Biogeography is the scientific study of the spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity, examining how and why the distributions of species, populations, communities, and ecosystems vary across geographical areas and through evolutionary time. It integrates principles from ecology, evolution, geology, and climatology to analyze processes such as dispersal, speciation, extinction, vicariance, and range shifts. Biogeography encompasses subfields including historical biogeography, which reconstructs past distributions using phylogenetic and paleontological data, and ecological biogeography, which investigates how current environmental gradients, habitat structure, and biotic interactions shape present-day distributional patterns and biodiversity gradients, such as latitudinal diversity clines and island faunas.
As its name suggests, the common buzzard is one of Europe's most familiar birds of prey, often spotted perched on fence posts scanning for mice and worms, or performing spectacular loop dives over fields to attract mates. ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 10, 2026
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19
Why does a Caribbean angelfish sometimes resemble its Indo-Pacific cousin, even though they have never lived in the same ocean? Why do coral reefs harbor such a wide range of stripes, spots and patterns? A study conducted ...
Evolution
Mar 5, 2026
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21
At newly colonized high-elevation sites in the central Italian Apennines, female Daubenton's bats take turns using the same hunting spots instead of feeding side by side. A study published by a research team from the University ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 27, 2026
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26
Suitable habitat for migrating monarch butterflies will shift southwards because of climate change, according to a study published in PLOS Climate by Francisco Botello and Carolina Ureta at the National Autonomous University ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 25, 2026
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15
The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is one of the most dreaded insects to have invaded North America and parts of Europe. Accidentally introduced to the United States in the early twentieth century, it can now be found ...
Ecology
Feb 25, 2026
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14
Deep in the heart of Martu Country lies Karlamilyi National Park. Red rock and red sand stretch as far as the eye can see. Within some of these rocky outcrops, live a small population of wiminyji (northern quolls). But they ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 25, 2026
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14
The world has far more bees than anyone realized. Scientists have, for the first time, estimated just how many species of bees are out there on a global scale, offering a clearer look at how these vital pollinators are distributed ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2026
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182
A team of scientists led by the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), and Leipzig University has developed a new method to track Earth's greenness—a ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 23, 2026
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571
Up to 30% of bird diversity hotspots, places where large numbers of different bird species occur, in the western United States face threats from high-severity wildfires in the future that could eliminate critical forest habitats, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2026
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19
A global study has revealed the conditions under which non-native plants thrive in the world's many dryland regions and the factors that limit their spread. Using data from 98 study sites across 25 countries on six continents, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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