Ecosystems
- Animals
How tracking golden eagles in Nevada revealed a desert ‘death vortex’
Something is stopping Dry Lake Valley’s golden eagles from reproducing and killing raptors that fly in to fill the void.
- Ecosystems
Food chains in Caribbean coral reefs are getting shorter
Shorter food chains could mean reefs are less able to weather changes in food availability, threatening an already vulnerable ecosystem.
- Paleontology
Fossilized vomit reveals 290-million-year-old predator’s diet
The regurgitated material from before the time of dinosaurs provides a rare window into the feeding habits of a prehistoric hunter.
- Life
There’s life beneath the snow, but it’s at risk of melting away
An array of animals and plants survive winter in the subnivium, nature’s igloo. But climate change is threatening this hidden seasonal ecosystem.
- Animals
In a Quebec park, a science game brings predator-prey dynamics to life
Results show that players’ choices echo predator-prey patterns seen in wildlife, though scientists stress the limits of the analogy.
- Animals
Deep Antarctic waters hold geometric communities of fish nests
Scientists found thousands of patterned fish nests in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, boosting calls for marine protected areas.
- Earth
Recycled glass could help fend off coastal erosion
Sand made from recycled glass can be mixed with sediment to make a medium for plants to grow in. That can help with coastal restoration projects.
- Life
A sixth mass extinction? Not so fast, some scientists say
A new analysis suggests that recent extinctions have been rare, limited mostly to islands and slowing. But others argue this is all just semantics.
- Microbes
Antarctic lake microbes have flexible survival strategies
Life teems under the Antarctic ice sheet. In subglacial Lake Mercer, it is surprisingly versatile and isolated from the rest of the world.
- Climate
Trees can’t get up and walk away, but forests can
In fantasy worlds, trees like the Lord of the Rings’ Ents are agile and mobile. In the real world, they’re slow.
- Oceans
Deep-sea mining could start soon — before we understand its risks
The U.S. push to mine international waters for metals defies global efforts to control and protect these fragile ecosystems.
- Animals
50 years after ‘Jaws,’ sharks face their own terror
Humans have driven sharks and their cousins to the brink of extinction. The health of the entire ocean is at stake.
