Ecosystems

  1. Ecosystems

    Help scientists find floating forests of kelp

    By looking for signs of kelp in satellite images, citizen scientists can help researchers keep track of the world’s seaweed forests.

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  2. Environment

    Human ingenuity takes on Mother Nature in ‘The Big Ratchet’

    Geographer Ruth DeFries explains how technological innovations have allowed humans to overcome environmental challenges throughout history.

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  3. Animals

    Invasive rabbitfish team up to raze algal forests

    Tropical rabbitfish have expanded into temperate Mediterranean waters, where they destroy algae forests by gobbling both young and adult algae.

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  4. Animals

    Even on remote islands, busy ports mean more invasives

    Islands with lots of trading ties are more likely to be colonized by invasive species, even when they are geographically remote, a new study of anoles reveals.

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  5. Life

    Fledgling birds change rules for caterpillar color

    An unusual experiment shows that larvae lose the advantage of warning colors during the seasonal flush of naïve predators.

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  6. Ecosystems

    ‘Where Do Camels Belong?’ explores invasive species

    Ecologist Ken Thompson takes a closer look at the impacts (or lack thereof) of invasive species.

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  7. Ecosystems

    Artifacts, fossils tell story of changes to Egypt’s animals

    Ancient Egyptian artifacts and fossils from the Nile Valley show a correlation between species extinctions and a growing human population in a drying climate.

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  8. Animals

    Corals, fish know bad reefs by their whiff

    Compounds drifting off certain overgrown seaweeds discourage young corals and fish from settling in failing reefs.

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  9. Oceans

    Viruses might tame some algal blooms

    The rapid demise of a giant, carbon-spewing algal bloom points to the influence of viral wranglers.

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  10. Ecosystems

    Lake under Antarctic ice bursts with life

    Abundant microbes thrive in subglacial lakes deep under the Antarctic ice sheet.

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  11. Agriculture

    Killer bug behind coconut plague identified

    A pest has devastated coconuts in the Philippines, and scientists now realize the perp is not the bug they thought was causing the damage.

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  12. Life

    Animal source of Ebola outbreak eludes scientists

    Researchers are trying to determine whether bats or bush meat transmitted the Ebola virus to people in West Africa.

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