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This year the extent of summer sea ice in the Antarctic is the lowest on record. The Antarctic sea ice minimum marks the day – typically towards end of February – when sea ice reaches its smallest extent at the end of the summer melt season, before expanding again as the winter sets i

A University of Michigan biologist combined the techniques of “resurrection ecology” with the study of dated lake sediments to examine evolutionary responses to heavy-metal contamination over the past 75 years. To accomplish this, Mary Rogalski hatched long-dormant eggs of

“The seagrass appear to combat bacteria, and this is the first research to assess whether that coastal ecosystem can alleviate disease associated with marine organisms,” said lead author Joleah Lamb of Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, where she is a Natur

A Florida State University researcher has drawn a link between the impact of climate change and untreated drinking water on the rate of gastrointestinal illness in children. Assistant Professor of Geography Chris Uejio has published a first-of-its-kind study, “Drinking-water treatment

Museum researchers working in the lower Congo River have long been impressed by the remarkable biodiversity of the region—and curious as to what drives it. “In this very short section of the Congo, we find a tremendous diversity of fishes,” said Melanie Stiassny, Axelrod Research Cura

A study by Manchester and Stanford scientists into the effects on fish of a 2010 oil disaster could shed new light on how air pollution affects humans’ hearts. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster resulted in a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an area of water which is heavily po

California sardine stocks famously crashed in John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row.” New research, building on the pioneering work of Soutar and Isaacs in the late 1960’s and others, shows in greater detail that such forage fish stocks have undergone boom-bust cycles for centuries, with at l

While international efforts are underway to protect iconic monarch butterflies from disappearing, the latest population count has found their numbers have dropped by nearly one-third since last year. According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, in the 1990s, an estim

Savannahs form one of the largest habitats in the world, covering around one-fifth of the Earth’s land area. They are mainly to be found in sub-Saharan Africa. Savannahs are home not only to unique wildlife, including the ‘Big Five’ – the African elephant, rhin

In order to restore tropical rainforests, it is not enough to simply set up protected areas and leave them to their own devices. In particular, tree species with large fruit and seeds distributed by birds will have to be actively planted. This is one of the conclusions of a large-scal