Phys.org – Ecology

Marine food webs are highly complex. Until now, researchers have been unable to understand exactly how they are affected by climate change, overfishing and other threats. Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht have now […]

Bacteria play key roles in degrading organic matter, both in the soil and in aquatic ecosystems. While most bacteria digest large molecules externally, allowing other community members to share and scavenge, some bacteria selfishly take […]

A team of oceanographers and marine biologists at the Hakai Institute, working with a colleague from the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance, and another from the Institute of Ocean Sciences, all in Canada, has found […]

Water levels in the Caspian Sea—the world’s largest landlocked water body—are getting lower, as hotter temperatures cause more water to evaporate than is flowing in. Even if global warming is limited to below 2°C, it […]

For the first time, a study led by University of Oxford researchers has listened in to the fascinating courtship displays of fiddler crabs using geophones. The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, provide […]

New research reveals the remarkable chemical diversity of substances exuded by coral reefs and demonstrates that thousands of different chemicals derived from tropical corals and seaweeds are available for microbes to decompose and utilize.This post […]

Insecticides can help protect crops against troublesome pests, but they also pose a risk for beneficial insects such as pollinators. A study led by researchers at Penn State provides insight into how even sublethal doses […]

Infections with parasites often entail no recognizable signs in many wildlife species, but can still have negative effects across generations. Infected animals often have a slightly reduced body size and their offspring have a harder […]

Everyone is familiar with the light dome that shows from afar where cities are brightly lit at night. Artificial light that is scattered in the atmosphere and brightens the night sky can have an effect […]

On our planet, at any one moment, billions of animals are on the move. From migratory birds, insects, marine mammals and sharks connecting distant continents and seas, to bees and other insects pollinating our crops, […]