~ecology-news-biolog | Bookmarks (431)

A new study from McGill University researchers suggests the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to rapidly analyze vast amounts of biodiversity data could revolutionize conservation efforts by enabling scientists and policymakers to make better-informed decisions.

Winter in the South can bring about a sharp change in conditions that impact forests and their many inhabitants. However, new research from the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources finds that, despite these seasonal shifts, forest management efforts are supporting healthy bat populations. The research is published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.

Exploring ways for cocoa farmers to hand pollinate their crops could help offset crop losses resulting from climate changes, researchers suggest.

Large, undisturbed forests are better for harboring biodiversity than fragmented landscapes, according to University of Michigan research. Ecologists agree that habitat loss and the fragmentation of forests reduces biodiversity in the remaining fragments. But ecologists don't agree whether it's better to focus on preserving many smaller, fragmented tracts of land or larger, continuous landscapes.

As erratic weather upends the seasonal rhythms that crops depend on, farmers in the island nation of Madagascar are feeling the effects but struggle to adapt to the new normal.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University along with multiple collaborating institutions including the University of Copenhagen and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, have conducted an extensive investigation into microbial ecosystems in the deep ocean hadal zone.

Whales are not just big, they're a big deal for healthy oceans. When they poop, whales move tons of nutrients from deep water to the surface. Now new research shows that whales also move tons of nutrients thousands of miles—in their urine.

Over the past two decades, the Gulf of Maine has become a popular landing spot for invasive species from across the world, says Geoffrey Trussell, an evolutionary biologist and professor at Northeastern University's Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts.

America's butterflies are disappearing because of insecticides, climate change and habitat loss, with the number of the winged beauties down 22% since 2000, a new study finds.

A new study published in PeerJ reveals that the teeth of South American sea lions (Otaria byronia) hold valuable clues about past population dynamics. Researchers from the Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos, the Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos, and the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco analyzed changes in tooth size and growth layer groups (GLGs) over the past...

Pollinators are animals that help to transport pollen from one location to another in the plant reproduction process. Pollination is crucial to our well-being and to the survival of ecosystems. Pollination is used by about 85% of wild plants and over 70% of cultivated plants to reproduce. However, the diversity of pollinator species is declining due to climate change, habitat loss and the intensification...

A new analysis from researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History reveals that nearly half of the genus Heliconia, a group of tropical plants popular for their bright, beak-shaped flowers, are threatened with extinction.

KTU researchers are proposing an innovative forest regeneration model and a sound analysis system that can predict forest conditions and detect environmental changes in real time.

New research from the University of Oxford has provided fresh insights into how bird songs evolve over time, revealing a significant role for population dynamics in shaping song diversity and change. The findings—based on an analysis of over 100,000 bird songs—have been published in the journal Current Biology.

How do symbioses between plants and fungi develop? How do plants decide whether or not to enter into a partnership with fungi? The team of Prof. Dr. Caroline Gutjahr, director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam, is shedding light on the underground partnership of plants.

In February, researchers from conservation organization Condrik Tenerife were about two kilometers off the coast of Tenerife Island, looking for sharks, when they caught sight of something much stranger.

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.