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Scientists have unveiled a new food source designed to sustain honey bee colonies indefinitely without natural pollen.

A spat between birds at a backyard birdfeeder highlights the sometimes fierce competition for resources that animals face in the natural world, but some ecologically similar species appear to coexist peacefully. A classic study in songbirds by Robert MacArthur, one of the founders of modern ecology, suggested that similar wood warblers—insect-eating, colorful forest songbirds—can live in the same trees because they actually occupy slightly...

A study of bumble bees has uncovered a potential reason for the insects' decline. By studying bumble bee exposure to particulate air pollutants, scientists at the University of Leicester have determined that the diversity and behavior of the bee gut microbial community is altered when exposed to black carbon found in air pollution, disrupting the beneficial bacteria that live there.

Newly published research from UNC Greensboro biology professor Dr. Bryan McLean and colleagues shows that the masked shrew, a small, mole-like mammal found in the Appalachian Mountains, shrinks its body and braincase to conserve energy during winter months.

If you think doomscrolling leads to sleepless nights, imagine waking up in bed with a blood-sucking monster the size of a basset hound. That's the waking nightmare one species of Australian fruit fly must contend with each night as hungry mites stalk and attach themselves like a tick while the fly is sleeping in the fruit orchards and rainforests of Queensland.

A new DNA probes allow for efficient surveying of the hidden lives of squids and octopuses in the deep sea. This development by Kobe University provides an effective tool for marine ecological research and conservation efforts.

If you like watching, reading, or learning about pretty, colorful birds, you're not alone. But it turns out that love for the bright and beautiful is impacting scientific study and limiting what we know about how their drab counterparts impact our ecology, which could ultimately affect conservation efforts for less striking birds.

A novel paper led by Dr. Ulrich Brose of the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena is widening the understanding of how species interact within ecosystems via the so-called "Internet of Nature."

The four billion tons of marine organisms that global fisheries extracted from the ocean between 1960 and 2018 resulted in the depletion of over 560 million tons of essential nutrients vital to ecosystem health, new research has found.

Hantavirus recently made news headlines as the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, but little is commonly known about it other than its connection to rodents.

Local climate can be used to predict the venom characteristics of a deadly snake that is widespread in India, helping clinicians to provide targeted therapies for snake bite victims, according to a study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases by Kartik Sunagar and colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science.

In the largest study of its kind to date, a team of international researchers has investigated how pharmaceutical pollution affects the behavior and migration of Atlantic salmon. The study, "Pharmaceutical pollution influences river-to-sea migration in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)," has been published in Science.

A study published in Frontiers in Bee Science has shown that physical distance plays a leading role in protecting bumblebees against a flying insect parasite, the bumblebee wax moth Aphomia sociella. The researchers discovered that the source of a potentially lethal infection came from the nearby hives of domestic honeybees.

Researchers from the Physics and Biology Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have discovered two species of tapeworms, or cestodes, in the guts and stomachs of wild-caught oval squid (Sepiotheutis lessoniana).

Marine food webs are highly complex. Until now, researchers have been unable to understand exactly how they are affected by climate change, overfishing and other threats. Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht have now achieved a breakthrough. They have developed a new computer model that can be used to simulate food webs more accurately than ever before. The work, which has been published...

Bacteria play key roles in degrading organic matter, both in the soil and in aquatic ecosystems. While most bacteria digest large molecules externally, allowing other community members to share and scavenge, some bacteria selfishly take up entire molecules before digesting them internally.

A team of oceanographers and marine biologists at the Hakai Institute, working with a colleague from the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance, and another from the Institute of Ocean Sciences, all in Canada, has found that the highly endangered sunflower star, a type of sea star, has found some degree of refuge in Canadian fjords (spelled fiord in Canada).

From dire wolves to woolly mammoths, the idea of resurrecting extinct species has captured the public imagination. Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based biotech company leading the charge, has made headlines for ambitious efforts to bring back long-lost animals using cutting edge genetic engineering.

Water levels in the Caspian Sea—the world's largest landlocked water body—are getting lower, as hotter temperatures cause more water to evaporate than is flowing in. Even if global warming is limited to below 2°C, it is likely that the level of the Caspian Sea will decline by 5 to 10 m, but if temperatures rise further, water levels could drop by as much as...

For the first time, a study led by University of Oxford researchers has listened in to the fascinating courtship displays of fiddler crabs using geophones. The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, provide new insights into how the animals communicate effectively on the noisy seashore.

New research reveals the remarkable chemical diversity of substances exuded by coral reefs and demonstrates that thousands of different chemicals derived from tropical corals and seaweeds are available for microbes to decompose and utilize.

Insecticides can help protect crops against troublesome pests, but they also pose a risk for beneficial insects such as pollinators. A study led by researchers at Penn State provides insight into how even sublethal doses of insecticides can negatively affect pollinators by disrupting the mating process.

Infections with parasites often entail no recognizable signs in many wildlife species, but can still have negative effects across generations. Infected animals often have a slightly reduced body size and their offspring have a harder start in life.

Everyone is familiar with the light dome that shows from afar where cities are brightly lit at night. Artificial light that is scattered in the atmosphere and brightens the night sky can have an effect far from where it is emitted. This phenomenon is known as artificial skyglow. Skyglow can affect biodiversity over long distances.

On our planet, at any one moment, billions of animals are on the move. From migratory birds, insects, marine mammals and sharks connecting distant continents and seas, to bees and other insects pollinating our crops, to grazing animals roaming across the plains, and the foxes and hedgehogs visiting urban gardens.

Rhinos that flourished across much of North America 12 million years ago gathered in huge herds, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati.

Ancient DNA extracted from a sediment core from a high-altitude Pyrenean lake in Spain reveals that fish may have been added to the lake by humans as early as the 7th century CE. The findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that fish were present in Lake Redon much earlier than previously suggested by historical evidence and provide further insight into the impact of human...

An international team of agronomists is calling for a new approach to estimate crop yield potential and gaps—information that is critical in planning how to meet growing food demand.

As coral bleaching and deaths become more widespread globally, experts are re-evaluating the benefits of restoration missions to reverse damage and protect some of the world's most species-rich ecosystems.

A study published in Scientific Reports reveals how birds responded to the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse across North America. The study finds bird vocalizations significantly declined only where more than 99% solar obscuration occurred. The study is titled "Continental-scale behavioral response of birds to a total solar eclipse."

Researchers at the University of Granada and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence have demonstrated a link between urbanization and the plumage color of birds. Species that thrive in cities are less brown and sport more elaborate colors. These color differences are probably due to differences in habitat structure and predation pressure—cities are less forested, have different background colors and a lower number...

A team of international researchers has identified a new sex hormone that plays a crucial role in stimulating ovulation. Researchers have identified secretoneurin, a neuropeptide derived from the secretogranin-2 protein, as a critical hormone that stimulates ovulation in zebrafish.

Invasive species cause environmental mayhem when they establish themselves in a new ecosystem. But these interlopers can also impact human health directly. Deadly diseases can jump from animals to humans, as the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated.

A new study from Tel Aviv University reveals that the greater mouse-tailed bat (Rhinopoma microphyllum) uses its long tail as a natural tactile sensor to navigate backward in dark caves. The researchers discovered that the bat's long tail functions as a dynamic sensing tool, enabling it to avoid obstacles and orient itself in complex environments while climbing backward—especially when other sensory abilities like vision...

Climate change is creating new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, or E. coli in the Arctic, according to a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise in human, animal, and environmental health in the North Pole.

A team of ecologists, climatologists and evolutionary specialists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has found that Gila monsters may find it difficult to survive in the face of climate change. In their study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, the group compared data regarding Gila monster behavior with climate models showing increasing temperatures in Gila habitats.

The Last of Us is back on April 13 and this season is more realistic than ever.

In 2013, 8% of the bottlenose dolphins living in Florida's Indian River Lagoon died. Investigations have now revealed that the dolphins may have starved because key habitats for nutritious prey were destroyed by a phytoplankton bloom.

The life of a plant scientist involves long hours in the lab, thinking up, designing, and monitoring experiments that might tell us something new about how life works. But sometimes it helps to log off the computer, hang up the lab coats, and seek inspiration in nature.

Sitting atop the land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, located on the eastern hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains and about five miles southwest of Stanford University's main campus, is one of its most beautiful classrooms: Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma). Since 1965, this site, a part of the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S), has been the center of long-term scientific studies...

The scent of blooming flowers and fresh plant life is not just a perk of springtime; it is a key driver in the survival and evolution of butterflies and moths. New research led by scientists at Penn State reveals how the daily cycles of plant aromas are linked to the dietary habits and evolution of the winged insects collectively known as Lepidoptera.

New research from the University of Minnesota upends long-held understanding about how wolves, bears and cougars—three of Yellowstone National Park's most iconic carnivores—compete for prey.

Our environment is changing rapidly, largely as a result of human activities, leading to a significant decline in biodiversity. According to researchers from the University of Victoria and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, this decline does not only affect animal life, but also our understanding of their behavior, including tool use.

Insects are the dominant form of animal life on our planet, providing humans and wildlife with pollination, food, and recycling services but, despite concerns about population declines, little is known about how 99% of species globally are faring.

Why do some animals solve problems while others don't? The new study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, now featured on the cover of Oikos, tackles this question with an unexpected star: the wild house mouse. This research dives into how different personality types—especially traits like boldness and shyness—influence innovation.

Commonly called the "corpse flower," Amorphophallus titanum is endangered for many reasons, including habitat destruction, climate change and encroachment from invasive species.

A new study has found that the world's finest yodelers aren't from Austria or Switzerland, but the rainforests of Latin America.

A study recently published in Nature indicates that human activities have a negative effect on the biodiversity of wildlife hundreds of kilometers away. A research collaboration led by the University of Tartu assessed the health of ecosystems worldwide, considering both the number of plant species found and the dark diversity—the missing ecologically suitable species.

Camouflage is a common defensive strategy among animals. By modifying their coloration and patterning, animals evade predators or ambush prey. Notably, more than 40% of alpine plant species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and adjacent regions exhibit typical camouflage coloration.

An international team of researchers has found that climate change is negatively impacting the Californian wild salmon population, which should serve as a warning to Australia.