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.
Every spring, the familiar songs of Wood Thrushes and warblers return to the parks and backyards of eastern North America. But their journey begins far to the south—in the lush, remote forests of Central America that sustain ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 19, 2025
0
68
As the days continue to get shorter, scientists have made a significant discovery in understanding exactly what makes mammals exhibit seasonal behaviors like hibernation and migration.
Plants & Animals
Nov 17, 2025
0
24
Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies fly across Texas skies on their 3,000-mile journey to the mountains of central Mexico. The state's position in the center of the migratory route makes it critical to the species' ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 13, 2025
0
32
New research from the Durham University Biosciences Department and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has revealed that many migratory birds are finding it harder to prepare for their long journeys as European summers ...
Ecology
Nov 11, 2025
0
16
Currently, there are several hypotheses surrounding the disappearance of Neanderthals. While they all have at least some scientific support, researchers can't agree on which—or which combination—is most likely. In a new study, ...
A new study of nearly 800 barred owls on the West Coast shows the invasive predator feeds on 29 species given special conservation status by federal and state governments.
Plants & Animals
Nov 11, 2025
0
71
Models help scientists understand everything from the particles that make up the universe to massive superstructures of galaxies at the beginning of time. But sometimes they model more mundane, though perhaps even more complex, ...
Space Exploration
Nov 10, 2025
0
136
Cell movement is an essential biological process, whether it's cancer cells metastasizing to other parts of the body or immune cells migrating to heal a wound. However, the principle by which cells autonomously determine ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 10, 2025
0
23
For the first time in more than a century, migrating salmon have climbed close to the headwaters of the Klamath River's most far-flung tributaries, as much as 360 miles from the Pacific Ocean in south-central Oregon. The ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 6, 2025
0
21
On a 2009 hike in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona, a group of birders heard an otherworldly, ethereal bird song floating, flute-like, through the canyon. The hikers identified the singer as a brown-backed solitaire, ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 4, 2025
0
124
