habitats
New research has unlocked the mystery of how the Galápagos Islands, a rocky, volcanic outcrop, with only modest rainfall and vegetation, is able to sustain…
Humans Face a “Ghastly Future” Unless Extraordinary Action Is Taken Soon on Sustainability
Global team of scientists, including UCLA’s Daniel Blumstein, points to environmental, population and political challenges. Without immediate and drastic intervention, humans face a “ghastly future”…
Fatal Attraction: Bats With White-Nose Syndrome Prefer Deadly Habitats Despite the Consequences
Since 2006, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has caused sharp declines in bat populations across the eastern United States. The fungus that causes the…
Native Biodiversity Collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean – Most Native Species Are Going Locally Extinct
Most native species are going locally extinct, while introduced tropical species thrive. The coastline of Israel is one of the warmest areas in the Mediterranean…
Climate Change Reduces the Abundance and Diversity of Wild Bees
Wild bees are more affected by climate change than by disturbances to their habitats, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State. The…
New Climate Change Research: Future Too Warm for Baby Sharks
New research has found as climate change causes the world’s oceans to warm, baby sharks are born smaller, exhausted, undernourished, and into environments that are…
Scientists Discover Bizarre New Mode of Snake Locomotion – “Nothing I’d Ever Seen Compares to It”
A team of researchers from Colorado State University and the University of Cincinnati have discovered a new mode of snake locomotion that allows the brown…
How Whale Poo Is Powering the World’s Rainforests
Big animals have the power to change the face of our planet: they sculpt woodlands, power ecosystems and can even help to fertilize the interior…
Natural Reward Theory: A New Foundation for Biology?
A link between evolution over short time frames (microevolution) and long time frames (macroevolution) that could open new approaches to understanding some of biology’s deepest…
Slimy Microbes Discovered That Could Help Keep Coral Reefs Healthy
The bacteria scrub out nitrogen, potentially defending against certain nutrient overloads. Corals have evolved over millennia to live, and even thrive, in waters with few…
It’s Not Too Late! 102 Species at Risk of Extinction Can Be Saved
Co-governance model for implementing conservation management plan gives species their best chances of survival. The Fraser River estuary in British Columbia is home to 102…
Plastic Pollution Is Everywhere: Research Reveals How It Travels
Plastic pollution is ubiquitous today, with microplastic particles from disposable goods found in natural environments throughout the globe, including Antarctica. But how those particles move…
Climate-Change-Induced Conflict? Rare Footage Captured of Jaguar Killing Ocelot at Waterhole
In what may be a sign of climate-change-induced conflict, researchers have captured rare photographic evidence of a jaguar killing another predatory wild cat at an…
800 Years of Paleoclimate Patterns Unearthed in Largest Study of Asia’s Rivers
The Singapore University of Technology and Design study will be crucial for assessing future climatic changes and making more informed water management decisions. 813 years…
Iconic Sunflower Sea Star Is Now Critically Endangered
The iconic sunflower sea star has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature following a groundbreaking population study led…
Ecologically Important El Bibane Lagoon Photographed by Astronaut Aboard the Space Station
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of a 30-kilometer (20-mile) long lagoon on the eastern shore of Tunisia. A narrow…