Environment Content

Sulfur Runoff Amplifies Mercury Concentrations in Florida Everglades

Katherine E Kerlin — May 08, 2025 - 10:26am

Sulfur from sugarcane crops is flowing into wetlands in the Florida Everglades, creating toxic methylmercury, which accumulates in fish, a ɫ��ɫ study finds.

How Are They Biting? High Speed Video Reveals Unexpected Jaw Movements in Reef Fish

Andy Fell — May 05, 2025 - 5:20pm

Some reef fish have the unexpected ability to move their jaws from side to side, biologists at the ɫ��ɫ have discovered. This ability – which is rare among vertebrate animals – allows these fish to feed rapidly and efficiently on algae growing on rocks. The work is published May 5 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Arctic Plants React Unexpectedly to Climate Change

Katherine E Kerlin — April 30, 2025 - 8:00am

Rapid climate change is upending established plant diversity and growth patterns in the Arctic, with species blooming in some areas and declining in others, suggests a study published today in the journal Nature.

The decades-long study of more than 2,000 plant communities across 45 areas in the Arctic tundra found that many locations saw vegetation change in type, abundance and growth, between 1981 and 2022.

Novel Study Calculates the Cost to Cattle Ranchers of an Expanding Wolf Population

Amy M Quinton — April 21, 2025 - 4:16pm

ɫ��ɫ researchers found that one gray wolf can cause between $69,000 and $162,000 in losses due to lower pregnancy rates in cows and decreased weight gain in calves.

A New Record for California’s Highest Tree

Katherine E Kerlin — April 17, 2025 - 9:00am

A ɫ��ɫ professor's pleasure hike in the High Sierra turned into a new elevation record for California's highest tree, the Jeffrey pine, which wasn't formerly known to grow at extreme elevations.

Avian Influenza Major Setback for Patagonian Seals

Katherine E Kerlin — April 16, 2025 - 3:33pm

It may take 100 years for the southern elephant seal colony of Península Valdés in Argentine Patagonia to look like it did in 2022. A study published in Marine Mammal Science projected population trajectories after the 2023 epidemic of the High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 virus, which killed almost all newborn pups and an unknown number of adults.

Can Citizen Science Be Trusted? New Study of Birds Shows It Can

Andy Fell — April 15, 2025 - 4:18pm

Platforms such as iNaturalist and eBird encourage people to observe and document nature, but how accurate is the ecological data that they collect?

The Conversation: Do Environmental Protection Laws Still Apply Under Trump?

Karen Michele Nikos — March 13, 2025 - 2:10pm

Environmental protection laws still apply even under Trump’s national energy emergency — here’s why

In response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of a “national energy emergency,” the U.S.

Awareness of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Saves Lives

Katherine E Kerlin — March 06, 2025 - 8:57am

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a bacterial infection spread by biting ticks to humans and dogs. Found on every continent except Antarctica, the infectious disease has been spreading since the early 2000s, most notably in Mexico and Brazil. Of the cases reported, more than half of infected people and dogs die.

A paper led by the ɫ��ɫ, highlights one of the most effective but often missing solutions to surviving this preventable, deadly disease: awareness. Most fatal cases stem from delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Burning Question: How to Save an Old-Growth Forest in Tahoe

Katherine E Kerlin — March 03, 2025 - 9:02am

On the shores of Lake Tahoe at Emerald Bay State Park grows what some consider to be the most iconic old-growth forest in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Giant ponderosa pines — some of the last remaining in the area — share space with at least 13 other tree species.