Here’s how top predator species might buffer climate change impacts on biodiversity
Study underscores the power of top predators to shape ecosystems—even helping to keep them cool during heatwaves
Jan 2022 26
Warren Cornwall
Warren Cornwall is a freelance journalist based in Bellingham, Washington His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe Magazine, and the Seattle Times. He is a contributing correspondent for Science.
Jan 2022 19
Turning scrap wood into innovative products could be a huge win for curbing carbon and wildfire
Looking for ways to pay for forest restoration, scientists hit on a a creative strategy: support new markets for fuels and construction materials made from small trees and branches.
Jan 2022 12
Tracking animals using DNA they leave in the air.
Scientists wielding DNA "vacuums" could sniff out animals living nearby - even hundreds of meters away. The development raises the possibility of tracking biodiversity through DNA floating in the air.
Jan 2022 10
Cloudy with a chance of warblers
Strides in computer power and artificial intelligence have enabled scientists to gauge the almost unimaginable scale of nighttime migrations—more than 700 million birds on some nights in the US.
Jan 2022 5
Researchers consider the benefits of conservation retreat: smaller reserves and focused funding
Decades of declining herbivore populations in central African national parks have conservation scientists arguing that smaller reserves might be better for wildlife
Dec 2021 15
Is plastic trash in the middle of the ocean becoming a new kind of island habitat?
Giant patches of plastic floating in the ocean have become home to an experiment in a new hybrid ecosystem, made up of stowaway species from coastal environments and organisms that dwell in the middle of the Pacific. Meet the "neopelagic" world.
Dec 2021 8
Thinking like a footloose wolf might be recipe for land conservation success
Nearly three decades after the launch of the ambitious campaign to connect wildlife habitat from the Yukon in northern Canada to Yellowstone National Park, researchers say such big ambitions and lots of hype can pay off.
Dec 2021 1
Think SARS-CoV-2 is just hitting humans? Add hundreds of species to high-risk list.
More than 500 mammal species are high-risk candidates for carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID, based on a new study of common traits among species with a protein gateway for the virus.
Nov 2021 24
German researchers press for unorthodox butterfly conservation: mining and grazing
As grasslands vanish in parts of Europe, butterflies are finding refuge in unusual places, including industrial wastelands.
Nov 2021 17
Cold War spy satellites built to track nukes now help monitor trees
CIA spy satellite photos from the 1960s are now a treasure trove for scientists tracking ecological change, including finding valuable forests hidden in Romania's Carpathian Mountains.
