Breakthrough might save the Great Barrier Reef
Starfish feed on coral & can wipe out big sections of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. But scientists are figuring out ways to solve that.
food web
A badger buries a cow in Utah, all by itself
We know a little more about how scavengers cache their food supply in the Utah desert, thanks to some biologists at the University of Utah.
To manage an ecosystem, look at predators & prey
When policymakers decide how to manage wildlife, they look at many factors; sometimes one of those factors is entertainment.
Sibling rivalry seen in some birds
Did you know some birds are more likely to exaggerate their need for food if their parents are likely to breed again (or if they already have).
Mutualism becomes competition in a food web
Mutually beneficial relationships abound in nature. Each organism survives better if the other is present. Competition spoils that.
Modeling a food web with math
A significant mathematical model describing the nature of food webs was published a year ago. It could change how ecosystem is taught at all levels in our schools.
Gulls find food by following diving ducks
Gulls follow diving ducks & take the bottom-dwelling mussels the ducks bring to the surface, a food source ordinarily inaccessible to them.
Blue whales forage efficiently & stay big
The largest animals to have ever lived on Earth, blue whales maintain their enormous body size by optimizing the energy they gain from the krill they eat.
The eaten outpace the eaters in biomass pyramid
Ecosystems have a carrying capacity, the maximum biomass each trophic level can support given finite resources. Here's the pattern.