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Scientists have explored how to improve the PERSAM model used by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in pesticide regulation. They have analysed the risks posed by four pesticides on two types of soil organisms in northern, central and southern Europe. View the full article

An online database which documents pollinator-plant interactions, could help the public understand how to plant for pollinators, and support biodiversity. View the full article

Scientists are proposing management changes on western federal lands that they say would result in more wolves and beavers and would re-establish ecological processes. View the full article

New research sheds light on how climate change will impact the distribution of great whales in New Zealand waters. Researchers used a complex modelling approach to project the regional range shift of blue and sperm whales by the year 2100, under different climate change scenarios. View the full article

The restoration of grassland ecosystems may need more of a guided, hands-on approach over time, according to a new review of global conservation efforts. View the full article

Scientists have long tried to introduce genetically engineered bacteria into the gut to treat diseases. In the past, these attempts have focused on engineering common lab strains of E. coli, which cannot compete with the native gut bacteria that are well adapted to their host. Now, a group of researchers successfully engineered E. coli collected from both human and mice gut microbiomes and showed that they have the potential to treat diseases such as diabetes. View the full article

Researchers generated rat sperm cells inside sterile mice using a technique called blastocyst complementation. View the full article

Beaver fur was a symbol of wealth and an important trade item in 10th Century Denmark, according to a new study. View the full article

A dramatic decline in the bee population at fruit farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania has scientists wondering whether it is a natural phenomenon or a warning about a future threat to the world's food supply. View the full article

Urban gardens can be hotspots for biodiversity in cities but little is known about what drives the biodiversity of species existing at the smallest frequencies, or rare biodiversity. Rare plant species in urban gardens attract rare bee and bird species, according to a new study examining urban garden sites in northern California. The results show that women, older gardeners and those who live near the gardens tend to curate more rare plants. View the full article

Larger fishes are more likely to experience oxygen deficiency in warming water than smaller species. The same applies to fish with large cells, note researchers. In addition, marine fishes are less tolerant of oxygen-depleted water than freshwater fishes. Based on these insights, the researchers ultimately aim to predict which aquatic species are at risk due to changes in their habitat caused by global warming and human activities. View the full article

A team of investigators devised a new methodology to enable predictions of how plant growth and water quality would change in the wake of wildfires. View the full article

Exotic fish are a threat to river ecosystems, but what happens when invasive species are native to a territory and have been introduced into waters that are not their original territory? A new study has analyzed the impact the native fish receive from these species, called translocated species, compared to the effects of exotic invasive species, i.e, those that are not native to any basin in the territory. View the full article

Exotic snakebites recorded in the UK have 'soared' over the course of a decade, as numbers of the exotic pet increase. View the full article

Scientists have created a new tool to fill the large gaps in our understanding of where and how human activities threaten wild species around the world. View the full article

The Prussian carp is considered one of the most successful invasive fish species in Europe. Its ability to reproduce asexually gives it a major advantage over competing fish. An international research team has now managed to describe the complete genome of the Prussian carp for the first time. This also provides a much better understanding of its peculiar reproductive method. View the full article

As intense heatwaves grip the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Portugal, at times exceeding temperatures 40C, as well as parts of North America and Asia, lakes around the world are feeling the heat from climate change, which is creating a cascade of ecological and environmental issues. Northern-most lakes are considered the bellwethers of environmental change, but research shows consequences of climate change can affect any of the more than 100 million lakes in the world. View the full article

The world's governments are presently negotiating a Global Biodiversity Framework, containing goals and targets for saving nature, which is due to be adopted at the end of 2022. Conservation experts explored how the suggested targets in the Framework, could contribute to reducing extinction risk of threatened vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. Their findings show that while targets to expand protected areas or reduce pollution will benefit many species, 57% would still need targeted recovery actions. View the full article

Urbanization is a primary threat to biodiversity. However, scientists know little about how urbanization affects biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical regions of the Global South. An international research team has investigated the effects of urbanization on bee communities in smallholder farms in and around Bangalore -- a South Indian city with more than 13 million inhabitants. They found that social bees, such as wild honey bees, suffered more than large solitary bees or those that nest in cavities, which contrasts with results from temperate regions. View the full article

Over half a century ago, a group of manatees from Bocas del Toro was flown into the artificial Gatun Lake to control the abundance of aquatic plants and for public health reasons. Where are they now? View the full article

Purple sea urchins are munching their way through California's kelp forests at a speed and scale that have stunned scientists, fishermen and divers alike. But the kelp forests have long been home to red and purple urchins, so it's clear the three species can get along. Researchers sought to determine what factors disrupt this harmony. View the full article

Habitat differences help determine changes in the nervous system of tropical butterflies, scientists have found. View the full article

Fossil research has revealed an exquisite merger of art and science: a long-stemmed flower of a newly described plant species encased in a 30-million-year-old tomb together with a parasitic wasp. View the full article

People are becoming 'disconnected from the botanical world' at a time when plants could help solve global environmental problems, warn a group of research scientists. They say the problem has been exacerbated by schools and universities reducing their teaching of basic plant science, including plant identification and ecology. They describe a self-accelerating cycle which risks '...the extinction of botanical education,' where biology is taught predominantly by people with research interests in animal science. View the full article

Researchers have described seven new fern species from the rainforests of tropical America. Many of the species were uncovered as the by-product of ecological research: the species diversity in tropical forests is still so poorly known that field trips and herbarium work keep discovering previously unknown species. View the full article