News by Subject Biology

A new study helps explain why some animals are sometimes more often found in suburban areas than wild ones.

By integrating machine-learning technology with high-resolution imaging, scientists are improving the taxonomic resolution of fossil pollen identifications and greatly enhancing the use of pollen data in ecological and evolutionary research.

A research group of the University of Jena and the iDiv has discovered that insects have a decisive influence on the biodiversity and flowering phases of plants. If there is a lack of insects where the plants are growing, their flowering behaviour changes. This can result in the lifecycles of the insects and the flowering periods of the plants no longer coinciding. If the insects seek nectar, some plants will no longer be pollinated.

A horrifying insect soap opera with vampires, mummies and infant-eating parasites plays out on the stems and leaves of oak trees every day, and Rice University evolutionary biologist Scott Egan found the latest player, a new species of predatory wasp, within walking distance of his lab.

Where are small marine animals most vulnerable to getting eaten? In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct. 26, scientists sketched the first global "BiteMap" showing where the ocean's mid-sized predators are most active. By fishing with dried squid baits called "squid pops," they discovered rising temperatures can shape entire communities of predators and have potential impacts lower down the food web.