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Tropical rainforests play a vital role in global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. However, a major new study published in Science reveals that forests across the Americas are not adapting quickly enough to keep pace with climate change, raising concerns about their long-term resilience.

Butterflies are beloved creatures that inspire art and play an important ecological role, but according to new research featuring faculty members at Binghamton University, State University of New York, these cherished insects are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Biofilms, ubiquitous bacterial communities embedded in a slimy matrix, are the oldest form of multicellularity on Earth; they are extremely resistant to antibiotics and stick tenaciously to most surfaces, including living tissue.

Whether it is flowers sprouting in the spring, cicadas mating in the blistering heat of summer, or caterpillars hatching to feed on their favorite host plant, across the natural world, the timing of biological events is so important it spawned its own scientific discipline: phenology.

Miranda Zammarelli, Guarini, was a graduate student at Dartmouth for just nine days when her interests in birds, history, and archives converged in a set of old filing cabinets in New Hampshire's White Mountains.

A research team led by William O'Hearn from the German Primate Center—Leibniz Institute for Primate Research has found that female Guinea baboons court males more intensively when they show special foraging abilities. Two baboon groups in their natural habitat in Senegal and one group at Nuremberg Zoo were studied.

Satellite images from space are allowing scientists to delve deeper into the individual functions of different tropical forest canopies with new and surprising results.

Scientists will be able to better identify what amphibian species and habitats will be most impacted by climate change, thanks to a new study by UNSW researchers.

Researchers from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) have discovered that bison in Yellowstone National Park—the only group of American bison that has continually existed as wildlife in the United States—now consist of a single large, interbreeding population derived from multiple historic bison herds.

An international team of marine biologists have published research in Molecular Ecology that shows the benefits of gene flow between geographically distant and genetically different killer whale populations. The paper is titled "Admixture Increases Genetic Diversity and Adaptive Potential in Australasian Killer Whales."

Analysis of sedimentary ancient DNA has illuminated 6,000 years of the lives of Adélie penguin colonies on Antarctica's Ross Sea coast, showing how animals in the region responded to climate and environmental change events over millennia.

Scientists at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, have discovered that a long-overlooked moth specimen in the Museum's collection was in fact collected by explorer and naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1855. This was at the same time as he was formulating his own revolutionary ideas on the origins of species that he would go on to share with Charles Darwin.

Ancient frog relatives survived the aftermath of the largest mass extinction of species by feeding on freshwater prey that evaded terrestrial predators, University of Bristol academics have found.

Researchers at Rice University have uncovered a critical link between rising temperatures and declines in a species' population, shedding new light on how global warming threatens natural ecosystems. The study, published in Ecology and led by Volker Rudolf, revealed that rising temperatures exacerbate competition within populations, ultimately leading to population crashes at higher temperatures. It offers one of the first clear experimental confirmations that...

Hungarian researchers have discovered unique bacterial communities in thermal waters that may help unravel the development of stromatolites, one of Earth's oldest rock formations. These findings not only contribute to understanding Earth's geological past but also provide valuable insights into biological and geological processes occurring in extreme environments today.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered that what was previously thought to be a unique seaweed species of bladderwrack for the Baltic Sea is in fact a giant clone of common bladderwrack, perhaps the world's largest clone overall. The discovery has implications for predicting the future of seaweed in a changing ocean.

We live in an era when human activities are negatively modifying the world at alarming rates. We are experiencing a massive species extinction due to environmental damage caused by human land use change, overexploitation, pollution, climate change, and the introduction of invasive species.

An exploratory expedition describes two deep-sea, low-oxygen ecosystems in the Red Sea, including some surprising fish. The findings are published in PNAS Nexus.

An herbicide may "drift" from the agricultural fields where it's sprayed and harm weeds that grow at the edge of the fields, impacting pollinators.

When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers saw kelp forests return to areas that were destroyed by sea urchins. But how slow or fast they grew back depended on the location—and until now, scientists didn't understand why.

A research team has identified a new species of tiger swallowtail butterfly living in eastern parts of North America. In their study, published in the journal ZooKeys, Julian Dupuis, B. Christian Schmidt, Charles J. DeRoller and Xi Wang captured and compared samples of Papilio glaucus and Papilio canadensis hybrids and compared them with both species, finding evidence that the hybrid butterflies were actually a...

Comprehensive screening analysis of organohalogen compounds in blubber samples of 11 toothed whale species stranded on Japanese coasts revealed species-specific accumulation profiles, with a total of more than 300 organohalogen compounds detected. For the first time, the composition profiles of marine natural products were found to be useful indicators of the feeding habitats and migration history of individual whale species.

In a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, working with partners in Africa and the UK, present a novel plant-host identification method that could help in the fight to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria, through restricting the preferred plant food sources of mosquitoes.

The narwhal (Monodon monoceros), an iconic whale of remote Arctic waters, is widely known for its long, spiral tusk, which is really an elongated tooth. The tusk, which is predominantly found in males and can grow up to 10 feet long, is one of the most fascinating traits in nature and the inspiration for myths such as the unicorn. It is believed to play...

A study recently published in Science has found that classical models of collective behavior fail to explain the mechanisms driving desert locust swarms—an ecological phenomenon that affects millions of lives worldwide. This research offers a new perspective on the cognitive and sensory mechanisms that underpin collective motion, challenging long-held beliefs in the field of animal behavior.

An analysis of data covering 12 years and 10 U.S. Corn Belt states reveals that farmers suffer economic loss from the overapplication of genetically engineered corn designed to combat rootworm pests.

Researchers from the University of Padua in Italy found a juniper at Utsjoki in Finnish Lapland, which they analyzed to be 1,647 years old by examining the annual rings. The paper is published in the journal Ecology.

Conservation strategies are turning back the doomsday clock in threatened Florida-Scrub Jays—but not without caveats, a new study published in Current Biology shows.

Animals have to make strategic decisions when foraging, especially when they are very hungry. One of these decisions involves choosing between predictable (less risky) and unpredictable (more risky) sources of food, especially if the latter promises greater reward.

A new study suggests that the removal of predatory fish such as sharks from coral reefs may be a key factor driving outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish.

Researchers from Polar Bears International, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the Norwegian Polar Institute, and the University of Toronto Scarborough reveal the first detailed look at polar bear cubs emerging from their dens, captured through nearly a decade of remote camera footage in Svalbard, Norway. This research, published today on International Polar Bear Day in the Journal of Wildlife Management, marks the first combination...

The reason why so many tree species can coexist in species-rich forests has long been a subject of debate in ecology. This question is key to understanding the mechanisms governing the dynamics and stability of forests. An international team of scientists led by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has now discovered unexpected patterns in the spatial distribution of tree species, as reported...

Animal antics have captured public attention and viral views across the U.S. in the last few years with the advent of mini cameras that capture the movements of animals in front yards nationwide, from bear to deer.

Eavesdropping on baleen whale songs in the Pacific Ocean reveals year-to-year variations that track changes in the availability of the species they forage on, reports a new study led by John Ryan, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), published in PLOS One.

Shark sightings by scuba divers reveal the movements of marine predators throughout the year, according to a study published in PLOS One by George Balchin, William Hughes and colleagues at the University of Sussex, U.K., and Aquaplanet Dive Center, South Africa.

Fire is an element that has always been present in Mediterranean ecosystems. Thus, once the direct impacts caused by fires have been overcome, to a greater or lesser extent, in the medium or long term, there is a recovery of forest mass, and life re-emerges.

The effects of pesticide exposure on pollinator health may be more complicated than originally thought, according to a team of researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences who recently published an article on the topic in Biology Letters.

Some families of caterpillars (larvae of butterflies and moths) have developed a specific kind of interaction with ants. One of these families (Riodinidae) includes two species that interact solely with two species of ants.

The Beatles said it best: Love is all you need. And according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU), the same is true in the animal kingdom. Well, at least for mosquitofish—a matchstick-sized fish endemic to Central America and now found globally.

The extensive loss of biodiversity represents one of the major crises of our time, threatening not only entire ecosystems but also our current and future livelihoods. As scientists realize the magnitude and scale of ongoing extinctions, it is vital to ascertain the resources available for conservation and whether funds are being effectively distributed to protect species most in need.

A team of animal behaviorists at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research in India has found that street dogs living in that country prefer eating from yellow bowls to those of other colors. Their paper is published in the journal Animal Cognition.

Some animals are capable of cooperating with members of other species. An interdisciplinary team involving the biologist Eduardo Sampaio from the University of Konstanz explores the cognitive underpinnings of such cross-species collaborations, opening up a new perspective on the evolution of intelligence and cooperation in the animal kingdom.

A UC Riverside computer science team has developed a sensor-based technology that could revolutionize commercial beekeeping by reducing colony losses and lowering labor costs.

As far as animals go, honeybees are world-class dancers. While not as deep and complex as a Super Bowl half-time show, the bees' moves, known as the "waggle" dance, convey very specific food foraging instructions to their nestmates.

Birds worldwide make strategic decisions about how they live based on their environmental conditions. Some live fast, die young, and leave as many chicks as possible. Others live long and prosper by not breeding. A new study of non-migratory birds provides clues about how climate change may affect the long-standing evolutionary strategies of feathered friends.

For young salmon, the journey along the San Joaquin River in Central California is no small feat. Every spring and fall, thousands of these fish—each as long as a pinky finger—embark on a 350-mile race, swimming day and night and dodging predators along the way to reach the Pacific Ocean.

Knowing where, when and for how long mallard ducks—natural carriers of avian influenza—stop and rest as they migrate can help predict the probability that they will spread bird flu to backyard poultry flocks.

An intriguing native Australian rat-kangaroo, thought to be probably extinct, may still be running around in the inhospitable remote Sturt Stony Desert—and Flinders University researchers have discovered new details about its feeding habits that might help find it.

Only two blue whale births have ever been recorded in human history, both decades ago. This remains an extraordinary mystery, given there used to be hundreds of thousands of blue whales before whaling started—even today, blue whales number around 10,000 to 25,000—and they give birth every two to three years.