Bobolink

Restoring Native Grasslands to Help Birds

Grassland birds, such as the prairie chicken, plover, and bobolink, need a complex environment of varying structure, area, and grass types.
Olive groves, vineyards and farms on rolling hills of Abruzzo. Italy

Soil Health Can Positively Affect Farm Revenue

In a case study from Italy, researchers found that biodiverse soil had good economic results for farms.
The Western Fence Lizard

There’s Something About Lizard Blood

The blood of western fence lizards has the ability to neutralize Lyme disease in ticks—so why aren’t scientists bottling it to sell at the grocery store?
Performance of Color-Based Versus Semantic Segmentation

Botanists Use Machine Learning to Accelerate Research

A new artificial intelligence program called ARADEEPOPSIS will help botanists rapidly classify plant phenotypes.
Ship sunset cruise on the Antarctic peninsula

Antarctica Is Warming. Are Invasive Species on the Way?

Algae, crustaceans, and other types of organisms can hitchhike into new ecosystems under the hulls of ships.
A road sign at a wildlife refuge that warns the drivers of turtles crossing the road.

Road Density Threatens Turtle Populations

Roadkill may be inevitable, but turtles are especially vulnerable—particularly females, putting species survival at risk.
tree bark

Tree Bark and Fire

A tree's hard outer bark helps it survive. Studying why it's thicker on some trees than others could help scientists understand how to protect them.
Advertisement for Ayer's Sarsaparilla

Plant of the Month: Sarsaparilla

From an early modern treatment for syphilis to Saturday-morning cartoons, the meaning and significance of the plant has transformed through time and space.
Poison ivy

With Climate Change, Poison Ivy May Get Itchier

Bad news for the estimated 80 percent of the human population that's allergic to the dreaded—and abundant—leaves of three.
Nomadic ethnic Tibetan women stand amongst their Yak herd at a camp on July 27, 2015 on the Tibetan Plateau in Yushu County, Qinghai, China.

Yaks in Tibet

As China tried to expand into Tibet in the late 1930s, it looked to the yak as a way to "modernize" Tibetan culture.