ecology

We often think of herbaria as a scientific resource used by researchers to study plant taxonomy, evolution, conservation and climate change, perhaps. But herbarium collections are also full of human stories. They hold traces of collectors, artists, gardeners, botanists, places, journeys and changing relationships between people, plants and nature. Digitisation

A tiny hole in Namibia’s dry bushland drops into a dark world where a hidden lake, rare blind life, and danger wait far below the surface.

A hangover inspired Colin Carlson to meld climate change, public health and ecology. After a night out with a parasitologist, Carlson sat at brunch asking that friend whether parasites could—like so many of the organisms he worked with—go extinct from climate change. The two went on to conduct the largest study to date of parasite biodiversity, finding that up to one third of parasite species are…

Mangroves are globally important coastal wetland ecosystems that occupy the interface between freshwater, terrestrial, and marine environments, providing critical services including carbon sequestration, shoreline stabilization, water-quality regulation, and biodiversity support. Despite their importance, mangrove wetlands face increasing pressures from climate change, altered hydrological regime…

Scientific Data, Published online: 16 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-07481-z The global compendium of Aedes japonicus: An Underappreciated Arbovirus Vector of growing concerns

Wharfedale, Yorkshire: On the trail of a wood warbler, I find a suite of woodland plants rising up from a fascinating land formation – limestone pavement Grass Wood is a magnificent fragment of ancient woodland owned and exceptionally well managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. It is home to some lovely plants including lily of the valley and herb paris. What became my defining revelation about…

Glaciers are awe-inspiring, slow-moving rivers of ice powerful enough to reshape Earth—but for certain wee creatures, they’re also home. New research has identified more than 150 different species that live on glaciers, with nearly half of these animals having only ever been reported at glacial sites. And these are true animals, not single-celled microbes. Even more intriguingly, these critters s…

Stratospheric ozone variability continues to modulate biologically harmful UV-B radiation, exerting strong selective pressure on terrestrial green algae. These organisms have evolved protective mechanisms such as the biosynthesis of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), which absorb UV radiation, thereby acting as sunscreen compounds. Here, we integrated ecophysiology and untargeted metabolomics t…

Scientists thought they knew much of what lived inside the world's longest cave system. Then an exploration deep underground revealed a surprising resident hidden within the darkness.

Insect gut microbiomes are recognized as potential reservoirs of enzymatic activities relevant to plastic metabolism. Here, we investigated the taxonomic and functional dynamics of the Tenebrio molitor gut microbiota under dietary exposure to low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using 16S rRNA sequencing and shotgun metagenomics. Significant compositional shifts we…

Pine wilt disease severely threatens pine forests worldwide, yet coordinated shifts in endophytic bacterial and fungal communities across host tissues remain incompletely resolved. We analyzed 16S rRNA gene and ITS amplicons from needles, stems, and roots of healthy trees and naturally infected trees at the mid-to-late stages of disease in Pinus densiflora Siebold & Zucc. (Japanese red pine) and …

BackgroundPhysical activity levels modulate the gut microbiota and thereby influence health status. However, few studies have focused on rural populations. This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the gut microbiota of rural residents under different physical activity levels.MethodsA total of 311 rural residents (range: 18–90 years) were included in this cross-sectional study. Physica…

This corrective to our habitual emphasis on competition had me writing ‘wow’ in the margins again and again When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, the Industrial Revolution and British colonialism were in the ascendant. Charles Dickens had published Hard Times five years earlier; Queen Victoria nominally ruled a fifth of the world’s population. Darwin, writes science writ…

A major analysis of 25 studies across Africa and Asia finds that insecticide-treated nets cut malaria cases by up to 68% - but highlights challenges that threaten to undermine their long-term impact.

Beneath our feet lies a vast hidden fungal superhighway that helps sustain much of life on Earth—and scientists have now mapped it for the first time. Researchers estimate that these underground networks stretch an astonishing 110 quadrillion kilometers, move about 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide into soils each year, and play a major role in supporting plants and regulating the climate.

Hibernation is a specialized adaptive energy-saving survival strategy evolved by animals to withstand winter cold stress and food scarcity. Its core feature lies in profound metabolic suppression, characterized by a drastic reduction in metabolic rate during hibernation, accompanied by the coordinated downregulation of multiple physiological functions such as body temperature, heart rate, and res…

From the Reef to the Laboratory: Uncovering Hidden Contaminants in India's Coastal Fisheries