Ecosystems

Plants

Earth may have 9,200 more tree species than previously thought

Estimating how many tree species are on Earth is an important step for forest conservation and protecting biodiversity.

Animals

Gory footage confirms orca pods can kill adult blue whales

For the first time, three recorded events show that orcas do hunt and eat blue whales using coordinated attacks that have worked on other large whales.

Animals

An Arctic hare traveled at least 388 kilometers in a record-breaking journey

An Arctic hare’s dash across northern Canada, the longest seen among hares and their relatives, is changing how scientists think about tundra ecology.

Animals

Here’s how spider geckos survive on Earth’s hottest landscape

An analysis of the stomach contents of Misonne’s spider geckos shows there are more critters in the heart of Iran’s Lut Desert than meets the eye.

Life

Cleared tropical forests can regain ground surprisingly fast

Tropical forests can re-establish themselves on abandoned agricultural lands faster than expected, scientists say.

Animals

Baleen whales eat (and poop) a lot more than we realized

The sheer volume of food that some whales eat and then excrete suggests the animals shape ecosystems to a much larger degree than previously thought.

Life

Fires may have affected up to 85 percent of threatened Amazon species

Since 2001, fires in the Amazon have impacted up to about 190,000 square kilometers — roughly the size of Washington state.

Life

An incredibly resilient coral in the Great Barrier Reef offers hope for the future

At more than 400 years old, a massive coral off the coast of Australia has endured as many as 80 cyclones and 99 bleaching events.

Animals

Female hummingbirds may sport flashy feathers to avoid being harassed

Some female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds boast bright blue plumage that’s similar to males. The colors may help females blend in to avoid attacks.

Science & Society

An ecologist’s new book gets at the root of trees’ social lives

In ‘Finding the Mother Tree,’ Suzanne Simard recounts how she discovered hidden networks in forests.

Ecosystems

As ‘phantom rivers’ roar, birds and bats change their hunting habits

A massive experiment in the Idaho wilderness shows it’s not just human-made noises that impact ecosystems. Natural noises can too.

Ecosystems

Wild donkeys and horses engineer water holes that help other species

Dozens of animals and even some plants in the American Southwest take advantage of water-filled holes dug by these nonnative equids.