liboplay

Ecosystems

More Stories in Ecosystems

  1. The Rogue River with trees and rocks on either side.
    Environment

    Heat waves in U.S. rivers are on the rise. Here’s why that’s a problem

    In recent years, heat waves in U.S. rivers have gotten more frequent, causing trouble for fish, plants and water quality.
    By Jude Coleman
  2. photo of people gathered around a
    Animals

     Tree-climbing carnivores called fishers are back in Washington’s forests

    Thanks to a 14-year reintroduction effort, fishers, or “tree wolverines,” are once again climbing and hunting in Washington’s forests after fur trapping and habitat loss wiped them out.
    By Brianna Randall
  3. Photo of a swamp
    Ecosystems

    ‘Fen, Bog & Swamp’ reminds readers why peatlands matter

    In her latest book, author Annie Proulx chronicles people’s long history with peatlands and examines the ecological value of these overlooked places.
    By Anna Gibbs
  4. Photo of Saba island
    Ecosystems

     A Caribbean island gets everyone involved in protecting beloved species

    Scientists on Saba are introducing island residents to conservation of Caribbean orchids, red-billed tropicbirds and urchins.
    By Anna Gibbs
  5. photo of Mwatime Hamadi holding propagule amid a mangrove ecosystem
    Climate

     How Kenyans help themselves and the planet by saving mangrove trees

    Communities in Kenya took action to restore their coastal mangrove forests, reaping economic and environmental benefits. Others are following suit.
    By Geoffrey Kamadi
  6. dark field microscope images of long, thin cable bacteria filaments
    Environment

     Electrical bacteria may help clean oil spills and curb methane emissions

    Cable bacteria are living electrical wires that may become a tool to reduce methane emissions and clean oil spills.
    By Nikk Ogasa
  7. A tardigrade
    Animals

     Tardigrades could teach us how to handle the rigors of space travel

    Tardigrades can withstand X-rays, freezing and vacuum. Now researchers are learning how they do it, with an eye toward human space travel.
    By Douglas Fox
  8. image of 430-million-year-old fossil of the fungus Prototaxites
    Environment

     Earth’s oldest known wildfires raged 430 million years ago

    430-million-year-old fossilized charcoal suggests atmospheric oxygen levels of at least 16 percent, the amount needed for fire to take hold and spread.
    By Sid Perkins
  9. someone holds a Kangaroo Island dunnart on a piece of cloth
    Animals

     These tiny marsupials survived wildfires only to face extinction from feral cats

    The Kangaroo Island dunnart was one species seen to reemerge after 2019–2020 Australian bushfires but is now closer than ever to extinction.
    By Asa Stahl