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.
Although the main prey of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), migratory ungulates such as blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), now spend substantially less time within hyena territories than they did 30 years ago, hyena ...
Plants & Animals
8 hours ago
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Researchers at Keele University have discovered that migratory butterflies may use different navigation systems to find their way during migrations, highlighting the importance of understanding how different species may respond ...
Plants & Animals
9 hours ago
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Bacteria and the viruses that infect them—known as phages—coexist in soils, oceans and living organisms. Scientists have long thought this coexistence reflects a microscopic version of an evolutionary arms race: As parasites ...
Cell & Microbiology
10 hours ago
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Migrating birds that breed in the Arctic are spreading avian influenza to polar bears in eastern Greenland, according to a new study that found evidence of infections in bear blood samples acquired from Greenland Inuit subsistence ...
Plants & Animals
11 hours ago
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Standing on a verdant hill above Georgia's Black Sea coast, ornithologist Bart Hoekstra looked out over one of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles unfolding before him—then gunshots pierced the air.
Ecology
Oct 18, 2026
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49
Some travelers take the scenic route. Others step on the gas and head straight for the destination. New research suggests southern right whales do much the same when crossing the Southern Ocean.
Ecology
Oct 16, 2026
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16
On open beaches, gravel riverbeds and bare volcanic plateaus, banded dotterels—or double-banded plovers, as they are called in Australia—are a familiar and much-loved sight across New Zealand, the only country where these ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 12, 2026
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Filmmaker and outdoorsperson Quinn Barabash recently made headlines when he found a swordfish carcass nearly two meters (6.6 feet) long on the remote shores of Haida Gwaii in northern British Columbia.
Environment
Oct 9, 2026
0
78
The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) is a nocturnal migratory bird that travels between Europe and southern Africa each year. However, its wings are not only used for long-distance journeys. When hunting insects, ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 9, 2026
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247
Millions of people worldwide watched as the Sydney Olympics came to a close in 2000. Meanwhile, thousands of bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) were airborne, making their annual migration to the Australian Alps.
Ecology
Oct 9, 2026
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