Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in The North American Sylva by François André Michaux. Illustration by Henri-Joseph Redouté, 1819.

Tradition in Turmoil: Sugar Maple and Climate Change

With harvests dependent on the spring freeze-thaw cycle, the maple industry is seeking ways to mitigate damage wrought by a changing climate.
Joseph Russell Smith

He Spoke for the Trees (and Also the Soil)

A champion of agroforestry, J. Russell Smith argued for the restoration of forests as key to sustainable agriculture in his seminal work Tree Crops.
A male maratus splendens spider on a stalk of grass.

Tiny Splendid Peacock Spiders

They have the fastest known jump among their kind according to a new study.
Aconitum napellus

Wolfsbane: A Poisonous Beauty

With a complex history related to hunting, magic, and madness, wolfsbane offers a glimpse into vernacular plant names and their associations with animals.

Trees With a Secret Message

The culturally modified trees of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska bring essential stories of the past into the present.
Lonomia obliqua

The Caterpillars That Can Kill You

Some species make venoms that are deadly. With more research, those toxic compounds could yield useful medicines.
Close-up of wild cereal grass (Poa annua) blooming over dark background

A Most Opportunistic Colonizer

Poa annua is a unique grass species now thriving on every continent—including Antarctica. Wherefore its wanderlust?
A Java Sparrow

Hard Bites and Slow Songs

How beak size affects the singing and evolution of songbirds.
Cast of left hind foot of Deinonychus antirrhopus

The Origins of the “Dinosaur Renaissance”

John Ostrom’s ideas were part of the so-called Dinosaur Renaissance, a paradigm shift that posited dinosaurs as the warm-blooded ancestors of birds.
A lump of peat used to make whiskey

Why Peat Is a Key Ingredient in Whisky and the Climate Crisis

Approximately 80 percent of Scotch whisky is made using peat as a fuel source for drying barley during the malting process. Is that a problem?