Feature Channels: Nature

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Scientists from the University of Bristol and the John Innes Centre have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady.

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A Rutgers-led study sheds new light on the evolution of photosynthesis in plants and algae, which could help to improve crop production.

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There are spiders that eat snakes; observations of snake-eating spiders have been reported around the world. Two researchers from Basel and the US consolidated and analyzed over 300 reports of this unusual predation strategy

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Rising greenhouse gases and declining aerosols have triggered an approximate four-day delay in rainfall over tropical land and the Sahel.

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Animal rights advocates and hunters may have more in common than they think when it comes to nature conservancy, according to a newly published study by a Texas A&M AgriLife researcher.

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As well as bright colours and subtle scents, flowers possess many invisible ways of attracting their pollinators, and a new study shows that bumblebees may use the humidity of a flower to tell them about the presence of nectar, according to scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Exeter.

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A new article, published as a Perspective in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, introduces a rapid assessment framework that can be used as a guide to make conservation and nature-based solutions more robust to future climate.

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The original Star Trek television series took place in a future when space is the final frontier, but humanity hasn’t reached that point quite yet. As researchers like Michigan State University entomologists Sarah Smith and Anthony Cognato are reminding us, there’s still plenty to discover right here on Earth. Working in Central and South America, the duo discovered more than three dozen species of ambrosia beetles — beetles that eat ambrosia fungus — previously unknown to science. Smith and Cognato described these new species on June 16 in the journal ZooKeys.

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Researchers from Tel Aviv University took part in a new international study proposing an amendment to the widely accepted theory on the extinction of animal species - by moving the focus from the animal's body size to its reproductive capacity.

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In the battle between hunter and hunted, sound plays an integral part in success or failure. In the case of bats vs. moths, the insects are using acoustics against their winged foes. During the 180th ASA Meeting, Thomas Neil from the University of Bristol will discuss how moth wings have evolved in composition and structure to help them create anti-bat defenses. The session, "Moth wings are acoustic metamaterials," will take place Wednesday, June 9.

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When it comes to climate change, policymakers may fail to see the trees for the forest. Turns out that the trees may be the answer after all, according to a study published by authors from more than seven countries on June 3rd in Nature Climate Change.

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June 8, 2021 -- The first-ever global statistical analysis of trends in harmful algal blooms (HABs) has shown that, worldwide, there is no significant increase in HABs events, but that in some regions, events that include toxic species of algae affecting humans and wildlife are on the rise. In addition, the study finds that human activity, primarily aquaculture in coastal waters, and the economic impacts that HABs event cause to the fast-growing growing industry, is likely behind the perceived increase.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: June 7, 2021 | 2:14 pm | SHARE: Sea turtles have existed on Earth for more than 100 million years.But today, most species of these oceangoing reptiles are threatened or endangered. Scientists and resource managers are working to better understand and manage their populations, and they’re using work like that led by Mariana Fuentes, an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University.

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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Center for Conservation Bioacoustics will begin a new era of innovation thanks to a major gift from the philanthropist and Lab Advisory Board member K. Lisa Yang.

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Amid the steady growth of solar energy production in the United States, pollinator conservation at solar installations has become an appealing secondary pursuit, but the long-term success of such efforts remains to be seen.

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The 180th ASA Meeting, being held virtually June 8-10, will feature sessions on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted hearing health, affected noise annoyance in urban settings, and adjusted how teachers talked and listened to their students. There will be presentations on how acoustics shapes speech in children, impacts mental health, and potentially signals health problems.

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If you’re wearing gold jewelry right now, there’s a good chance it came from an illegal mining operation in the tropics and surfaced only after some rainforest was sacrificed, according to a team of University of Wisconsin researchers who studied regulatory efforts to curb some of these environmentally damaging activities.

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Oxygen levels in the world’s temperate freshwater lakes are declining rapidly — faster than in the oceans — a trend driven largely by climate change that threatens freshwater biodiversity and drinking water quality.

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Public use of parks and reserves increased only slightly during last year's COVID-19 national lockdown despite gyms and sports facilities shutting down, a University of Queensland study found.

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Building on 16 years of research, Forestry Professor David Greene has found evidence that mast seeding—the boom-or-bust crop cycle typical of most tree species—is governed by a simple weather cue that operates asynchronously across the continent.

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Insects can help soybean yields by carrying out more effective pollination, according to a recently published study conducted by an international team of scientists. The study suggests introducing pollinator habitat to soybean fields may lead to production benefits, in addition to environmental advantages.

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Elephants and lions are iconic species that help raise substantial funds for conservation. However, they also pose significant threats to people, crops, and livestock, and are themselves threatened with extinction.

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A global survey of fossil pollen has discovered that the planet’s vegetation is changing at least as quickly today as it did when the last ice sheets retreated around 10,000 years ago.

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Invasions by alien insect and animal species have much in common with outbreaks of infectious diseases and could tell us a great deal about how pandemics spread, according to a research paper published today.

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During a 15-year study of wild bees visiting blueberry fields during their blooming season, researchers caught an unexpected glimpse of how extreme weather events can impact bee populations highlighting the need for more long-term studies, says a Michigan State University researcher.

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Environmental chemist's work demonstrated conclusively that CFCs were responsible for the massive destruction of stratospheric ozone

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They are some of the most beautiful, and elusive, animals on the plant. Leopards. In a major scientific step, the whole genome DNA sequence of 23 individual leopards have been interpreted.

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Biologists have revealed for the first time the genetics linking pheromone signals produced by female moths and the neuronal response driving male attraction to females. The ability to predict mate choice will help in understanding how species diverge, and how to control agricultural pests.

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With its tree-laden campus and adjacent protected natural reserves, UCI enjoys being home to a great variety of bird species. One particular raptor continues to capture the attention of the many avid birders in Orange County: the white-tailed kite. This iconic bird of Orange County – named for its ability to hover in the air while hunting –nearly went extinct throughout California in the early 1900s due to human-related threats.

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New research published in special issue of Sustainability co-edited by NAU researcher finds that biodiversity commitments will be key to freshwater protection

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In "The Comfort Crisis," UNLV journalism professor Michael Easter investigates how our modern-day comforts are linked to some of our most pressing problems—obesity, chronic disease, depression—and how by leaving our comfort zone, we can improve our overall mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing.

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Despite the rapid and significant changes in consumption patterns witnessed during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese households maintained their normal levels of greenhouse gases emissions.

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Porcupines are frequently traded across Asia, and Indonesia, home to five species, is no exception.

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Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that to live in hotter more desert-like surroundings, and exist without water, there is more than one genetic mechanism allowing animals to adapt. This is important not only for their survival but may also provide important biomedical groundwork to develop gene therapies to treat human dehydration related illnesses, like kidney disease.

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Bats' "supersense" of time

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The United States-Mexico border traverses through large expanses of unspoiled land in North America, including a newly discovered worldwide hotspot of bee diversity.

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Researchers at the University of Kansas have described a new species of fanged frog discovered in the Philippines that's nearly indistinguishable from a species on a neighboring island except for its unique mating call and key differences in its genome.

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The ant came in a small vial of ethanol, sealed in a plastic bag, and packed in a small cardboard box. It was addressed to Yale's Douglas B. Booher.

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The images leave no one cold: giant vortices of floating plastic trash in the world's oceans with sometimes devastating consequences for their inhabitants – the sobering legacy of our modern lifestyle. Weathering and degradation processes produce countless tiny particles that can now be detected in virtually all ecosystems. But how dangerous are the smallest of them, so-called nanoplastics? Are they a ticking time bomb, as alarming media reports suggest? In the latest issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team from Empa and ETH Zurich examines the state of current knowledge – or lack thereof – and points out how these important questions should be addressed.

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A proposal to conduct the first comprehensive assessment of groundwater biodiversity in the central and eastern United States has earned a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) assistant professor of biological science a five-year, $1.029 million National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award.

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Scientists from around the world have produced a new analysis—believed to be the most detailed study of specialized ecological data from global forests—that is furthering science’s understanding of species interactions and how diversity contributes to the preservation of ecosystem health.

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Amid the extreme aridity of the vast Colorado Desert of eastern San Diego County, a ribbon of greenery allows life to thrive. The Sentenac Cienega area inside Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is more than 100 miles southeast of Irvine. It contains a desert wetland, which is part of the San Felipe Creek watershed that is fed by nearby mountains and ultimately flows into the Salton Sea.

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Woods Hole, Mass. (April 28, 2021) --Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) today announced the establishment of the Francis E. Fowler IV Center for Ocean and Climate to seek new knowledge and new solutions at the intersection of oceanography and climate science. A generous gift from Francis E. Fowler IV established the center and will enable it to immediately commence operations.

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During the Bronze Age, Mesopotamia was witness to several climate crises. In the long run, these crises prompted the development of stable forms of State and therefore elicited cooperation between political elites and non-elites.

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Six feet of social distance may be the new norm between people, but a new WCS report says if you don’t want to disturb wildlife, you need to keep waaaaaaay back.

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Indiana University experts in biology and ecology are available to comment on the emergence of the Brood X cicadas, a spectacular event that occurs every 17 years in the eastern United States.