ecology

Predators Have Evolved to Not Overexploit Their Resources. Can Humans Do The Same?

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People have been trying to understand how predators and prey are able to stay balanced within our planet’s ecosystems for at least 2,400 years. The Greek author Herodotus even raised the question in his historical treatise Histories, written around 430 BC.   And when Charles Darwin published in 1859 his revolutionary theory of evolution in … Read more

Trees: There may be 9200 more species in the world than we thought

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A new global estimate of tree diversity suggests there are thousands of undiscovered species, but many will be rare and vulnerable to extinction Environment 31 January 2022 By Adam Vaughan Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador, South America robertharding / Alamy Earth is home to many more types of tree than previously thought, according to researchers who … Read more

Fossils: Prehistoric ichthyosaurs evolved rapidly to be as big as whales

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A newly discovered fossil shows that within just 3 million years of their first appearance on Earth, ichthyosaurs had evolved into 17-metre-long giants Life 23 December 2021 By Riley Black An artist’s impression of Cymbospondylus youngorum Stephanie Abramowicz Fossil remains of one of the ocean’s earliest giants have been unearthed in Nevada. Named Cymbospondylus youngorum, … Read more

Antarctica: Remarkable trove of species found living beneath ice shelf

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The variety of species found below an Antarctic ice shelf shows that life can survive in hostile, food-poor environments for thousands of years Environment 20 December 2021 By Adam Vaughan Hot water drilling in Antarctica Sophie Berger/AWI An astonishing variety of marine life has been discovered in the freezing darkness hundreds of metres below Antarctica’s … Read more

Robots: Mechanical fish scares invasive species so badly it cannot breed

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Eastern mosquitofish, a problem invasive species, can be prevented from reproducing using a robot fish that they find scary Technology 16 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes A robotic fish (top) that mimics the natural predator of mosquitofish (bottom right) Giovanni Polverino Robotic fish might help solve an ecological problem by scaring an invasive fish species … Read more