Ecology

Fossilized feces, also known as coprolites, are helping scientists in New Zealand peer back in time.

Fossilized Poop Reveals How Extinct, Flightless Birds Helped Spread New Zealand's Colorful Fungi

The upland moa was likely drawn to the fungi because of their resemblance to berries, scientists say, allowing the creature to fill a role typically played by mammals

The trees became visible as an ice patch melted on the Beartooth Plateau, which is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Melting Ice Reveals Remains of 5,900-Year-Old Trees in Wyoming, Uncovering a Long-Lost Forest

Researchers discovered more than 30 dead whitebark pine trees that were entombed in ice for millennia, representing a bygone ecosystem that could teach us about climate change

Though small, the snail darter has played an outsize role in American law, conservation and biology.

A Tiny, 'Endangered' Fish Delayed a Dam's Construction in the 1970s. Now, Scientists Say the Snail Darter Isn't So Rare After All

A lawsuit to protect the snail darter from the Tellico Dam in Tennessee offered the first real test of the 1973 Endangered Species Act. But a new study disputes the fish's status as a distinct species

Matanuska Glacier north of Anchorage is one of the best spots for a more intense experience in the Alaskan wilderness.

Seven Ways to Explore Alaska's Endangered Glacial World

With the state’s glaciers retreating at alarming rates, there is no time like now to trek, climb, paddle and fly to see them

Southern sea otters are making a comeback along the coast of California—and they're chowing down on invasive European green crabs.

Hungry Sea Otters Are Taking a Bite Out of California's Invasive Crab Problem, New Study Finds

Researchers estimate southern sea otters eat up to 120,000 European green crabs per year at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

The invasive northern giant hornet, also called a murder hornet, has been eradicated from the United States.

Officials Declare the U.S. Free of 'Murder Hornets' in a Rare Victory Against an Invasive Insect

Five years after the first sighting in Washington state, intense efforts have eradicated the bee-killing hornets from the nation

Sombrero ground lizards (Pholidoscelis corvinus) are endemic to Sombrero Island, north of Anguilla, which means they're found nowhere else on the planet.

This Once-Rare Lizard Bounced Back From the Brink of Extinction After 'Painstaking' Restoration Efforts in the Caribbean

In 2018, fewer than 100 Sombrero ground lizards remained on Sombrero Island—but now, more than 1,600 of the critically endangered reptiles are scampering around the limestone landscape

The world's largest iceberg, A23a, is on the move again after spending the last few months stuck in an ocean vortex.

The World's Largest Iceberg Is Free-Floating Again, and It Could Help Build 'Thriving Ecosystems'

After spending months stuck in a swirling ocean vortex, iceberg A23a is once again drifting through the Southern Ocean, offering scientists a glimpse into how it might affect waters in new regions

The hunting pod is led by Moctezuma, an adult male, named after an Aztec emperor.

A Pod of Orcas Learned to Target and Feast on Whale Sharks, the Largest Fish in the Sea

Photos and videos of the apex predators reveal how they engage in coordinated hunts in Mexican waters to take down juvenile whale sharks

An Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) licks nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa).

These Endangered Wolves Have a Sweet Tooth—and It Might Make Them Rare Carnivorous Pollinators

Ethiopian wolves like to lick up the flower nectar of red hot poker plants, and researchers have caught the behavior on camera

The researchers of the paper, Matthew Adeleye, University of Cambridge, and David Bowman, University of Tasmania, study a sediment core.

Researchers Uncover the Oldest Record of Humans Using Fire in Tasmania, Almost 2,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Known

A new paper reveals how Aboriginal people changed the landscape by burning, demonstrating how similar practices could help manage modern bushfires

Straw-colored fruit bats typically start drifting into the park around October and leave in January.

The World's Largest Mammal Migration Is Taking Place in Zambia Right Now

Each year, millions of straw-colored fruit bats descend on Kasanka National Park for a few months, and scientists are working to understand their mysterious journey

Pocket gophers are a type of burrowing rodent known for their extensive tunnels.

How a Team of Gophers Restored Mount St. Helens After Its Catastrophic Eruption With Less Than a Day of Digging

After the volcanic eruption of 1980, scientists released the burrowing rodents for only a brief time, but their activities left a remarkably enduring impact, according to a new study

A sperm whale swims away, leaving a cloud of feces.

Scientists Are Crafting Fake Whale Poop and Dumping It in the Ocean

The artificial waste could fertilize the ocean and sequester carbon

The crowning glory of the Gardenia brighamii is its pearly flower.

Can Fungi Save This Endangered Hawaiian Tree?

By inoculating greenhouse na’u seedlings with mycorrhizal fungi, researchers hope to boost survival odds when the plants are returned to the wild

Grizzly 399, along with one of her cubs, in Grand Teton National Park in 2021.

The 'World's Most Famous Grizzly' Was Killed by a Car. Was Her Death Preventable?

Grizzly 399 became a celebrity of Grand Teton National Park in her lifetime. Now, her death has drawn attention to wildlife-vehicle collisions and how they might be reduced

Leaf senescence creates a golden canopy over a trail in the Harvard Forest.

What 30 Years of Studying the New England Woods Reveals About the Colors of Changing Leaves

An ecologist’s long walks and detailed observations allowed him to chronicle the shifts in an iconic habitat and grow a once-overlooked branch of science

Thirty-six homes—the world’s last topped with a traditional eelgrass roof—all sit here on Laeso.

Could Eelgrass Be the Next Big Bio-Based Building Material?

On the island of Laeso in Denmark, one man is reviving the lost art of eelgrass thatching and, in doing so, bringing attention to a plant that has great potential

A team of scientists in the Red Sea captured footage of a big blue octopus hunting with other fish species.

Watch Octopuses Team Up With Fish to Hunt—and Punch Those That Don't Contribute

The collaboration across species reveals a surprising social behavior of octopuses, researchers say

American redstarts and magnolia warblers were thought to fly together merely by coincidence, but new research suggests they might be forming a social relationship.

Birds Form Surprising Relationships With Other Avian Species During Migration, Study Suggests

New research indicates that birds are not alone while migrating—and sharing space with other species may even help them on the journey

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