Biodiversity, considered as a biological process, encompasses the dynamic mechanisms that generate, maintain, and modify variation in genes, species, and ecosystems through time. It emerges from evolutionary processes such as mutation, recombination, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow, as well as ecological interactions including competition, predation, mutualism, and succession. These processes interact across spatial and temporal scales to structure community composition, regulate ecosystem functioning, and influence resilience to environmental change. Biodiversity dynamics are further shaped by speciation and extinction processes, dispersal, landscape connectivity, and anthropogenic drivers that alter selective regimes and disturbance patterns.
Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their international partners, reveal today their pick of the top 10 plants and fungi named new to science in 2025. From "camouflaged" plants to spider-infecting parasites, ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 7, 2026
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80
A study published in Avian Research demonstrates that the Hide-in-Bird Pond (HIBP) model, a community-based, grassroots avitourism initiative in which local communities establish artificial ponds and feeding stations to attract ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 6, 2026
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19
A new study published in Ecology Letters has uncovered the mechanisms underlying plant community assembly and biodiversity maintenance, revealing that plant-associated microorganisms play a pivotal yet underappreciated role ...
Ecology
Jan 5, 2026
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12
Coral reefs are often described as biodiversity hotspots, but new research shows they also act as powerful regulators of the microscopic life in the surrounding ocean.
Plants & Animals
Jan 1, 2026
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71
The millions of species humans share the world with are valuable in their own right. When one species is lost, it has a ripple effect throughout the ecosystems it existed within.
Ecology
Dec 29, 2025
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22
While Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, we also have some of the highest extinction rates.
Plants & Animals
Dec 22, 2025
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18
DNA captured on air filters and stored since the 1960s acts as an ecological time capsule, according to a recent publication in Nature Communications. The findings show that tiny fragments of genetic material can paint a ...
Ecology
Dec 18, 2025
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33
Overexploitation (harvesting at a rate that exceeds the ability of populations to recover) is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Globally, tens of thousands of animal, plant and fungi species are used and traded at different ...
Ecology
Dec 18, 2025
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14
A study led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) has revealed critical new details about one of the ocean's most abundant life forms—SAR11 marine bacteria. Understanding these ...
Ecology
Dec 17, 2025
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16
A study reveals the underground interactions between fungi and oomycetes in twenty Andalusian dehesas, wooded pasturelands typical of the Iberian Peninsula, making it possible to identify the role of water as the main driver ...
Ecology
Dec 16, 2025
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14
