ecology
Estimated 140,000 plants facing extinction, report finds, threatening progress in medicine, farming
Plants and fungi hold promise as future medicines, fuels and foods, according to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. But opportunities ...
Tree planting can help slow global warming, but it’s no panacea, climate experts say
.... There’s room to plant enough trees, albeit many, many, many trees, to counter a big chunk of the planet-warming ...
Balance of Nature: Ecology’s enduring myth debunked
Strolling across his animated kingdom—Pride Rock in the distance—Mufasa explains to his young son Simba: “Everything you see exists together, ...
‘Insectageddon’? Biologists say we need better data before warning of impending insect extinction
As members of that subset of the human population who love insects, we have been alarmed by a recent publication ...
Some wild bee populations are declining. What can we do about it?
In recent years, a significant amount of attention has been paid to the numerous threats that are facing the honeybee ...
Was human brain growth driven by ecological challenges?
Most animals have brains in proportion to their body size – species with larger bodies often have larger brains. But ...
Jack of all environments: Is this why Homo sapiens survived and thrived?
When paleoanthropologists and archaeologists define what makes our species unique, they usually focus on our use of symbolism and language, ...
Why we don’t all need to be vegans in the pursuit of sustainability
Humans are unique in the degree to which they can manipulate their surroundings. And agriculture is one enormous way to ...
Biodiversity is more than just beauty: ‘It is the very apparatus that holds us steady’
Biodiversity is integral to life, but is more than just a huge number of species: It also represents the variations ...
Talking Biotech: Is genetic engineering the best way to resuscitate the American chestnut from blight?
Plant biologist Jared Westbrook: 4 billion American chestnut trees have died because of blight in the 20th century. Now, there ...
