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.
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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47
The sun is the basis for photosynthesis, but not all plants thrive in strong sunlight. Strong sunlight constrains plant diversity and plant biomass in the world's grasslands, a new study shows. Temperature, precipitation, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 9, 2026
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47
The boreal forest—the world's largest terrestrial biome—is warming faster than any other forest type. To understand the changing dynamics of boreal forests, Min Feng and colleagues analyzed the biome from 1985 to 2020, leveraging ...
Environment
Feb 9, 2026
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1038
Research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) sheds new light on how mountain birds adapt to changes in climate. Scientists know that species diversity changes as you go up a mountain, but it is not clearly understood ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 6, 2026
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29
It's not what they intended to do or expected to find. They're not even all that interested in birds. When Andre Naranjo and his colleagues began work on a new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, ...
Evolution
Feb 5, 2026
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61
A new Curtin University study warns that large parts of Australia, including major cities and farming regions, could be highly vulnerable to a fast-spreading invasive beetle, already causing severe damage across the Perth ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2026
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29
A spotted gray wolf has left his California pack and trotted across Silver State lines, wildlife biologists say.
Plants & Animals
Feb 4, 2026
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187
Mexican long-nosed bats have a taste for agave, their tongues designed to lap up the famous desert plant's nectar during nightly flights. It's not just a means of satisfying taste buds. It's a matter of fueling up for an ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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48
More than 2,500 plant species have the potential to invade the Arctic at the expense of the species that belong there. Norway is one of the areas that is particularly at risk.
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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19
King cobras are the world's longest venomous snakes. So, imagine seeing one a few feet away as you embark on a train in India. The Western Ghats King Cobra (Ophiophagus kaalinga)—a vulnerable king cobra species found in India's ...
