Articles for category: Ecology

Adorable black-tailed prairie dog standing alert in a green grassy field.

Prairie Dog Towns and the Species That Depend on Them

Maria Faith Saligumba

Beneath the endless blue skies of North America’s grasslands, something extraordinary unfolds just below the surface. Prairie dog towns, often mistaken for simple clusters of burrowing rodents, are in fact bustling underground cities teeming with life, drama, and survival. These intricate networks of tunnels and mounds don’t just belong to the prairie dogs—they shape the ...

10 Amazing Facts About Crystals and Their Role in Earth's Formation

10 Amazing Facts About Crystals and Their Role in Earth’s Formation

Andrew Alpin

 Have you ever held a crystal in your hand and wondered about its journey? Maybe you’ve admired the glint of quartz in a stone or marveled at the geometric perfection of a faceted gem. These aren’t just pretty objects. Each one carries a story that stretches back billions of years, written in atomic structures and ...

What If All Ocean Life Disappeared? The Catastrophic Ripple Effect on Earth

What If All Ocean Life Disappeared? The Catastrophic Ripple Effect on Earth

Gargi Chakravorty

Have you ever wondered what keeps the planet breathing? It’s not just the rainforests you’re picturing. Right now, beneath the waves, trillions of microscopic organisms are working overtime to produce the very air filling your lungs. If they vanished tomorrow, you’d be facing a catastrophe beyond anything humanity has ever witnessed. Picture this scenario: Every ...

Celebrating Bat Appreciation Day: A Call to Action

Earth Day: How Beavers, Bats, and Bugs Help Fight Climate Change

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine a world where the tiniest creatures and the most unlikely animals become the unexpected heroes in the battle against climate change. Every year, Earth Day reminds us that our planet’s fate isn’t only in the hands of world leaders or scientists—it’s also shaped by beavers gnawing on trees, bats darting through twilight skies, and ...

A serene forest scene with sunlight filtering through tall trees, casting a warm glow.

When Forests Are Owned by Corporations With No Employees

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine walking through a dense, ancient forest, the air thick with the scent of pine and damp earth, only to discover that every towering tree, every whispering leaf, belongs not to a family, a community, or even a government, but to a faceless corporation—one with no employees, no caretakers, and no human hands to tend ...

Mouthwatering salmon nigiri sushi held by chopsticks, ready to eat.

Salmon Wars: How Competing Species and Politics Shape Alaska’s Waters

Trizzy Orozco

The story of Alaska’s salmon is more than just a tale of fish. It’s a high-stakes drama—one that pits species against species, neighbor against neighbor, and science against politics. Imagine rivers teeming with life, where the pulse of migration is so intense you can feel it in your bones. But beneath the surface, fierce competition ...

Beaver Dam

Beavers and the Building of Wetland Ecosystems

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine a creature so powerful, yet so unassuming, that its daily routines can transform barren landscapes into thriving, watery paradises. Beavers, with their relentless energy and remarkable ingenuity, are the unsung architects of nature. Their work doesn’t just shape their own homes—it breathes life into entire ecosystems, creating oases where countless plants and animals flourish. ...

a school of fishes

When Fish Cross Borders: The Political Problem of Migrating Tuna

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine a creature that can swim thousands of miles across the open ocean, crossing invisible lines that humans have drawn on maps, but is completely unaware of their existence. Now, picture dozens of nations watching anxiously as these animals—tuna—move across their waters, carrying not just their silvery bodies, but the hopes, economies, and even rivalries ...