Ecosystems

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.

Ecosystems

Quick Fix: How invasive seaweed repairs its wounds

Scientists have discerned the chemistry underlying the rapid wound-healing process in an invasive green alga that is wreaking havoc in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ecosystems

Return of the Wetlands? Restoration possible for some Iraqi marshes

Field studies conducted in Iraq last year suggest that some of the region's ecologically devastated marshes could be returned to health.

Ecosystems

Bivalve Takeover: Once-benign clams boom after crab influx

European green crabs invading a California bay have triggered a population explosion of a previously marginal clam.

Ecosystems

Fallout Feast: Vent crabs survive on victims of plume

Researchers in Taiwan propose an explanation for how so many crabs can survive at shallow-water hydrothermal vents.

Ecosystems

The Birds Are Falling: Avian losses could hit ecosystems hard

If many bird populations dip toward extinction in the coming century, widespread harm could come to ecosystems that depend on these birds.

Ecosystems

One-Celled Socialites

A wave of research on the social lives of bacteria offers insights into the evolution of cooperation and may lead to medical breakthroughs that neutralize virulent bacterial strains.

Ecosystems

Fly may be depleting U.S. giant silk moths

A parasitic fly introduced to fight gypsy moths starting in 1906 may be an overlooked factor in the declines of giant silk moths.

Ecosystems

Corals without Boarders

The last decade has been a great era for discovering corals in the deep ocean, but a United Nations report warns that these cold, dark reefs urgently need protection.

Ecosystems

Fish Stew: Species interplay makes fisheries management tricky in the long run

Annual fluctuations in certain fish populations can be best understood and controlled by accounting for ecological factors, such as predation by other fish, in addition to fisheries harvests.

Ecosystems

Deep-Sea Cukes Can’t Avoid the Weather: El Niño changes life 2.5 miles down

A 14-year study of a spot 2.5 miles underwater off the California coast shows short-term links between surface events and an abundance of deep-water creatures.

Ecosystems

More on California’s rogue seaweed

Scientists have obtained genetic confirmation of the assumption that a newfound rogue alga in California waters is the same strain that has been smothering seafloor communities in the Mediterranean.