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.
Cattle in a forest

Silvopasture; Or, Why Are There Cows in the Woods?

Cattle grazing on invasive plants in longleaf pine forests could benefit ecosystems and farmers alike.
Jacques Cartier at Hochelaga engraving from A popular history of the United States: from the first discovery of the western hemisphere by the Northmen, to the end of the first century of the union of the states; preceded by a sketch of the prehistoric period and the age of the mound builders

Plant of the Month: Tree of Life

Indigenous people in North America used the conifer as an effective cure for scurvy during cold winters.
Dried flowers

Which Flowers Bloom First and Why?

A massive collection of dried flower specimens demonstrates that climate change disrupts the timing of spring blooms.
A beached whale painting

The Tragicomedy of Johanna the Super Whale

How a beached cetacean triggered one whale of a controversy.