Exotic Species News

April 8, 2025

Top Headlines

Apr. 1, 2025 — Scientists have released new and more accurate genome sequences for five species of duckweed. Their research reveals the specific genes responsible for some of the plant's most useful traits, allowing for new commercial agriculture ...

If Native Plants Are Going to Survive Climate Change, They Need Our Help to Move -- Here's How to Do It Safely

Mar. 26, 2025 — Many native plants in the U.S. cannot possibly move themselves fast enough to avoid climate-change driven extinction. If these native plants are going to have any chance of surviving into the future, ...

Getting Hit by Lightning Is Good for Some Tropical Trees

Mar. 26, 2025 — Getting zapped with millions of volts of electricity may not sound like a healthy activity, but for some trees, it is. A new study reports that some tropical tree species are not only able to tolerate lightning strikes, but benefit from them. The ...

Introduced Pacific Oysters Provide Biodiversity Benefits in Port River

Mar. 24, 2025 — The introduction of exotic species can pose significant challenges in the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems, yet researchers have found that Pacific oysters introduced to the Port River in Adelaide have influenced surprising ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:18pm EDT

The Devastating Human Impact on Biodiversity

Mar. 26, 2025 — Humans are having a highly detrimental impact on biodiversity worldwide. Not only is the number of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. This is one of the ...

How Extreme Weather Threatens Nature's Essential Services

Mar. 24, 2025 — A new model suggests that timber production in Minnesota could decrease by half as windstorms intensify with climate ...

Time Is Not the Driving Influence of Forest Carbon Storage

Mar. 18, 2025 — It is commonly assumed that as forest ecosystems age, they accumulate and store, or 'sequester,' more ...

Satellite Image Analysis Delivers New Insight Into the Functional Diversity of Tropical Forests

Mar. 5, 2025 — Satellite images from space are allowing scientists to delve deeper into the individual functions of different tropical forest canopies with new and ...

Tiny Musky Rat-Kangaroos Hold the Key to Explain Why 'Roos Hop

Mar. 19, 2025 — To understand why kangaroos hop -- a rarity among animals -- researchers have studied the musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus), a diminutive marsupial that weighs only 500 grams but is the ...

How a Hummingbird Chick Acts Like a Caterpillar to Survive

Mar. 17, 2025 — For the first time, scientists described a hummingbird chick potentially mimicking a poisonous caterpillar to avoid getting ...

The Long Wait for Bees to Return to Restored Grasslands

Mar. 13, 2025 — Recovered grasslands need more than 75 years of continuous management to regain their biodiversity because specialized pollinators are slow to return. A new finding underscores the importance of ...

Social Media Can Help Track Species as Climate Changes

Mar. 13, 2025 — Social media can help scientists track animal species as they relocate in response to climate change, new research ...

Death by Feral Cat: DNA Shows Cats to Be Culprits in Killing of Native Animals

Mar. 10, 2025 — Feral cats have long been suspects in killing native species reintroduced into Australian conservation areas. DNA testing of the carcasses puts ...

Nearly Half of Popular Tropical Plant Group Related to Birds-of-Paradise and Bananas Are Threatened With Extinction

Mar. 7, 2025 — A new analysis reveals that nearly half of the genus Heliconia, a group of tropical plants popular for their bright, beak-shaped flowers, are ...

Ecologists Document Utah's Bee Species and Say Beehive State Is Rich in Bee Diversity

Mar. 25, 2025 — Understanding bee distributions is essential to protecting these vital pollinators. Since conservation efforts and policies are often made at the state level, maintaining state-specific bee species ...

Scientists Develop Advanced Forest Monitoring Systems: Will Forests Monitor Themselves in the Future?

Mar. 7, 2025 — 'Forests are among the most important ecosystems in nature, constantly evolving, yet their monitoring is often delayed,' says an expert. Climate change, pests, and human activity are ...

Tropical Forests in the Americas Are Struggling to Keep Pace With Climate Change

Mar. 6, 2025 — Tropical rainforests play a vital role in global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. However, a major new study reveals that forests across the Americas are not adapting quickly enough ...

1,400 Species Found in Guts of Asian Hornets

Mar. 4, 2025 — A study of Asian hornets has found about 1,400 different species in their ...

Climate Change Increases the Risk of Tree Mortality in Urban Boreal Forests

Feb. 27, 2025 — Climate change poses a particular risk to pine trees growing in dry areas, a new study conducted in an urban recreational forest in Helsinki ...

New Spatial Mechanism for the Coexistence of Tree Species

Feb. 26, 2025 — The reason why so many tree species can coexist in species-rich forests has long been a subject of debate in ecology. This question is key to understanding the mechanisms governing the dynamics and ...

Hidden Allies: Trees and Fungi

Feb. 26, 2025 — Researchers report on the influence of an endophytic fungus of the genus Cladosporium on the defense of black poplars against herbivorous insects. The fungus, which lives inside the leaves, not only ...

New Manzanita Species Discovered, Already at Risk

Feb. 25, 2025 — A new species of manzanita -- a native California shrub famous for its twisted branches and wildfire resilience -- has been discovered on the central coast, but its survival is already threatened by ...

Bite-Size Clue May Help Rediscover the Missing Desert Rat-Kangaroo

Feb. 25, 2025 — An intriguing native Australian rat-kangaroo, thought to be probably extinct, may still be running around in the inhospitable remote Sturt Stony Desert -- and researchers have discovered new details ...

Tree Diversity Increases Carbon Sequestration

Feb. 25, 2025 — Forests planted with many different tree species have substantially higher aboveground carbon stocks and greater carbon fluxes than monocultures, shows a study. For the study, researchers analyzed ...

Unexpected Discoveries in Study of Giraffe Gut Flora

Feb. 24, 2025 — The gut bacteria of giraffes are not primarily determined by what they eat, but by the species they belong to. This is shown in a new study in which researchers have analyzed the link between diet ...

Scientists Decode DNA of White Oak Tree

Feb. 20, 2025 — Highly valued economically, ecologically and culturally, the white oak (Quercus alba) is a keystone forest species and is one of the most abundant trees across much of eastern North America. It also ...

10 New Sponge Species Near Hawaii

Feb. 20, 2025 — Biologists, using a technique that explores both genes and structural characteristics, have introduced 10 new species of marine sponge. Despite their distinction as one of Earth's oldest ...

Urban Environments Promote Adaptation to Multiple Stressors

Feb. 19, 2025 — Animal populations from urban areas show significantly higher resilience to stressful environmental conditions. The mussel and crustacean species studied were able to adapt to disturbed environments, ...

Repeated Invasions Shape NZ's Bird Life

Feb. 18, 2025 — New esearch shows Aotearoa has been increasingly accepting new bird species from around the world since the start of the Ice Age, offering clues into future migration ...

Reintroducing Wolves to Scottish Highlands Could Help Address Climate Emergency

Feb. 17, 2025 — Reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland which could take in and store one million tons of CO2 annually, according to a new ...

Protected Habitats Aren't Enough to Save Endangered Species, Study Finds

Feb. 13, 2025 — In tropical forests, endangered species inside protected habitats are still in danger from threats from beyond their sanctuaries, according to a new ...

Where Do Invasive Species Spread and Why? Researchers Take a Novel Approach to Find the Answer

Feb. 12, 2025 — Researchers took a deep dive to understand why certain locations are more susceptible and attractive to invasions by non-native plants or animals, making them prime targets for these species to ...

Native Bee Populations Can Bounce Back After Honey Bees Move out

Feb. 11, 2025 — Managed honey bees have the potential to affect native bee populations when they are introduced to a new area, but a new study suggests that, under certain conditions, the native bees can bounce back ...

Some Species of Baleen Whales Avoid Attracting Killer Whales by Singing Too Low to Be Heard

Feb. 6, 2025 — New research finds some baleen whale species call at such deep frequencies that they're completely undetectable by killer whales, which cannot hear sounds below 100 hertz. These also tend to be ...