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Categories: Ecology: Invasive Species, Mathematics: Statistics

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Researchers have revealed the unique 'cheating' strategy a New Zealand insect has developed to avoid being eaten -- mimicking a highly toxic species.

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Major government and private funding is being invested in planting trees as a powerful tool to fight climate change. But new research shows a troubling bottleneck that could threaten these efforts: U.S. tree nurseries don't grow close to enough trees--nor have the species diversity needed--to meet ambitious planting and restoration goals.

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Ancient pathogens that escape from melting permafrost have real potential to damage microbial communities and might potentially threaten human health, according to a new study.

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Researchers have developed a highly efficient method to investigate systems with long-range interactions that were previously puzzling to experts. These systems can be gases or even solid materials such as magnets whose atoms interact not only with their neighbors but also far beyond.

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Over 60 animal species in three days. That is how many mammals, birds and amphibians researchers found DNA traces from in the air in a Danish forest. The results can pave the way for a new and innovative way of mapping biodiversity.

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The link between tree diversity and spider populations can help homeowners and other land managers better plan tree plantings to naturally mitigate the effects of climate change.

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When oleander aphids infested tropical milkweed, monarch butterflies laid fewer eggs on the plant, and the caterpillars developing on those plants were slower to mature.

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All plants and lichens listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act are sensitive to climate change but there are few plans in place to address this threat directly, according to new research.

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Performing a genetic evaluation on the largest captive-bred population of the critically endangered Orinoco crocodile, researchers have revealed that the population preserves much of its founder diversity and no inbreeding, making it suitable for implementing wild releases. Since this species is almost extinct in the wild, the news brings hope for the recovery of populations.

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Scientists have discovered the honey produced by Australian ants possesses unique anti-microbial activity against bacteria and fungi that could make the liquid useful medicinally.

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Miyako Islands are home to various native species of snake and lizards. How these species came to call these islands home has long puzzled scientists. A group of researchers have compiled the latest geological and biological data, proposing that an island once facilitated migration between Okinawa and Miyako Islands.

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Lower parasitism and predation in urban habitats may contribute to the invasion success of brown widow spiders, according to new research.

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Scientists have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny, hidden, organisms that make up the majority of biodiversity in the ocean. The tiny crustaceans are the first new gnathiid isopod to be discovered from the Floridian ecoregion in 100 years and are named after singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.

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An exquisitely preserved fossil forest from Japan provides missing links and helps reconstruct a whole Eurasia plant from the late Miocene epoch.

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Researchers analyzed more than 500,000 motion-sensor camera trap images taken at a Northern California reserve in the years before and after the Mendocino Complex Fire to understand how the blaze impacted small- and medium-sized mammals. The study is one of the first to compare wildlife observations made before and after a megafire, and is also one of a limited number of studies to focus on the impacts of megafires on California's oak woodlands.

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Without intervention, the colorful but devastating Japanese beetle could make its way across the evergreen state within two decades, according to a study of their potential dispersion. The iridescent, green-and-copper beetles damage plants by 'skeletonizing' their leaves, chewing up all the soft green parts between the veins. They eat over 300 plants and pose a serious threat to Washington agriculture as some of their favorite crops include grapes, hops and cherries.  The study found that Japanese beetles would most likely thrive in the dry, agriculture-rich southeastern part of the state, where the first individuals were found three years ago. If they were to escape the quarantines in place in those areas, modeling shows they would likely spread throughout the region from Yakima to the Tri-Cities and north past Moses Lake. While the Cascades are a barrier, there are large areas of Western Washington that also have highly suitable habitat for Japanese beetles.

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Scientists have recently proposed a workflow that can dramatically accelerate the search for novel materials with improved properties. They demonstrated the power of the approach by identifying more than 50 strongly thermally insulating materials. These can help alleviate the ongoing energy crisis, by allowing for more efficient thermoelectric elements, i.e., devices able to convert otherwise wasted heat into useful electrical voltage.

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Oceanic islands provide useful models for ecology, biogeography and evolutionary research. Many ground-breaking findings -- including Darwin's theory of evolution -- have emerged from the study of species on islands and their interplay with their living and non-living environment. Now, an international research team has investigated the flora of the Canary Island of Tenerife. The results were surprising: the island's plant-life exhibits a remarkable diversity of forms. But the plants differ little from mainland plants in functional terms. However, unlike the flora of the mainland, the flora of Tenerife is dominated by slow-growing, woody shrubs with a 'low-risk' life strategy.

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Many landscapes in the tropics consist of a mosaic of different types of land use. How people make use of these different ecosystems, with their particular plant communities, was unclear until now. Researchers, many of them from Madagascar, have now investigated this. When considering biodiversity, forests often get the most attention. But this research shows that rural households use a wide range of plant species and services provided by many nearby ecosystem types.

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Small-winged and lighter colored butterflies likely to be at greatest threat from climate change. The family, wing length and wing colour of tropical butterflies all influence their ability to withstand rising temperatures, say ecologists. The researchers believe this could help identify species whose survival is under threat from climate change.