Ecosystems
- Ecosystems
Fewer worms live in mud littered with lots of microplastics
The environmental effects of microplastic pollution are still hazy, but new long-term, outdoor experiments could help clear matters up.
- Animals
Australian fires have incinerated the habitats of up to 100 threatened species
Hundreds of fires that are blazing across the continent’s southeast have created an unprecedented ecological disaster, scientists say.
- Climate
How the Arctic’s poor health affects everyday life
A new NOAA report features testimony from indigenous communities in Alaska who are weathering the impacts of Arctic warming.
- Ecosystems
A newly found Atacama Desert soil community survives on sips of fog
Lichens and other fungi and algae unite to form “grit-crust” on the dry soil of Chile’s Atacama Desert and survive on moisture from coastal fog.
- Ecosystems
Can forensics help keep endangered rosewood off the black market?
Timber traffickers are plundering the world’s forests, but conservationists have a new set of tools to fight deforestation.
- Animals
Congolese giant toads may mimic venomous snakes to trick predators
If Congolese giant toads mimic venomous Gaboon vipers, it would be the first reported case of a toad imitating a snake.
- Life
Extreme snowfall kept most plants and animals in one Arctic ecosystem from reproducing
A very snowy winter in 2018 left parts of Greenland covered well into the summer, causing an ecosystem-wide reproductive collapse in one area.
- Ecosystems
Burrowing birds create pockets of rich plant life in a desert landscape
Mounds of sand dug out by birds are hot spots for plants in Peru’s Atacama Desert, possibly providing a sheltered and moist area for seed germination.
- Climate
Malin Pinsky seeks to explain how climate change alters ocean life
As global temperatures rise, Malin Pinsky’s research attempts to understand how marine ecosystems are changing and why.
- Life
Connecting our dwindling natural habitats could help preserve plant diversity
As pristine habitats shrink worldwide, a massive, 18-year experiment suggests that linking up what's left with natural corridors could help ecosystems retain plant diversity.
- Climate
How climate change is already altering oceans and ice, and what’s to come
A new IPCC report gives the lowdown on how climate change is already wreaking havoc on Earth’s oceans and frozen regions, and how much worse things could get.
- Life
We’ve lost 3 billion birds since 1970 in North America
Scientists estimated the change in total number of individual birds since 1970. They found profound losses spread among rare and common birds alike.
