Environment

Research shows, during four recent major hurricanes, important public safety messaging was drowned out by more trivial social content--including people tweeting about pets, sharing human-interest stories, or bickering about politics. That's a big problem for officials working to understand where help is needed and to communicate effectively with people impacted by disasters. When natural disasters

To whales that hunt with soundwaves in lightless ocean depths, a torn plastic party balloon and a delicious squid may appear remarkably similar, according to a study. Underwater acoustic testing with pieces of beach plastic showed that the trash almost always sounded like food, especially plastic films and fragments of plastic, two particularly noisy items

Journals focused on ferns, clams, or coral reefs had proportionally more of their articles cited by the federal government when protecting species than more prominent, higher-impact journals. The naturalist stepping through old-growth forest collecting fern samples is the most likely to observe subtle species and habitat changes on the ground and find an outlet in

A new study has found that oceanographic connectivity (the movement and exchange of water between different parts of the ocean) is a key influence for fish abundance across the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Connectivity particularly impacted herbivorous reef fish groups, which are most critical to coral reef resilience, providing evidence that decision-makers should incorporate connectivity

Scientists found that from 1995-2021, occupancy of boulder habitats by lobsters dropped 60%. Meanwhile, the number of lobsters residing in sediment or featureless ledge habitats increased 633% and 280%, respectively. Lobster population density across all types of habitats declined too, but the mean size of an adult lobster was greater in 2021 than in 1996.

New research shows how human activities, like fertilizer use and polluting, are impacting nitrogen-fixing plants which are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems by adding nitrogen to the soil. Mississippi State University is part of a European-American collaboration studying how human activities, like fertilizer use and polluting, are impacting nitrogen-fixing plants which are crucial for maintaining

Researchers identify the crucial protein for controlling the biosynthesis of steroidal glycoalkaloids and saponins in plants of the genus Solanum and for the first time demonstrate the ecological role of steroidal saponins in insect defense. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have identified GAME15 as a key protein that regulates the biosynthesis

Along coastal California, the possibility of earthquakes and landslides are commonly prefaced by the phrase, 'not if, but when.' This precarious reality is now a bit more predictable thanks to researchers who found that conditions known to cause slip along fault lines deep underground also lead to landslides above. Along coastal California, the possibility of

Artificial nests can boost the breeding success of endangered African penguins, but different designs are more effective at different colonies according to a new study. Artificial nests can boost the breeding success of endangered African penguins, but different designs are more effective at different colonies according to a new study by an international team of

Environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, is genetic material shed from animals and plants that scientists can use to tell what kinds of organisms are living in an environment. However, scientists currently cannot reliably use eDNA to estimate how many animals of a given species are in the environment, especially in smaller populations. This is

A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have surged by 60 percent globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal forests. A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from forest fires have surged by 60% globally since 2001, and almost tripled

An international team of botanists finds no proof of extinctions in Centinela, but abundant evidence that Centinela's flora lives on in the scattered remaining fragments of coastal Ecuador's forests. One of the most notorious mass extinction events in modern times occurred on a hilltop in coastal Ecuador in the 1980s. Ninety species of plants known