An endangered species is a taxonomic group (typically at the species level) that faces a very high risk of extinction in the near future across all or a significant portion of its range, as determined by quantitative assessment criteria such as population size, rate of decline, geographic range, and degree of habitat fragmentation. In conservation biology and environmental policy, endangered status guides prioritization of management actions, legal protections, and resource allocation. Scientific evaluation commonly uses standardized frameworks (e.g., formal Red List–type criteria) based on demographic trends, reproductive rates, and known or projected threats, including habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and climate change.
Goats are increasingly being used in efforts to manage invasive common buckthorn in Midwestern woodlands. New research demonstrates when and how they are best used.
Ecology
Feb 9, 2026
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15
The charismatic, robust, and impressive North American mountain sheep is losing its habitat to industrial mining, the changing climate, and human activity. And unless action is taken to protect this popular and inherently ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 9, 2026
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13
Reducing wolves to protect endangered caribou doesn't always deliver the expected results, and the shape of the land may be the deciding factor.
Plants & Animals
Feb 7, 2026
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242
Despite decades of independent progress in population ecology and movement ecology, researchers have lacked a theoretical bridge between these two disciplines. "Ecologists have been trying to establish this link since the ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2026
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10
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
Kemp's ridley sea turtles are among the most endangered species of sea turtles in the world. They reside along the east and Gulf coasts of North America, alongside some of the world's most active shipping lanes. While the ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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23
If you've ever been for a walk in the forest or poked around your local park, you're probably familiar with seeing mushrooms popping up as the weather turns cooler. But you're not the only one.
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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14
Less than a year ago, United States company Colossal Biosciences announced it had "resurrected" the dire wolf, a megafauna-hunting wolf species that had been extinct for 10,000 years.
Ecology
Feb 2, 2026
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20
A comprehensive new review paper reveals the staggering loss of biodiversity among island land snails globally. Lead author Robert Cowie of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 30, 2026
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105
