Ecosystems

Articles on ecosystems

More Stories in Ecosystems

  1. Ecosystems

    There’s life beneath the snow — but it’s at risk of melting away

    The organisms that make winter homes in this subnivium help forests thrive year-round. But climate change is making this ecosystem disappear.

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  2. Plants

    Catapulting pollen helps this flower beat out its rivals

    With explosive blasts of pollen, male Hypenia macrantha flowers remove rival pollen from hummingbird beaks before the birds reach female flowers.

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  3. Animals

    Werewolves could learn from other critters when to hunt

    Werewolves aren’t the only creatures that undergo transformation under the full moon. But could weak werewolves be at risk of becoming prey?

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  4. Plants

    Many flowers and ferns lure in ants as bodyguards

    With an offer of a nectar meal, ferns and flowering plants have been bribing ants to fend off predatory insects — since before the rise of T. rex.

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  5. Animals

    Balmy ‘saunas’ help frogs fend off a deadly fungus 

    Hanging out in small sun-warmed hideaways could help some frogs resist deadly chytrid fungus, a new study finds.

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  6. Plants

    This squid-like ‘fairy lantern’ plant is new to science

    A newly named species of fairy lantern — a parasitic plant — sports tentacles and grows among leaf litter and rotten logs in Malaysian rainforests.

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  7. Animals

    Phoenixes aren’t the only creatures to survive the flames 

    Although a phoenix that burns and lives is a myth, many living things on Earth don’t mind hot temperatures. 

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  8. Oceans

    The seas’ record-breaking hot streak may bring unwelcome changes

    Off-the-charts warming could fire up more hurricanes, intensify coral bleaching and accelerate the melting of Antarctic sea ice.

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  9. Animals

    Surprise! These animals can help fight climate change

    Some animals help fight climate change by boosting the amount of carbon dioxide that plants, algae and bacteria absorb from the atmosphere.

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