Migration in organisms refers to the directed, typically seasonal or life-stage–dependent movement of individuals or populations between distinct geographic regions, often driven by spatiotemporal variation in resources, breeding opportunities, or environmental conditions. It is characterized by relatively long-distance, persistent movements with clear origin and destination areas, underpinned by evolved orientation and navigation mechanisms (e.g., celestial, geomagnetic, olfactory cues). Migration can be obligate or facultative, partial or complete within a population, and plays critical roles in gene flow, metapopulation dynamics, ecological connectivity, disease spread, and responses to climate and habitat change across taxa including animals, plants (via propagule movement), and microorganisms.
A flesh-eating parasitic fly has spread north through Mexico to within a few hundred miles of the U.S. southern border. The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) lays its eggs in open wounds and in the orifices of ...
Plants & Animals
11 hours ago
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The UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) on Sunday approved the listing of 40 new species for international protection, including the snowy owl featured in the Harry Potter saga.
Plants & Animals
Mar 30, 2026
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A stranded humpback whale in Germany 's Baltic Sea looks weaker, and experts fear it won't be able to find its way back to the Atlantic despite several attempts at its rescue this week.
Ecology
Mar 29, 2026
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Hidden beneath the surface of the world's rivers, some of Earth's great animal movements unfold—migrations that rival, in sheer biomass, the famous mass movements of zebra and wildebeest across the Serengeti.
Ecology
Mar 25, 2026
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Delegates are gathering in Campo Grande, Brazil, for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The meeting aims to address growing threats to migratory ...
Ecology
Mar 24, 2026
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Some of the longest, most important migrations of species on Earth are happening beneath the surface of the world's rivers and many are rapidly collapsing, according to a major new assessment by the Convention on the Conservation ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 24, 2026
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New research from the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collective at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), published in the journal Conservation Biology, provides a model for big data ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
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25
Today, most of the salmon consumed in Japan is imported from countries like Chile and Norway, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. But just two decades ago, Japanese chum salmon made up a much ...
Ecology
Mar 17, 2026
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Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have documented the farthest trek of a young female fisher (Pekania pennanti) moving 118 kilometers (over 73 miles) from Durham to the outskirts of Lincoln, a small town in New ...
Ecology
Mar 14, 2026
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63
Millions of birds invisibly migrate through the night sky each autumn, most flying in near silence toward their wintering grounds. Now, scientists have developed a way to see and identify many of those birds for the first ...
Ecology
Mar 7, 2026
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