Ecosystems

Animals

Weather radar shows 30 metric tons of grasshoppers swarmed Las Vegas one night

Everything’s glitzier in Las Vegas. The most intensely lit U.S. city shows the impact of artificial light on insects on a megascale.

Ecosystems

How kelp forests off California are responding to an urchin takeover

A pair of studies reports 95 percent loss of kelp forests along the northern coast while sea otters are helping maintain surviving kelp farther south.

Ecosystems

Simple hand-built structures can help streams survive wildfires and drought

Building simple structures with sticks and stones — and inviting in dam-building beavers — can keep water where it’s needed to fight drought and wildfires.

Animals

Dim lighting may raise the risk of a West Nile virus exposure

Dimly lit nights increased risk of West Nile virus exposure in chickens. Artificial light proved a better predictor of risk than population or paving.

Animals

A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species

As experts piece together a fuller picture of the scale of damage to wildlife, more than 500 species may need to be listed as endangered.

Animals

Delve into the history of the fight for Earth’s endangered creatures

The new book ‘Beloved Beasts’ chronicles past conservation efforts as a movement and a science, and explores how to keep striding forward.

Plants

Modified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects

In a Yucatan nature park, engineered genes influence nectar production, affecting ants’ and maybe pollinators’ attraction to the wild cotton plants.

Animals

50 years ago, scientists made the case for a landlubbing Brontosaurus

In 1971, a scientist argued for a landbound Brontosaurus instead of a swampy swimmer. Recent evidence comes from studies of its ancient environment.

Climate

Ocean acidification may make some species glow brighter

Ocean organisms use bioluminescence for hunting, defense and more. A new analysis shows that declines in water pH might change who glows and how much.

Animals

Clearing land to feed a growing human population will threaten thousands of species

Changing where, how and what food is grown could largely avoid biodiversity losses, scientists say.

Animals

Plastic waste forms huge, deadly masses in camel guts

Eating plastic isn’t just a sea animal problem. Researchers found suitcase-sized masses of plastic in dromedaries’ guts in the United Arab Emirates.

Environment

Plastics are showing up in the world’s most remote places, including Mount Everest

From the snow on Mount Everest to the guts of critters in the Mariana Trench, tiny fragments called microplastics are almost everywhere.