~ecology-news-biolog | Bookmarks (436)

A new study, conducted on wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, provides evidence that the gestures used by male chimpanzees from four neighboring communities during copulation requests may reflect different dialects. One gesture, used predominantly in one community, disappeared from the repertoire 20 years ago after a poaching incident and did not return. This incident documents a cultural loss...

How do predators use their vision to both navigate through the terrain while tracking prey running for its life? Pursuing prey through a complex environment is a major challenge for the visual system, as not only does the prey constantly change direction, sometimes in the opposite direction to the pursuer, but running after something evokes self-induced motion-blur that degrades vision.

A recent study published in the Journal of Ecology, led by the UAB and CREAF, analyzes 25 years of evolution of 445,000 trees in the Iberian Peninsula and confirms that the combination of climate change and rural abandonment is changing the distribution of certain species that are reaching their hot or cold limit.

A new international study highlights the severity of climate change impacts across African mountains, how farmers are adapting, and the barriers they face—findings relevant to people living in mountain regions around the world.

Painted lady butterflies are world travelers. The ones we encounter in Europe fly from Africa to Sweden, ultimately returning to areas north and south of the Sahara. But what determines whether some butterflies travel long distances while others travel short distances? A group of scientists, including from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), shows that the different migration strategies are shaped by...

Parasitoid wasps, belonging to the family Hymenoptera, deprive their insect and spider hosts of nutrition. These wasps represent approximately 20% of the 1 million insect species on Earth, making them one of the planet's most successful animal groups.

A new long-term study reveals alarming insights into the impact of climate change on the European beech (Fagus sylvatica), one of Europe's most widespread and ecologically important tree species.

It was quite the journey for such tiny froglets: traveling thousands of miles from the forests of southern Chile to London, carried and brooded inside their fathers' vocal sacs for safety.

A new study by researchers at the University of Sussex and Rothamsted Research published on Jan. 20 in npj Biodiversity has revealed the devastating impact that increased fertilizer use has on agricultural grasslands.

People love the taste of sugar beets' primary byproduct: white sugar. Soilborne cyst nematodes—parasitic, microscopic worms—enjoy the root vegetable, too, but as their sole food source. It's an obstinate, expensive problem for farmers that researchers at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) are working to solve.

As insect populations decrease worldwide in what some have called an "insect apocalypse," biologists are desperate to determine how the six-legged creatures are responding to a warming world and to predict the long-term winners and losers.

Rat infestation in many world cities appears to be soaring, especially in Washington, and a new study blames warming temperatures, urbanization and other human actions.

For the first time, DNA evidence has confirmed killer whales in Australia hunted a white shark for its liver.

A study published in PeerJ unveils refined techniques for in vitro fertilization (IVF) in four key Caribbean coral species, offering a crucial advancement in coral reef restoration efforts.

India doubled its tiger population in a little over a decade by protecting the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing communities' living standards near tiger areas, a study published Thursday found.

A new published study by several Audubon scientists shows that improving identification and observation of female birds can help scientists conserve birds and their habitats more broadly.

University of Toronto Scarborough researchers have directly linked population decline in polar bears living in Western Hudson Bay to shrinking sea ice caused by climate change.

A team of environmental scientists from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Michigan Technologic University and the University of Oregon has found a link between rising global temperatures and the decline in bird populations in remote areas around the world. In their study published in the journal Science Advances, the group tracked birds living in extremely remote forested areas and compared their findings...

It's a cold, drizzly night in a forest west of Melbourne. I'm sitting on a damp log, clutching a thermos of lukewarm tea and watching a koala snooze on a branch above me. Suddenly, it lifts its head. I sit up straight, pen poised to record what happens. But the koala simply yawns and resumes the blob position. I sigh and take another sip...

A new article published in the journal Oryx examines the efficacy and perception of queen conch (Aliger gigas) conservation aquaculture—cultivating aquatic organisms to manage or replenish natural populations. In particular, the paper evaluates conservation aquaculture as a viable strategy to enhance fisheries production and rebuild declining, overexploited populations.

Small shrimps of the genus Hippolyte have the ability to change color to camouflage themselves in the algae where they live and escape predators. Depending on the algae they are in, they can turn red, green, brown or transparent.

A team of animal behaviorists at the Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science's, Museum für Naturkunde, and Wageningen University and Research has found an association between different types of vocalizations in Pallas' long-tongued bats and certain behavioral characteristics. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group studied 60 specimens in the lab.

An international team of scientists has discovered the anti-icing secret of polar bear fur—something that allows one of the planet's most iconic animals to survive and thrive in one of its most punishing climates. That secret? Greasy hair.

Dr. Harry Evans, Emeritus Fellow at CAB International, led scientists—including from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and Royal Botanical Gardens Kew—in a study to investigate the identity of a fungus found on a spider during filming of the BBC Winterwatch series in Northern Ireland. The work is published in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution.