~ecology-news-biolog | Bookmarks (445)

A new long-term study reveals alarming insights into the impact of climate change on the European beech (Fagus sylvatica), one of Europe's most widespread and ecologically important tree species.

It was quite the journey for such tiny froglets: traveling thousands of miles from the forests of southern Chile to London, carried and brooded inside their fathers' vocal sacs for safety.

A new study by researchers at the University of Sussex and Rothamsted Research published on Jan. 20 in npj Biodiversity has revealed the devastating impact that increased fertilizer use has on agricultural grasslands.

People love the taste of sugar beets' primary byproduct: white sugar. Soilborne cyst nematodes—parasitic, microscopic worms—enjoy the root vegetable, too, but as their sole food source. It's an obstinate, expensive problem for farmers that researchers at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) are working to solve.

As insect populations decrease worldwide in what some have called an "insect apocalypse," biologists are desperate to determine how the six-legged creatures are responding to a warming world and to predict the long-term winners and losers.

Rat infestation in many world cities appears to be soaring, especially in Washington, and a new study blames warming temperatures, urbanization and other human actions.

For the first time, DNA evidence has confirmed killer whales in Australia hunted a white shark for its liver.

A study published in PeerJ unveils refined techniques for in vitro fertilization (IVF) in four key Caribbean coral species, offering a crucial advancement in coral reef restoration efforts.

India doubled its tiger population in a little over a decade by protecting the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing communities' living standards near tiger areas, a study published Thursday found.

A new published study by several Audubon scientists shows that improving identification and observation of female birds can help scientists conserve birds and their habitats more broadly.

University of Toronto Scarborough researchers have directly linked population decline in polar bears living in Western Hudson Bay to shrinking sea ice caused by climate change.

A team of environmental scientists from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Michigan Technologic University and the University of Oregon has found a link between rising global temperatures and the decline in bird populations in remote areas around the world. In their study published in the journal Science Advances, the group tracked birds living in extremely remote forested areas and compared their findings...

It's a cold, drizzly night in a forest west of Melbourne. I'm sitting on a damp log, clutching a thermos of lukewarm tea and watching a koala snooze on a branch above me. Suddenly, it lifts its head. I sit up straight, pen poised to record what happens. But the koala simply yawns and resumes the blob position. I sigh and take another sip...

A new article published in the journal Oryx examines the efficacy and perception of queen conch (Aliger gigas) conservation aquaculture—cultivating aquatic organisms to manage or replenish natural populations. In particular, the paper evaluates conservation aquaculture as a viable strategy to enhance fisheries production and rebuild declining, overexploited populations.

Small shrimps of the genus Hippolyte have the ability to change color to camouflage themselves in the algae where they live and escape predators. Depending on the algae they are in, they can turn red, green, brown or transparent.

A team of animal behaviorists at the Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science's, Museum für Naturkunde, and Wageningen University and Research has found an association between different types of vocalizations in Pallas' long-tongued bats and certain behavioral characteristics. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group studied 60 specimens in the lab.

An international team of scientists has discovered the anti-icing secret of polar bear fur—something that allows one of the planet's most iconic animals to survive and thrive in one of its most punishing climates. That secret? Greasy hair.

Dr. Harry Evans, Emeritus Fellow at CAB International, led scientists—including from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and Royal Botanical Gardens Kew—in a study to investigate the identity of a fungus found on a spider during filming of the BBC Winterwatch series in Northern Ireland. The work is published in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution.

A new study led by an ecology and evolutionary biologist at UC Santa Cruz finds that temperature changes due to climate change have a doubly detrimental impact: Not only do they destabilize animal populations, but the impacts accelerate as temperatures change more rapidly.

Rising mountain peaks and sharp rock formations cover the ocean floor, with corals, sponges, fish, and tons of sea creatures clinging to their sides. Unlike mountains on land that dare climbers and hikers to brave their peaks, underwater mountains, called seamounts, are vastly underexplored. Submerged at often unfathomable depths, many are inaccessible to even the most experienced divers.

In the most comprehensive global analysis of genetic diversity ever undertaken, an international team of scientists has found that genetic diversity is being lost across the globe but that conservation efforts are helping to safeguard species.

Grasslands in Asia and North America differ in their responses to drought, according to a paper in the journal Nature led by faculty at Colorado State University. The findings show that differences in the dominant grasses and lower species diversity in the Eurasian Steppe grasslands may make it more vulnerable to drought than the North American Great Plains.

It's a place where few living things can survive in the water. Deep in the world's largest rainforest, there is a boiling river. Found in eastern central Peru, it is a small tributary that eventually leads to the Amazon River.

Forests flanking Brazil's rivers act as "highways" that have allowed tree species to move between the Amazon and Atlantic rainforests for millions of years, new research shows.