Ecosystem

In a twist on using animals as biological control, a method that in the past has often had disastrous outcomes for native wildlife, scientists have successfully trained native bush rats to actively seek out a new food source they’ve never seen before.

A new study analyzing 20 years of data has found that our oceans have changed color, indicating a significant shift in marine ecosystems that is not due to natural variation. Researchers say it's likely due to human-caused climate change.

Drug lord Pablo Escobar may be long gone, however he’s still wreaking havoc on his native Colombia thanks to his escaped hippos. Scientists have now discovered there are twice as many as previously thought, and they don't know what to do about it.

Want to play a part in the survival of bumblebees? Cater for them! A new study has revealed which plants these VIPs (very important pollinators) make a beeline for, so you can grow their favorite flora and help these fuzzy fussy eaters thrive.

Mosses are one of the planet's most common – and undervalued – plants. A new study has finally given moss the recognition it deserves, highlighting its importance in maintaining Earth’s ecosystems and its potential for reducing our carbon footprint.

An expedition to the “Lost City of the Monkey God” in Honduras has revealed a trove of natural treasures. The pristine forests house an incredibly rich ecosystem, including species new to science, some unknown in the area, some that haven’t been seen in decades and others that were believed extinct.

The Pleistocene Park project is aiming to rebuild a lost Ice Age ecosystem in Siberia, and its directors, Sergey and Nikita Zimov, say it could help slow the effects of climate change. Now, the initiative is running a crowdfunding campaign to help transport a new herd of animals to the park.

A new study has calculated there is more than 15 million gallons of toxic mercury trapped in the permafrost north of the equator. That's around 10 times the mercury emissions produced by humans over the past 30 years and researchers are understandably concerned about the effects it could have.

​What happens when you purposely sink an historic WWII ship with a large scale sculpture of a giant octopus? A new fascinating marine experiment blending art and coral reef planting dubbed The Maverick BVI Art Reef.

Kudzu, zebra mussels and Africanized honeybees are some of the more well-known invasive species, but a team of international scientists says those are just the beginning. In a just-released report they warn that a new wave of biological invaders is on its way.

What happens when Nature decides to push the "reset" button on an ecosystem? The answer can be found in the aftermath of the 2012 El Hierro eruptions. While the magma vaporized everything in its path, it also provided a blank slate for a mysterious organism to move in and restart life anew.

With various “de-extinction” projects in the works right now, researchers have published a paper analyzing the ecological benefits, risks and responsibilities of reintroducing once-extinct species into modern ecosystems.