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Ecology news
Researchers enhance original forestry decision-making software
Mississippi State researchers have developed an updated version of a widely used forestry decision-making tool, improving accessibility and usability while maintaining its analytical strength.
Ecology
23 hours ago
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New research shows habitat restoration projects have paid off for Forest Park in St. Louis
Over the past few decades, a collaboration of St. Louis regional groups have partnered to be good stewards of Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks and wildlife areas in the country. Organizations such as Forest Park ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Underwater architects: Nest-building in cichlids reveals more than hardwired instinct
We associate nests with shelter, warmth, and a safe retreat—and usually picture a bird's nest made out of twigs, grass and feathers. Yet many other animals take advantage of such refuges, with nests being built by a diversity ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Camera-tagged Adélie penguins caught eating sea snails in East Antarctica
There are many poorly understood links in the food web, often referred to as trophic relationships. Out in East Antarctica, a previously unconfirmed link between sea snails and Adélie penguins might reveal more than meets ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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How science is rewriting the rules of marine taxonomy, one seaweed at a time
Along the southern coastline, researchers dive deep to collect seaweed from kelp forests and rocky platforms, taking small samples and the location of each sample. Back in the lab, the specimens are preserved—some dried, ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Tropical trees are more neighborly than trees further from the equator, study finds
Tropical trees are better neighbors than trees in temperate forests, according to a study published in the journal Nature by researchers from 29 different institutions including the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Unexpected predator: Jellyfish shown to hunt polychaete worms
Most polychaete species spend their lives in burrows in the seabed. However, adult individuals of two species, Alitta succinea and Platynereis dumerilii, leave their burrows to spawn during warm summer nights around the full ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Climate change is outpacing evolution. Scientists are using DNA to catch up
Evolution works over millennia. Climate change is moving far faster. That mismatch is killing some of the planet's most vital ecosystems, from California's towering redwoods to the seagrass meadows along its coast, both of ...
Ecology
Apr 10, 2026
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Tropical cyclone Narelle struck three major reef systems in one epic trek
Coral reefs are important in many ways, but they also play a major role in protecting much of the world's coastlines from erosion by blocking up to 90% of incoming wave energy. During a tropical cyclone, the waves breaking ...
Ecology
Apr 10, 2026
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Biochar has limited effect on potato yields—but may improve soil and climate
In a three-year project, researchers at NIBIO have tested how biochar affects potato yields and soil quality under Norwegian conditions. The results show that biochar has little effect on yield, but that it may offer other ...
Ecology
Apr 10, 2026
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SoCal's hybrid bees outsmart Varroa mites before they even hatch
Southern California is home to a flying black-and-yellow treasure. While commercial honeybee hives nationwide are collapsing under attack from deadly parasites, a unique hybrid bee found only in this part of the state has ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Tarantulas may use learning and memory to search for food and locate their retreats
Researchers have documented several cases of spatial orientation in tarantulas living both in trees and in underground burrows. Spatial orientation refers to the ability of an animal to understand where it is in three-dimensional ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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Could your housemates be changing your gut bacteria? An island bird study suggests so
Living with friends may quietly be altering your gut bacteria, according to a new study from the University of East Anglia. Research on a colony of tiny island birds reveals they share more of their gut bacteria with the ...
Ecology
Apr 10, 2026
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Simple vineyard growing practice impacts soil microbiome deep below surface
Pennsylvania is the fourth-largest wine producer in the United States, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The industry supports nearly 11,000 jobs and directly contributes $1.77 billion to the state ...
Ecology
Apr 9, 2026
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It's OK to love all the bees (the honey bees, too)
North America's bee populations are in trouble, but don't blame the honey bees. While some people argue that an overabundance of managed honey bees—those raised to help pollinate crops and produce honey—is causing native ...
Ecology
Apr 9, 2026
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Chimpanzee empire falls apart in rare instance of division and deadly violence
The largest group of wild chimpanzees known to scientists has permanently split in two. In a study published in Science, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and other institutions report the first clearly documented ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 9, 2026
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Wildlife trade increases pathogen transmission: What 40 years of data say about spillover
Hedgehogs, elephants, pangolins, bears or fennec foxes: many wild species are sold as pets, hunting trophies, for traditional medicine, biomedical research, or for their meat or fur. These practices, whether legal or illegal, ...
Ecology
Apr 9, 2026
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Four sperm whale strandings point to potential human causes
Four sperm whales that stranded separately on southeastern U.S. coastlines between 2020–22 were emaciated and malnourished, with ingested fishing gear and marine debris found in two of them, according to a new study that ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 9, 2026
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Ant larvae control parental care by using odor signals
In the clonal raider ant (Ooceraea biroi), workers in a colony alternate between caring for larvae and laying eggs in a coordinated cycle. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena have discovered ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 9, 2026
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Great apes mirror facial expressions with surprising precision, study shows
New research from the University of Portsmouth has found that great apes exhibit exactness in mimicking one another's facial expressions in social contexts. The study, published in Scientific Reports, explored how orangutans ...
Evolution
Apr 9, 2026
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More news
Emperor penguins listed as endangered species: IUCN
The lengths male octopuses go to protect the arm they need to mate
Pollinator-friendly gardens don't have to sacrifice style
Tracking reef winners and losers after a Category 4 storm
Five Australian animals that could be extinct by 2050
Buried bounty: Caribou survival depends on lichen and snow
Other news
Microbial hockey: Scientists discover how bacteria rotate tiny pucks
'Poor man's Majoranas' can be used as quantum spin probes
After Artemis II, NASA looks to SpaceX, Blue Origin for moon landings
Glaciers rapidly declining, with extreme losses in 2025
Back-to-back Amazon droughts trigger record forest stress
Bird flu spread could be impacted by where waterfowl like to live
Oyster reefs stack up for shoreline protection
Parachutes: A vital part of Artemis II's trip home
SNIPE bacterial defense system shreds phage DNA before infection can begin
