Ecosystems

Ecosystems

Are They Really Extinct?

A few optimists keep looking for species that might already have gone extinct.

Ecosystems

Cryptic Invasion: Native reeds harbor aggressive alien

A mild-mannered reed native to the United States is getting blamed for the mayhem caused by an evil twin.

Ecosystems

Biodiversity Hot Spots: Top 10 sea locales make sobering list

Biologists have identified the world's most vulnerable coral reefs, each with organisms found nowhere else and threatened by human influence.

Ecosystems

Genetic lynx: North American lynx make one huge family

A new study of lynx in North America suggests the animals interbreed widely, sometimes with populations thousands of kilometers away.

Ecosystems

Tadpole Science Gets Its Legs . . .

The amazingly complex tadpole now shines in ecological studies.

Ecosystems

Mistletoe, of all things, helps juniper trees

A mistletoe that grows on junipers may do the trees a favor by attracting birds that spread the junipers' seeds.

Ecosystems

Move over, Leo. Give me more elbow room

The average size of the largest land animals on each of 25 oceanic islands and five continents strongly depends on the land area there.

Ecosystems

Another World Hides inside Coral Reefs

The first systematic survey of crevices inside Red Sea reefs reveals abundant filter feeders that may capture significant nutrients for the reef.

Ecosystems

Fierce invader steals nests from a native fish

The round goby, a Eurasian fish that has invaded the Great Lakes, is causing the decline of the mottled sculpin by displacing the native from its spawning sites.

Ecosystems

Streamers could save birds from hooks

A test on active longline fishing boats finds that an inexpensive array of streamers can reduce accidental deaths of seabirds by more than 90 percent.

Ecosystems

Wanted: Reef Cleaners

Nearly 18 years after a near total die-off of algae-grazing urchins in the Caribbean, those herbivores are poised for a comeback—which could help save area corals.

Ecosystems

Marine plankton put nitrogen in a fix

New genetic analyses of tropical marine microorganisms hint that some species are converting significant amounts of atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients, helping to fortify the base of the ocean's food pyramid.