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Populations of animals and plants separated by even thousands of miles can rise and fall together driven by ecological factors, a phenomenon scientists call "spatial synchrony."

In a residential backyard in Maine, Project ITCH researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst stumbled upon a surprise finding: rabbit ticks harboring a new type of bacteria related to a group of pathogens that can cause sometimes life-threatening spotted fever rickettsioses (SFR) infections in humans. The most common and deadly SFR is Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which has a death rate of 20%–30%...

Biologically speaking, female and male bonobos have a weird relationship. First, there's the sex. It's the females who decide when and with whom they mate. They easily parry unwanted sexual advances—and the males know better than to force the issue.

Authors of an article in BioScience reveal that climate change has become the most pervasive threat to ESA-listed species, marking the first time that this driver has been identified to surpass other causes of biodiversity loss for this group.

An international team of researchers with a variety of backgrounds has worked together to calculate a global estimate of the abundance of commercially important fish and invertebrates supported by mangrove forests. In their study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the group analyzed data for 37 commercial species using field data amassed by multiple groups over many years studying mangrove ecosystems around...

A new study from the University of Oxford has revealed that an incentive program increased live releases of endangered species caught as bycatch. However, unexpectedly, the overall positive impact was reduced by some vessels' increasing catches of these species.

A new global analysis finds that many of the world's most threatened seagrass meadows lie within designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), raising urgent questions about the effectiveness of current protections for coastal habitats and offering a chance to rethink global ocean conservation.

Yeast is already a familiar ingredient to bakers and winemakers, but new research from the University of Georgia suggests it can also trace the footsteps of our ancestors.

Researchers at the University of South Florida are uncovering new clues about how animals evolve by studying rattlesnake venom—and what they've found could help us better protect wildlife in a world increasingly shaped by human activity.

Biologists have long debated why some plants and animals can adjust to a wide range of climates, while others can't. Understanding why could help conservation managers and decision makers identify which species are most vulnerable to climate change.

Marine heat waves that seemed extreme just a decade ago will become commonplace by the end of this century in waters favored by giant kelp, researchers have found.

Using spill-treating agents to clean up oil spills does not significantly hinder naturally occurring oil biodegradation, according to a new study. The research, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, provides information that will be useful in future oil spills.

Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research led by Binghamton University, State University of New York.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History have used data from a 120-year-old program managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to quantify the effects of introduced species.

Parasitoid wasps sometimes lay eggs in unsuitable host insects, a behavior that has traditionally been considered accidental. However, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have discovered that parasitism can still be successful in these cases—if another species of wasp lays eggs in the same host simultaneously. They have named this newly discovered parasitic strategy "pirate parasitism."

In the heart of Canada's Rocky Mountains, an unassuming yet remarkable butterfly has been quietly flying under our scientific radar for years. With a wingspan of an inch to an inch and a half, and wings that are brown on top and grayish brown with black spots below, this population was long thought to belong to the Half-moon Hairstreak (Satyrium semiluna). However, the isolated...

Honeybees are essential pollinators for agriculture and natural ecosystems. Stressors like climate change, habitat loss and pesticide exposure threaten their ability to forage for pollen, a critical resource for colony survival. Researchers in Environmental Science & Technology demonstrate that an artificial intelligence (AI)-based monitoring system combined with a computer model can link the exposure of neonicotinoid pesticides on individual honeybees to the health of...

UC Davis Professor Hugh Safford was hiking for pleasure in California's High Sierra when he stumbled upon a new elevation record for the Jeffrey pine, which may now be the state's highest-altitude tree. His serendipitous finding is published in the journal Madroño.

Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz have discovered that honey bees from the same colony have different preferences in terms of defensive behavior. While some are still hesitating, others are already attacking.

A recently published paper reveals that soil scratching by gorillas in Congo's Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is a foraging strategy to access a species of deer truffle, identified as Elaphomyces labyrinthinus, and not insects, as long assumed.

An international team of scientists and crew on board Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too) was the first to film the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) in its natural environment. The 30-centimeter juvenile squid (nearly one foot long) was captured on video at a depth of 600 meters (1968 feet) by the Institute's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian. The sighting occurred on March 9...

The power of a rattlesnake's venom to incapacitate its prey may depend on more than just its potency, or even the prey animal's tolerance for the poison. According to a new study published April 16 in Biology Letters, it also depends a bit on the weather.

Scientists have unveiled a new food source designed to sustain honey bee colonies indefinitely without natural pollen.

A spat between birds at a backyard birdfeeder highlights the sometimes fierce competition for resources that animals face in the natural world, but some ecologically similar species appear to coexist peacefully. A classic study in songbirds by Robert MacArthur, one of the founders of modern ecology, suggested that similar wood warblers—insect-eating, colorful forest songbirds—can live in the same trees because they actually occupy slightly...

A study of bumble bees has uncovered a potential reason for the insects' decline. By studying bumble bee exposure to particulate air pollutants, scientists at the University of Leicester have determined that the diversity and behavior of the bee gut microbial community is altered when exposed to black carbon found in air pollution, disrupting the beneficial bacteria that live there.

Newly published research from UNC Greensboro biology professor Dr. Bryan McLean and colleagues shows that the masked shrew, a small, mole-like mammal found in the Appalachian Mountains, shrinks its body and braincase to conserve energy during winter months.

If you think doomscrolling leads to sleepless nights, imagine waking up in bed with a blood-sucking monster the size of a basset hound. That's the waking nightmare one species of Australian fruit fly must contend with each night as hungry mites stalk and attach themselves like a tick while the fly is sleeping in the fruit orchards and rainforests of Queensland.

A new DNA probes allow for efficient surveying of the hidden lives of squids and octopuses in the deep sea. This development by Kobe University provides an effective tool for marine ecological research and conservation efforts.

If you like watching, reading, or learning about pretty, colorful birds, you're not alone. But it turns out that love for the bright and beautiful is impacting scientific study and limiting what we know about how their drab counterparts impact our ecology, which could ultimately affect conservation efforts for less striking birds.

A novel paper led by Dr. Ulrich Brose of the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena is widening the understanding of how species interact within ecosystems via the so-called "Internet of Nature."

The four billion tons of marine organisms that global fisheries extracted from the ocean between 1960 and 2018 resulted in the depletion of over 560 million tons of essential nutrients vital to ecosystem health, new research has found.

Hantavirus recently made news headlines as the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, but little is commonly known about it other than its connection to rodents.

Local climate can be used to predict the venom characteristics of a deadly snake that is widespread in India, helping clinicians to provide targeted therapies for snake bite victims, according to a study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases by Kartik Sunagar and colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science.

In the largest study of its kind to date, a team of international researchers has investigated how pharmaceutical pollution affects the behavior and migration of Atlantic salmon. The study, "Pharmaceutical pollution influences river-to-sea migration in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)," has been published in Science.

A study published in Frontiers in Bee Science has shown that physical distance plays a leading role in protecting bumblebees against a flying insect parasite, the bumblebee wax moth Aphomia sociella. The researchers discovered that the source of a potentially lethal infection came from the nearby hives of domestic honeybees.

Researchers from the Physics and Biology Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have discovered two species of tapeworms, or cestodes, in the guts and stomachs of wild-caught oval squid (Sepiotheutis lessoniana).

Marine food webs are highly complex. Until now, researchers have been unable to understand exactly how they are affected by climate change, overfishing and other threats. Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht have now achieved a breakthrough. They have developed a new computer model that can be used to simulate food webs more accurately than ever before. The work, which has been published...

Bacteria play key roles in degrading organic matter, both in the soil and in aquatic ecosystems. While most bacteria digest large molecules externally, allowing other community members to share and scavenge, some bacteria selfishly take up entire molecules before digesting them internally.

A team of oceanographers and marine biologists at the Hakai Institute, working with a colleague from the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance, and another from the Institute of Ocean Sciences, all in Canada, has found that the highly endangered sunflower star, a type of sea star, has found some degree of refuge in Canadian fjords (spelled fiord in Canada).

From dire wolves to woolly mammoths, the idea of resurrecting extinct species has captured the public imagination. Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based biotech company leading the charge, has made headlines for ambitious efforts to bring back long-lost animals using cutting edge genetic engineering.

Water levels in the Caspian Sea—the world's largest landlocked water body—are getting lower, as hotter temperatures cause more water to evaporate than is flowing in. Even if global warming is limited to below 2°C, it is likely that the level of the Caspian Sea will decline by 5 to 10 m, but if temperatures rise further, water levels could drop by as much as...

For the first time, a study led by University of Oxford researchers has listened in to the fascinating courtship displays of fiddler crabs using geophones. The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, provide new insights into how the animals communicate effectively on the noisy seashore.

New research reveals the remarkable chemical diversity of substances exuded by coral reefs and demonstrates that thousands of different chemicals derived from tropical corals and seaweeds are available for microbes to decompose and utilize.

Insecticides can help protect crops against troublesome pests, but they also pose a risk for beneficial insects such as pollinators. A study led by researchers at Penn State provides insight into how even sublethal doses of insecticides can negatively affect pollinators by disrupting the mating process.

Infections with parasites often entail no recognizable signs in many wildlife species, but can still have negative effects across generations. Infected animals often have a slightly reduced body size and their offspring have a harder start in life.

Everyone is familiar with the light dome that shows from afar where cities are brightly lit at night. Artificial light that is scattered in the atmosphere and brightens the night sky can have an effect far from where it is emitted. This phenomenon is known as artificial skyglow. Skyglow can affect biodiversity over long distances.

On our planet, at any one moment, billions of animals are on the move. From migratory birds, insects, marine mammals and sharks connecting distant continents and seas, to bees and other insects pollinating our crops, to grazing animals roaming across the plains, and the foxes and hedgehogs visiting urban gardens.

Rhinos that flourished across much of North America 12 million years ago gathered in huge herds, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati.

Ancient DNA extracted from a sediment core from a high-altitude Pyrenean lake in Spain reveals that fish may have been added to the lake by humans as early as the 7th century CE. The findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that fish were present in Lake Redon much earlier than previously suggested by historical evidence and provide further insight into the impact of human...

An international team of agronomists is calling for a new approach to estimate crop yield potential and gaps—information that is critical in planning how to meet growing food demand.