~ecology-news-biolog | Bookmarks (436)

Some of the most productive apple regions in America are facing big challenges from a changing climate, according to a Washington State University study.

Pollination by animals contributes to a third of global food production, but little research has been done into the extent to which the identity of pollinators, pollen and crop varieties influence fruit quality when it comes to the nutritional, sensory and commercial value of crops. Pollinators influence the quality of crops through their movement patterns on the plantations and through the plant variety they...

Birds are the undisputed champions of epic travel, but they are not the only long-haul fliers. A handful of bats are known to travel thousands of kilometers in continental migrations across North America, Europe, and Africa. The behavior is rare and difficult to observe, which is why long-distance bat migration has remained an enigma.

Growers and conservationists have a new weapon to detect invasive spotted lanternflies early and limit their spread: dogs trained to sniff out egg masses that overwinter in vineyards and forests.

When it comes to deciding where they're going to get their next meal, different species of bees may be attracted to different flower traits, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State and published in PNAS Nexus.

The Hades' snake moray (Uropterygius hades), a dark brown, slender snake moray eel, has chosen the road less traveled, thriving in dim and muddy river mouths, unlike most of its marine moray eel relatives. It is widely distributed across the Central Indo-Pacific, and has been found in southern Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, southern Java, and Fiji. This new moray eel was named after Hades,...

The University of Cape Town, along with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, have conducted a large-scale study identifying significant cranial shape differences between four genetically distinct giraffe species. The findings suggest that these species exhibit unique developmental and morphological characteristics, which have implications for conservation efforts.

Dr. Nobuyuki Kawai from Nagoya University in Japan has found that the rapid detection of snakes by monkeys is because of the presence of snake scales as a visual cue. His findings highlight an evolutionary adaptation of primates to identify snakes based on specific visual characteristics.

A team of anthropologists at the University of Oxford's School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, working with a colleague from Chubu Gakuin University, in Japan, has found that some chimpanzees are better at cracking nuts than others in their same group.

A team of botanists at Malaysia's Sabah Forestry Department's Forest Research Centre, working with a pair of colleagues from Australia, has identified a new species of giant pitcher plant growing on the ultramafic mountains in central Sabah, Borneo. In their paper published in the Australian Journal of Botany, the group describes how they came to know of the plant and what they found when...

Anyone who has dealt with ants in the kitchen knows that ants are highly social creatures; it's rare to see one alone. Humans are social creatures too, even if some of us enjoy solitude. Ants and humans are also the only creatures in nature that consistently cooperate while transporting large loads that greatly exceed their own dimensions.

The endangered Geoffrey's spider monkeys that dangle high in the rainforest canopy are elusive and hard for scientists to track.

Each leopard has its own unique roar through which it can be identified, a new study finds. In the first large-scale paired camera trap and autonomous recording survey for large African carnivores, researchers were able to identify individual leopards by their vocalizations with 93% accuracy. It has been hailed as an important first step towards using bioacoustics in the conservation of leopards.

In the vast, open ocean with no place to hide, sardines group together for protection. When they cannot rely on speed to escape, the sardines' best chance is to outmaneuver the predator altogether. However, predators also seek ways to find weak spots in the group's defense.

Atlantic and Baltic herring are typical plankton-eating fish of central importance for the northern Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea ecosystems. A new study published in Nature Communications led by scientists from Uppsala University (Sweden) documents the discovery of the evolution of genetically distinct, fish-eating herring in the Baltic Sea, a young water body that has only existed since the end of the last glaciation.

New research published in Science Advances reveals that right whales can survive for more than 130 years—almost twice as long as previously understood.

Scientists have suggested an updated framework for the role of ferns in environmental recovery from disaster. Instead of competing with other organisms, ferns may act as facilitators that ease the way for other plants and animals to re-establish themselves in a damaged landscape.

A collaborative study reveals the distinct mechanisms by which plants and animals respond to climate change in their life-cycle phenology. This research, led by Piao Shilong's team and Zhang Yao's team from the Institute of Carbon Neutrality at Peking University, provides comprehensive global-scale evidence on the asynchronous phenological changes between plants and animals.

Despite their reputation as buzzing nuisances, flies serve a critical role as some of the Earth's most prolific pollinators—and new research led by Penn State scientists suggests they are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures.

La Brea Tar Pits scientists have identified a previously unknown juniper species as Juniperus scopulorum, commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Juniper. The successful identification, along with the first-ever radiocarbon dating of these fossil plants in Southern California, expands our ability to track past environmental changes and highlights the vulnerability of junipers and the environments they shape in the face of modern climate change.

Desert locusts typically lead solitary lives until something—like intense rainfall—triggers them to swarm in vast numbers, often with devastating consequences.

A team of biology and optics researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in Spain has found that the unique undercoating of the barn owl helps to make it less visible to prey when flying under the moon and starlit skies.

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and their partners reveal their pick of the top 10 plants and fungi named new to science in 2024.