NewsBot

With about one-third of the world's corals currently under threat of extinction due to climate change, researchers have made the encouraging discovery of a 'lost' species of coral that had been hidden for more than 50 years. View the full article

New ancient DNA analysis has shed light on how the black rat, blamed for spreading Black Death, dispersed across Europe -- revealing that the rodent colonized the continent on two occasions in the Roman and Medieval periods. By analyzing DNA from ancient black rat remains found at archaeological sites spanning the 1st to the 17th centuries in Europe and North Africa, researchers have pieced together a new understanding of how rat populations dispersed following the ebbs and flows of human trade, urbanism, and empires. View the full article

Climate change is already affecting plants and animals worldwide and is a growing threat to biodiversity, adding a new layer to the existing challenges of habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, and overexploitation. A new study surveyed the recommendations of scientists for managing biodiversity in the face of climate change, providing a summary of practical guidance and identifying areas in need of further research. View the full article

A new study of leaf fossils conducted in the nation of Brunei on the island of Borneo has revealed that the current dominant tree group, the dipterocarps, has dominated the rainforests for at least four million years. The findings suggest that the current landscape is similar to what was present during the Pliocene Epoch, 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago, and may provide additional justification for conservation of these forests that support many critically endangered species. View the full article

Bird species that live in wooded areas are under stress from human-caused changes to forest composition, according to new research that quantifies the effects of forest 'degradation' on bird habitat. View the full article

Wildlife watchers generally welcome species that have arrived in the UK due to climate change, new research suggests. View the full article

The South American coati is a medium-sized mammal with a wide distribution in South America. Despite this, it is endangered in southern Brazil, primarily because of the loss of forest habitats. Researchers recorded an individual at the Canoas Airbase, one of the last remaining green spaces in a densely urbanized area of a large city in southern Brazil. View the full article

New research shows fungi and bacteria able to survive redwood tanoak forest megafires are microbial 'cousins' that often increase in abundance after feeling the flames. View the full article

A new study of a southwestern Washington floodplain finds that most native species adapt well to the invaders by shifting their food sources and feeding strategies. View the full article

Researchers have developed global forecasts that can provide up to a year's notice of marine heatwaves, sudden and pronounced increases in ocean temperatures that can dramatically affect ocean ecosystems. View the full article

Before being accidentally introduced to the New World by the 16th century slave trade, the yellow fever mosquito was a species native only to Africa. Highly adaptable, it has since become an invasive species in North America, but researchers at may have found a way to squash the pesky population in its juvenile stages. View the full article

Taylor Swift, an American singer known for her musical talents, has earned a new accolade. She now has a new species of millipede named after her. The new species of twisted-claw millipede was discovered in the mountains of Tennessee. Scientists described a total of 17 new species from the Appalachian Mountains. View the full article

Researchers have developed the maps at a fine-enough resolution to help conservation managers focus their efforts where they are most likely to help birds -- in individual counties or forests, rather than across whole states or regions. View the full article

Tracing the regional origin of everything from milk to invasive bugs is now possible thanks to a new project. A strontium isotope map means biological material can be pinpointed to distinct geographical regions in Aotearoa. View the full article

Entomologists have now shown that the more plant species there are in a meadow, the more bee species are needed for pollination. They found that the less common bees often visited specific plants others didn't, shedding new light on the role of rare species in ecosystems -- critical to conservation efforts because rare species are most at risk of extinction from habitat loss, pollution, climate change and other factors. View the full article

The concept of ecosystem services allows researchers to quantify the benefits that nature contributes to people into monetary units. A new study suggests that trees provide greater economic value when used to regulate climate and air quality than the value they produce as wood products, food crops, and Christmas trees. View the full article

Like diseases affecting humans, parasites can wage a deadly evolutionary 'arms race' against their hosts. But can hosts and parasites upgrade their weapons at the same rate? View the full article

Deep in a Panamanian rain forest, bird populations have been quietly declining for 44 years. A new study shows a whopping 70% of understory bird species declined in the forest between 1977 and 2020. And the vast majority of those are down by half or more. View the full article

Researchers have found brown trout better survived a Flavobacterium disease outbreak if the fish had larvae of freshwater pearl mussel in their gills. In another study, duck mussels were observed to filter and remove Flavobacterium from the water. View the full article

Polynesian explorers discovered a treasure trove of unique plants and animals when they arrived in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, according to new research. View the full article

Researchers have combined macro photography with DNA metabarcoding to create a new botanical "CSI" tool that may hold the key to safeguarding the future of Australia's critically endangered carnivorous plants. View the full article

A research team has, for the first time in Europe, identified a specimen of Asian needle ant (Brachyponera chinensis), a highly invasive species. View the full article

Earthworms introduced into northern North America have a negative impact on the insect fauna above ground. Soil ecologists found this impact for abundance as well as for biomass and species richness of insects. Their results indicate that changes in insect communities can have causes that have previously received little attention. View the full article

Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that dialects do not exist in zebra finches. However, with the help of an artificial intelligence technique, researchers have now been able to show that the songs of four different zebra finch populations differ systematically. They also discovered that these 'cryptic dialects' are decisive for the females' choice of mate. Thus, female zebra finches pay more attention to a cultural trait than to male appearance. View the full article

Scientists have have demonstrated how to use a naturally occurring fungus to crush local populations of tawny crazy ants. View the full article