Ecosystems

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. Ecosystems

    When Worms Fly: Insect larvae can survive bird guts

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

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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, […]

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  8. Ecosystems

    Empty Nets

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

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  9. Ecosystems

    Pesticide makes bees bumble

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

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  10. Ecosystems

    Decades of Dinner

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

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  11. Ecosystems

    Where Tuna Go: Atlantic fish mix for feeding, not spawning

    The largest high-tech tag study yet of Atlantic bluefin tuna suggests that two groups mix on feeding grounds but spawn on opposite sides of the ocean.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Ambush Ants: Beware the moldy patch on that branch

    Tiny tropical ants build shaggy platforms on plants and hide underneath them, poised to reach out and capture insects that may be far larger than themselves.

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