Articles for category: Ecology

Ghost Forest

Ghost Forests of the East Coast: The Climate Crisis You’ve Never Heard About

Maria Faith Saligumba

There’s something haunting happening along the East Coast of the United States—a striking transformation that’s turning once lush, green forests into eerie graveyards of dead trees. These places, called “ghost forests,” aren’t scenes from a post-apocalyptic movie. They are real, growing in number, and silently signaling a climate crisis that too many people have yet ...

Island Intelligence: What Lei Day Teaches Us About Biodiversity in the Pacific

Island Intelligence: What Lei Day Teaches Us About Biodiversity in the Pacific

Annette Uy

Imagine standing on a sun-drenched Hawaiian beach, surrounded by the scent of fresh flowers woven into vibrant leis, the ocean breeze carrying stories from distant shores. Lei Day, a celebration rich with tradition, is more than a festival of color and song—it is a living expression of the Pacific’s astonishing biodiversity. Each lei, crafted with ...

Dermocybe canaria

How Plants “Talk” Using Underground Fungal Networks (Wood Wide Web)

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine walking through a dense forest, sunlight streaming through the leaves, birds singing overhead—yet beneath your feet, an astonishing world is bustling with silent conversations. This isn’t the stuff of fantasy novels; it’s a real, hidden network connecting trees and plants across the planet. Scientists call it the “Wood Wide Web,” a vast underground system ...

Mount Mayon Is So Symmetrical, It Looks Photoshopped — Until It Erupts

Mount Mayon Is So Symmetrical, It Looks Photoshopped — Until It Erupts

Trizzy Orozco

Perfection in nature is rare, but sometimes, the universe surprises us with an almost unbelievable masterpiece. Mount Mayon, a volcano in the Philippines, is so strikingly symmetrical that it looks as if it were carved by a digital artist rather than shaped by millions of years of raw, chaotic geology. Its nearly perfect cone stuns ...

Colugo

Flying Lemurs and the Canopy Highways of Malaysian Rainforests

Maria Faith Saligumba

Picture this: a shadow glides silently above the tangled treetops of a Malaysian rainforest, weaving between ancient giants and slipping through shafts of golden sunlight. It’s not a bird, nor a bat, but a truly extraordinary creature—one that seems to defy gravity. Welcome to the mesmerizing world of flying lemurs, the masters of the canopy ...

Nutria rodent

How 5,200 Invasive Rodents Are Threatening Water Supply In The Bay Area

In the Bay Area, a hefty and invasive rodent known as the nutria is causing alarm as its population spreads rapidly. Weighing up to 25 pounds and notorious for their destructive burrowing habits, these semi-aquatic mammals threaten local infrastructure, ecosystems, and even public health. With a troubling history in California and a knack for rapid ...

Group of meerkats

Meerkats Teach Their Young How to Hunt Scorpions

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine a tiny, fearless mammal standing tall on its hind legs, scanning the parched African desert for danger, then suddenly darting down to snatch a venomous scorpion. Now picture it turning to its pup, not to shield it from harm, but to hand over the deadly creature—teaching, not protecting. This is the astonishing world of ...

Spotted deer crossing a public road

Why Wildlife Corridors Are Key to Animal Survival

Jan Otte

Wildlife corridors are natural or artificial pathways that facilitate the movement of animals between fragmented habitats created by human activities. These corridors play a critical role in ensuring genetic diversity, species survival, and ecological balance. Their importance is increasingly recognized as habitat fragmentation continues to threaten wildlife across the globe. The Problem of Habitat Fragmentation ...

Cute different black and white young lambs on pasture

Why Genetic Diversity Matters in Wild Populations

Genetic diversity refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is essential in natural populations because it forms the basis of the adaptation to changing environments, diseases, and climatic conditions. In the context of wild populations, genetic diversity plays a critical role in maintaining the health and ...

Milford Sound on a stormy day.

Fossils Beneath the Fiords: How New Zealand’s Landscape Hid Its Prehistoric Past

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine hiking through New Zealand’s wild Fiordland, mist curling around ancient peaks, waterfalls thundering into crystalline lakes—and beneath your feet, secrets millions of years old lie undisturbed. Hidden in the shadows of these dramatic landscapes are the remnants of creatures and ecosystems that time nearly erased. The story of New Zealand’s fossils is a tale ...