HS-LS2-6
Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
- Oceans
Shading corals during midday heat can limit bleaching
Shading coral reefs during the sunniest part of the day may help corals survive marine heat waves.
- Climate
Some tree leaves are finding it too hot for photosynthesis
Earth’s ongoing fever threatens to push entire forests toward this heat limit — and possible death.
- Earth
Analyze This: Tropical forests have gotten patchier
Although many of the world's forests have gotten less fragmented since 2000, tropical forests have gotten more chopped up, putting animals at risk.
- Animals
Explainer: What is mpox (formerly monkeypox)?
Once rare, the viral disease monkeypox exploded onto the global scene for the first time in 2022.
- Animals
Dogs and other animals could aid the spread of monkeypox
Now that monkeypox has spread to a dog, researchers fear other species could help the virus become widespread outside of Africa for the first time.
- Animals
Some Greenland polar bears are surviving with very little sea ice
The ‘glacial mélange’ on which they’ve come to rely — a mix of ice, snow and slush — could be a temporary refuge for some polar bears.
- Science & Society
Explainer: What is an endangered species?
Threats such as climate change and habitat loss can put species at risk of going extinct. Different words describe that risk.
- Life
In blazing heat, some plants open leaf pores — and risk death
When heat waves and droughts collide, water is precious. Some thirsty plants try to cool off by opening tiny pores — only to lose water even faster.
- Animals
Rewilding returns lost species to strengthen ecosystems
Restoring the missing species can help undo human-caused problems by aiding forests, slowing climate change and reducing wildfires.
- Animals
Explainer: What is an invasive species?
These foreign organisms hitchhike, spread widely and stir up trouble in native ecosystems.
- Ecosystems
Cheatgrass thrives on the well-lit urban night scene
Middle-grade campers team up with ecologists at Denver University to show that streetlights boost the growth of a reviled invasive species.
- Animals
Some pikas survive winter by eating yak poop
Pikas endure bone-chilling cold on the Tibetan Plateau by using little energy and fueling up on yak poop.
