Ecology

Machine in the Netherlands Collects Plastic Waste, Turns it into Floating Parks

The effort aims to prevent plastic waste from going into the North Sea

Finger coral's fatness and indiscretion when it comes to algal partners gives it an edge in warming waters.

Fat Corals Fare Best As Climate Changes

Corals with significant energy reserves that welcome all types of symbiotic algae species won’t easily die if hit with multiple bleaching events

What Scientists Thought Was a Single Species Is Actually 126-Plus

One species of lichen, genetic sequencing revealed, was many, many, many species

A group of Chilean devil rays basking in shallow waters around an underwater mountain near the Azores.

Chilean Devil Rays Found to Be Among the Deepest-Diving Animals in the Ocean

The surface-dwelling marine creatures regularly dive more than one mile deep, scientists find

UNESCO Just Announced the 1000th World Heritage Site

Botswana's lush Okavango Delta claims the slot

An emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) teaching its baby how to preen.

Emperor Penguin Colonies Will Suffer As Climate Changes

Scientists project that two thirds of emperor penguin colonies will drop by 50 percent in the next century

The tiny little parasitic wasp Tamarixia radiata.

Scientists Think These Creepy Wasps Are Going to Save Oranges

Biological control—importing predators to fight an invasive species—has a nasty track record

A fishing spider enjoying a tasty platyfish that it snatched from a garden pond in Australia.

Spiders All Over the World Have a Taste for Fish

Eight-legged predators probably prey on vertebrates much more often than arachnologists previously assumed

President Obama Could Create the World's Largest Marine Sanctuary

The protected zone would make a large area in the Pacific Ocean off limits to fishing and other environmentally harmful human activities

In Maya Lin's New Exhibition, a Singing Ring Contains the Sounds of Endangered Worlds

The Sound Ring represents places as diverse as California forests and the Indian Ocean

Rabbits around old military facilities on Okunoshima.

This Once-Secret Island Now Hosts Hordes of Adorable Bunnies

Now home to hundreds of semi-tame bunnies, the island once housed poison gas facilities

A Cyclosa ginnaga spider perched amid its silk web decoration looks strangely like the result of a bird relieved itself in the forest understory.

This Spider Web Was Deliberately Spun to Look Like Bird Poop

It’s not artistic license. The arachnid avoids predators by masquerading as bird droppings, say scientists

The American paddlefish, which makes spawning migrations up the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.

This Weekend, Celebrate the World's Weird and Wonderful Migratory Fishes

The first annual World Migratory Fish Day is making a splash with hundreds of outdoor, fish-centric events

Fairy circles in Namibia.

What Causes Namibia’s Fairy Circles? Probably Not Termites

Namibia's mysterious fairy circles might actually be caused by competition between grasses

A 20,000-Plus Room Resort Threatens This UNESCO Site in Mexico

For twenty years, conservation efforts have protected the beach and its coral reef; a new development could harm them both

Waves breaking on a coral reef in Hawaii.

Coral Reefs Absorb 97 Percent of the Energy From Waves Headed Toward Shore

This finding applies to reefs around the world

A red-winged blackbird, the males of which (pictured) feature bright red spots. Females, on the other hand, are a mottled brown.

Drab Female Birds Were Once As Flashy As Their Male Mates

Biologists always assumed that sexual selection primarily drove differences in looks between male and female birds, but a new study challenges that notion

Butterflies And Bees Drink Crocodile Tears

To the delight of winged invertebrates, crocodiles cry when they eat

At the Mpala research facility in Kenya, scientists can use fences to exclude large animals, such as zebras, from ecosystems to study the effect of their absence.

How Will Wildlife Loss Affect Diseases That Jump From Animals to Humans?

In an east African case study, scientists found that taking large wildlife out of an ecosystem increases the number of disease-infested rodents

This is the face of deception.

This Bird Tricks Other Animals Into Handing Over Their Meals

The African drongo mimics warning calls of other animals to scare them away from food, but mixes true warnings with lies to keep those animals guessing

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