Ecosystems
The Okefenokee’s dark waters hold secrets about climate and more
This Georgia peat swamp’s vast stores of carbon and water are under threat from mining and pollution. Scientists and locals are fighting to protect it.
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
More Stories in Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
- Climate
Microbes that dwell in tree bark devour major climate gases
Hidden in plain sight, this huge community of tree-bark microbes dines on gases — such as methane — that warm Earth’s atmosphere.
- Animals
Lions have a second roar that scientists have only just discovered
This insight from machine-learning analyses of recordings of calls in the wild might help detect where lions are declining.
- Animals
Chicago’s Rat Hole? Science concludes it’s likely not from a rat
Researchers employed tools of paleontology to analyze the iconic landmark — a sidewalk critter crater made when a mystery rodent fell into wet concrete.
- Plants
Yum! Flies swarm to a flower that smells like wounded ants
A type of Japanese dogsbane emits the distress signal of injured ants — a particular scent — to draw in scavenging flies that end up pollinating its flowers.
- Environment
Nuclear weapons tests many decades ago have left a radioactive legacy
Decades of aboveground nuclear weapons tests, starting in the 1950s, lightly littered the planet with toxic fallout, which appears to have sickened some people.
- Animals
Some Antarctic fish arrange their nests into odd shapes
Scientists found nests organized into curves, clusters and ovals on the Antarctic seabed. Such groupings may protect the fish eggs from predators.
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- Animals
Polar bears leave thousands of tons of food scraps for other species
The new finding quantifies how much of polar bears' food goes uneaten. As these bears decline, Arctic scavengers risk losing a critical food source.
- Animals
Flamingos hunt by creating their own underwater tornadoes
Chilean flamingos use their beaks and feet to create underwater whirlpools that suck in prey.
