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Researchers at the University of Toronto have cracked the code of plant-to-fungi communication in a new study published in the journal Molecular Cell.

As mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever spread across the world, researchers say that a key strategy to prevent these illnesses may be dissuading the insects from biting their victims in the first place. But while scientists have uncovered the ways that odor and heat help mosquitoes find humans, little is known about the role of taste once they've landed.

U.S. researchers have detected microplastic particles in air exhaled by wild bottlenose dolphins, suggesting that inhalation may be a relevant route of exposure to these potentially harmful contaminants. Miranda Dziobak of the College of Charleston in South Carolina, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on October 16, 2024.

A new study has revealed that islands are home to around one in three of the world's plant species, despite covering just over 5% of the Earth's land surface.

Nano- and microplastic particles (NMP) are increasingly polluting urban and rural landscapes, where bees and other beneficial insects come into contact with them. If insects ingest plastic particles from food or the air, it can damage their organs and cause changes in their behavior, preventing them from properly performing ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control.

There are only five seal populations worldwide that live year-round in freshwater habitats. The Baikal seal, probably the most well-known, lives in the deepest, oldest lake in the world, 1,600 kilometers from the ocean in Lake Baikal, central Siberia. However, perhaps the most enigmatic population of freshwater seals can be found a little closer to home in Alaska's Iliamna Lake.

Scientists from South Africa and Brazil have provided empirical evidence that pollen grains of rival plants may compete with one another for space on pollinators, thus influencing whose pollen is going to make it to the next flower—or not.

Although all ecosystems are affected by a changing climate, the impacts can take a while to appear. Changes in forest biodiversity, for example, are known to lag behind changes in a habitat's temperature and precipitation.

A recent study using automatic wildlife cameras across three continents has shed light on how the moon's phases affect the behavior of tropical forest mammals. Half of the species studied altered their activity levels or timing, or both, in response to the full moon.

Dozens of studies have demonstrated that nitrogen pollution, due mainly to the burning of fossil fuels and agricultural practices, is causing plant biodiversity losses worldwide.

With vigorous debate surrounding the health of the monarch butterfly, new research from the University of Georgia may have answered the biggest question plaguing butterfly researchers. Why are the wintering populations declining while breeding populations are stable?

A research group led by Joshua Neunuebel at the University of Delaware, U.S., tracked the behavior of mice using machine learning to understand how they handle aggressive behavior from other mice. The researchers' findings, published on October 15 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, show that male mice deescalate aggressive encounters by running over to a female mouse to distract the aggressive male mouse.

Precipitation, temperature, and grazing have the greatest influence on whether woody or herbaceous species grow in dryland areas. This has been shown by a large global study that includes Potsdam researchers.

A study in the Cascade Range in Oregon of a tiny, elusive skunk found the animal can cover more ground than deer and is sensitive to climate change, particularly severe winter weather.

Bonobos, endangered great apes that are among our closest relatives, might be more vulnerable than previously understood, finds a genetics study led by a UCL researcher that reveals three distinct populations.

Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) have found that the gut microbiome affects the health of wild birds, which could impact their survival rates and ultimately population sizes.

An international team of researchers have discovered seven new species of tree frogs that make otherworldly calls in the rainforests of Madagascar. Their strange, high-pitched whistling calls sound more like sound effects from the sci-fi series "Star Trek." As a result, the researchers have named the new species after seven of the series' most iconic. The work has been published in Vertebrate Zoology.

Two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are experiencing new temperature conditions as our climate changes, research shows.

One of the most notorious mass extinction events in modern times occurred on a hilltop in coastal Ecuador in the 1980s. Ninety species of plants known from nowhere else on Earth—many of them new to science and not yet given a name—went extinct when the last cloud forests of the Centinela range were cleared for agriculture. The cautionary tale of Centinela has long been...

In a new study, wildlife rangers from the Uganda Wildlife Authority have demonstrated their ability to generate precise and reliable data on lion populations in Uganda's Nile Delta, a critical stronghold for African lions.

If you traverse some of Hawaiʻi's shorelines (specifically Oʻahu's south and east shores, parts of Maui and Hilo) and notice seaweed in the water, chances are they could be invasive and not native species. And this could have an adverse effect on the seafood we eat and the health of coral reefs.

A new North Carolina State University study finds that climate change could be destabilizing the mutualistic relationships between insects and plants. The findings, appearing in the journal Ecology, could portend the future fracturing of symbiotic relationships that underpin healthy ecosystems.

Chinook salmon are facing unprecedented challenges as their once-thriving populations struggle to survive. A new study published in the journal Ecosphere suggests that decades of human activities, including ocean harvest, artificial propagation and reservoir construction, have not only reduced the size of these fish, but also disrupted their ability to spawn successfully.