Feature Channels: Nature

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A common woodland beetle that plays an important role in the decomposition of fallen trees may be getting a boost from a surprising source: parasites.

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A sizable population of monarch butterflies is fluttering toward Iowa this spring. What can Iowans do to put the species on a more sustainable footing after years of declines? An Iowa State University expert discusses best practices for monarch conservation.

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Michigan Technological University’s 2019 Isle Royale Winter Study focuses on the implications of newly introduced wolves and the movements of newly collared moose.

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An associate director of Mississippi State’s Northern Gulf Institute is receiving international attention for his eye-opening study on the impact exotic species have on native marine communities.

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Scientists for the first time have tracked how much energy from plants and animals at the surface of the open ocean survives as particles drop to the seafloor

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For scores of wild bee species, females and males visit very different flowers for food – a discovery that could be important for conservation efforts, according to Rutgers-led research. Indeed, the diets of female and male bees of the same species could be as different as the diets of different bee species, according to a study in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Zoologists from Trinity College Dublin, working with partners from Halu Oleo University (UHO) and Operation Wallacea

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There appears to be an underlying selection mechanism at work among Gouldian Finches—a mechanism that allows this species to produce and maintain individuals with red heads, black heads, and yellow heads. Research by scientists from the the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and other institutions, reveals what this additional evolutionary process might be.

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The turkey vulture and the black vulture are able to coexist because their traits reduce the need for them to compete for nutritional resources.

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Reiman Gardens teamed up with an Iowa State University architecture lecturer and design and engineering students to create eight larger-than-life toys and games — each with an ecological twist — for its exhibit this year. Starting April 27, visitors will find some of their favorite games throughout the gardens, inspired by KerPlunk, Connect Four, chess and more.

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Warm weather has arrived in Tennessee which means snakebite season is upon us. The venomous snakes native to our region are the pit vipers and consist of copperheads, cottonmouths/water moccasins, and various species of rattlesnakes. Their bites are rarely life-threatening but may require treatment with antivenin.

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It might be one of nature’s most agile and calculating hunters, but the wolf spider won’t harm an insect that literally leaves a bad taste in its mouth, according to new research by a team of Wake Forest University sensory neuroscientists, including C.J. Saunders.

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The iTAG website will help researchers throughout the Gulf and in neighboring regions track their animals. Electronically tracking animals over large distances allows scientists to better understand biodiversity hotspots and ecosystem processes.

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An international study published today in the journal Science argues that the current international target for the protected area estate, accepted by over 190 nations, is failing. They propose a new measurable target based on the best scientific evidence that they say will galvanize greater and more effective conservation efforts.

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Researchers have found a dramatic decline of 14 wild bee species that are important across the Northeast for the pollination of major local crops like apples, blueberries and cranberries.

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University of Adelaide researchers were inspired by everything from chocolate biscuits and Doctor Who aliens when choosing names for 10 new species of wasps.

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These strange bacteria conduct electricity through a structure never before seen in nature -- a structure scientists can co-opt to miniaturize electronics, create powerful-yet-tiny batteries, build pacemakers without wires and develop a host of other medical advances.

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The government of Belize has approved “The Expansion of Fisheries Replenishment (No-Take) Zones,” which will increase the total area of Belize’s protected waters from 4.5 percent to 11.6 percent, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). In this expansion, Belize also establishes its first protected area within its Exclusive Economic Zone, known as the Corona Reef due to its extensive coral reef complex.

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Birds-of-paradise are a group of songbird species, and are known for their magnificent male plumage and bewildering sexual display. Now, an international collaborative work involving Dept. of Molecular Evolution and Development of University of Vienna, Zhejiang University of China, and Swedish Museum of Natural History analyzed all together 11 songbird species genomes, including those of five bird-of-paradise species, and reconstructed the evolutionary history of their sex chromosomes.

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A new international study is the first to determine the comprehensive global impact of the deadly fungal disease