ecology & environment

The DNA fragments collected from permafrost in northern Greenland unlock insights into an ancient ecosystem.

The eRNA detection method could one day be used to catch early warning signs of distress in wild ecosystems. 

Researchers race to find ecological data kept on outdated media or in dusty backroom boxes—before they’re lost forever.

The black fur allele has fitness costs but also confers higher immunity against canine distemper virus, making mix-and-match mating key to population survival.

Polluted air impedes the trees’ ability to read one another’s signals, a study finds.

Mahi-mahi were more likely to be eaten and less likely to spawn after being exposed to sublethal concentrations of oil, raising concerns about the risks oceanic drilling pose to life in the ocean.

A new modeling technique aims to help scientists and policymakers detect declines in genetic diversity based on habitat loss.

A study suggests that pathogens affecting other species can indirectly harm human health.

Five major El Niño events per century could lead to fewer fishes that thrive in cold water and more terrestrial birds in eastern coastal ecosystems.

Frogs invest in cognitive capacity to avoid predators—up until there are too many hungry snakes around for the evolutionary strategy to pay off.

Meet the team trying to restore mollusk populations with the help of underwater speakers.

Parts of Southeast Asia where human and bat population densities are highest could be infection hotspots, a study finds.

A study finds that not only did aquatic bacteria thrive when chemicals washed from degrading plastic were introduced into lake water, they also broke down organic matter more efficiently.

A study traces the effects of a mite outbreak from the earth to the heavens.

The Scientist speaks with Trier University’s Henrik Krehenwinkel, whose group recently detected traces of hundreds of arthropod species from a sample of dried plants—in this case, the contents of a tea bag.

A study yields insights into how predator-prey dynamics may shift with climate change, but many questions remain.

Off the western Australian coast, in Shark Bay, a field of seagrass big enough to cover Washington, DC, has flourished for more than four millennia, a new study finds.

A survey showed that 91 percent of the reef experienced bleaching despite this year’s cooler, wetter conditions associated with the La Niña weather pattern.