~ecology-news-biolog | Bookmarks (436)

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.