Ecosystems

Ecosystems

Saving Sturgeon

Sturgeon species around the world are in trouble, which is why humans will increasingly be stepping in to give them a big assist.

Ecosystems

Forest Field Trip

Take a hike in the woods of Kentucky in this electronic field trip. The site offers an overview of forest ecology and management for grades 4 to 8. It includes video clips, an interactive game, a slideshow about the American chestnut, information about forest careers and tree products, activity pages, and a teacher’s guide. Go […]

Ecosystems

Life Underfoot: Microbial biodiversity takes surprising twist

When it comes to numbers of bacterial species, rainforest dirt is virtually a desert, but desert dirt bursts with biodiversity.

Ecosystems

Squirt Alert

A sea animal of unknown origins and lacking any known predator has begun commandeering ecosystems in cool coastal waters throughout the world.

Ecosystems

When Worms Fly: Insect larvae can survive bird guts

Insects can travel as larval stowaways in the guts of migrating birds.

Ecosystems

Feminized cod on the high seas

Male cod in the open ocean are producing an egg-yolk protein ordinarily made only by females, signaling their potential exposure to estrogen-mimicking pollutants.

Ecosystems

Valuing Nature

With help from ecotourism-oriented commerce, the threatened birds of Uganda's Mabira Forest Reserve might just save themselves and set an example for conservationists elsewhere.

Ecosystems

West Nile virus fells endangered condor

A 3-month-old California condor chick, one of only four of this highly endangered species born in the wild this year, succumbed to a West Nile virus infection.

Ecosystems

Tallgrass Prairie

The Openlands Project played a key role in converting the former Joliet Arsenal in Illinois into the first national tallgrass prairie. This Web site traces the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie’s history and provides a variety of classroom activities for students in grades 1 to 12. Lessons include plant investigations, predator and prey relationships, prairie climate, […]

Ecosystems

Empty Nets

New research has begun challenging long-held assumptions about the consequences for fish stocks of harvesting the biggest fish first.

Ecosystems

Pesticide makes bees bumble

The pesticide spinosad, previously thought safe for bees, may damage their ability to forage for nectar.

Ecosystems

Decades of Dinner

Sunken whale carcasses support unique marine ecosystems that display stages of succession and change, just as land ecosystems do.