Ecology

This spring, Brood XIII and Brood XIX of periodical cicadas will emerge together for the first time since 1803.

Cicadas Are Coming: Rare 'Dual Emergence' Could Bring One Trillion of the Bugs This Year

The 13-year and 17-year broods that will emerge from underground this spring will be appearing together for the first time in 221 years

Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

Could Climate Change Cause More Lakes to Turn Bright Pink?

While rosy-hued waters exist naturally around the world, a pond in Hawaii recently turned pink, and Australian scientists say the same could happen there

Cats are not picky and will eat nearly anything they can catch.

Cats Prey on More Than 2,000 Different Species

A new study sheds light on just how many creatures domestic cats will eat—including hundreds that are threatened or endangered

Our ten favorite science books of the year covered everything from astronomy to undersea exploration.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2023

From stories on the depths of the ocean to the stars in the sky, these are the works that moved us the most this year

A group of gray wolves in Canada. Before a wolf pack recently migrated to Colorado, gray wolves were last known to live in the state in the 1940s.

Colorado Will Reintroduce Endangered Gray Wolves This Month

In 2020, voters narrowly passed a measure in favor of wolf reintroduction, and now, wildlife officials are about to begin the controversial effort

This year's titles include Daughter of the Dragon, Whalefall and Witness.

Smithsonian Scholars Recommend Their Favorite Books of 2023

Curators and staffers satisfied their endless curiosity with novels, short stories, biographies, art collections and journalistic reporting

Dividing the estimated length of 240,000 miles of stone wall by the geographic area of the New England heartland yields about six linear miles of stone per square mile of land.

How Stone Walls Became a Signature Landform of New England

Originally built as barriers between fields and farms, the region’s abandoned farmstead walls have since become the binding threads of its cultural fabric

In recent years, the European perch (Perca fluviatilis) population has been steadily declining due to the combined impact of climate change, pollution and overfishing.

Italian Divers Revive Centuries-Old Tradition to Help Save European Perch

Nurseries built from bundles of tree branches may help conserve the freshwater fish in the age of climate change

Billions of periodical cicadas emerge every 13 or 17 years in the eastern United States, creating an all-you-can-eat buffet for birds.

Huge Cicada Broods Have Ripple Effects on Birds, Caterpillars and Trees

When Brood X emerged in 2021, scientists measured how the influx of billions of insects affected the ecosystem near Washington, D.C.

Mass Audubon's science coordinator Mark Faherty examines a horseshoe crab in Pleasant Bay, where he has conducted research on them for years.

New Synthetic Horseshoe Crab Blood Could Mean Pharma Won't Bleed the Species Dry

The “living fossils” have been vital for testing intravenous drugs, but a few large pharmaceutical companies are using a lab-made compound instead

A mule deer crosses a road near Aspen, Colorado.

How Roads Have Transformed the Natural World

A brief history of road ecology, the scientific discipline that is helping us understand our impact on the environment and how to diminish it

Caribbean reef sharks are as comfortable cruising coastal coral reefs as diving 1,000 feet into the depths. 

Efforts to Bring Back the Caribbean Reef Shark May Become a Conservation Success Story

The endangered creature is a target for fishing off the coast of the Bahamas—and a magnet for ecotourists who just might save it

Antlers remain intact for hundreds to thousands of years.

How Conservation Paleobiology Serves as a Guide for Restoring Ecosystems

Researchers use historic remnants like antlers, shells, teeth and pollen to learn how natural communities once worked

An aerial image of the banyan tree taken on August 10, 2023

Will Maui's Beloved 150-Year-Old Banyan Tree Survive the Scorching Wildfires?

Amidst the devastation of Lahaina, a coastal town in Maui, the tree is burned but still standing

A trumpetfish shadows a parrotfish. A new study suggests that this tactic makes it harder for prey to notice the predatory trumpetfish behind the non-threatening, plant-eating parrotfish.

These Long, Skinny Fish Hide Behind Bigger Fish to Sneak Up on Their Prey

Scientists made 3D-printed models of fish and tested them in the ocean to study this clever hunting strategy

“Only among the hills with hare and kestrel will you observe what once this land was like before we made it fat for human use.” — “The Colony” by John Hewitt

These Surfers Want to Restore Temperate Rainforests to Ireland

In the rainy mountains along the country’s west coast, a movement has begun to bring back an ecosystem that has been gone for centuries

Honeybees, which are not native to the United States, may be outcompeting native bees for pollen.

Pollination From Honeybees Could Make Plants Less Fit to Survive and Reproduce

Plants visited by honeybees rather than native bees may become more inbred, a new study suggests

Researchers standing next to the tree at Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon National Nature Reserve look small by comparison.

See the New Tallest Tree in Asia, a 335-Foot Cypress

Easily taller than the Statue of Liberty, the behemoth is likely the second-tallest known tree in the world

Cleanup crews pressure-wash crude oil off the shoreline after the Exxon Valdez spilled more than ten million gallons into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists began taking annual photos the following year to document the intertidal zone’s recovery.

Why Have Alaskans Been Photographing This Volkswagen Beetle-Sized Boulder for 33 Years?

A scientist began taking shots after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and volunteers have since taken over

Representative Robert F. Broussard believed hippos imported from Africa would rid Louisiana and Florida of the water hyacinths smothering their waterways.

How the U.S. Almost Became a Nation of Hippo Ranchers

In 1910, a failed House bill sought to increase the availability of low-cost meat by importing hippopotamuses that would be killed to make "lake cow bacon"

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