Trees News

March 21, 2026

Top Headlines

Scared of Spiders? Scientists Say the Real Nightmare Is Losing Them

Mar. 14, 2026 Spiders and insects may not be fan favorites, but they are vital to the health of ecosystems—and scientists barely know how they’re doing. Researchers found that nearly 90% of North America’s insect and arachnid species have no conservation ...

Half of Amazon Insects Could Face Dangerous Heat Stress

Mar. 5, 2026 A sweeping new study of more than 2,000 insect species reveals a troubling reality: many insects may be far less capable of coping with rising temperatures than scientists once hoped. Researchers found that while some species living at higher ...

Forests Are Changing Fast and Scientists Are Deeply Concerned

Feb. 9, 2026 Forests around the world are quietly transforming, and not for the better. A massive global analysis of more than 31,000 tree species reveals that forests are becoming more uniform, increasingly dominated by fast-growing “sprinter” trees, while ...

Scientists Are Rethinking Bamboo as a Powerful New Superfood

Jan. 16, 2026 Bamboo shoots may be far more than a crunchy side dish. A comprehensive review found they can help control blood sugar, support heart and gut health, and reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. Laboratory and human studies also suggest bamboo may ...

Scientists Found the Soil Secret That Doubles Forest Regrowth

Jan. 15, 2026 New research shows tropical forests can recover twice as fast after deforestation when their soils contain enough nitrogen. Scientists followed forest regrowth across Central America for decades and found that nitrogen plays a decisive role in how ...

Breakthrough Lets Scientists Watch Plants Breathe in Real Time

Jan. 7, 2026 Scientists have created a new way to watch plants breathe—live and in high definition—while tracking exactly how much carbon and water they exchange with the air. The breakthrough could help unlock crops that grow smarter, stronger, and more ...

This Tiny Plant Is Helping Solve Crimes

Jan. 1, 2026 Moss may look insignificant, but it can carry a hidden forensic fingerprint. Because different moss species thrive in very specific micro-environments, tiny fragments can reveal exactly where a person has been. Researchers reviewing 150 years of ...

We Are Living in a Golden Age of Species Discovery

Dec. 24, 2025 The search for life on Earth is speeding up, not slowing down. Scientists are now identifying more than 16,000 new species each year, revealing far more biodiversity than expected across animals, plants, fungi, and beyond. Many species remain ...

The Five Great Forests That Keep North America’s Birds Alive

Nov. 22, 2025 Migratory birds that fill North American forests with spring songs depend on Central America’s Five Great Forests far more than most people realize. New research shows these tropical strongholds shelter enormous shares of species like Wood ...

Ancient Viruses Hidden Inside Bacteria Could Help Defeat Modern Infections

Nov. 3, 2025 Penn State scientists uncovered an ancient bacterial defense where dormant viral DNA helps bacteria fight new viral threats. The enzyme PinQ flips bacterial genes to create protective proteins that block infection. Understanding this mechanism could ...

Scientists Discover Orchids Sprouting from Decaying Wood

Oct. 8, 2025 Kobe University researchers found that orchids rely on wood-decaying fungi to germinate, feeding on the carbon from rotting logs. Their seedlings only grow near deadwood, forming precise fungal partnerships that mirror those seen in adult orchids ...

The Red Sea That Vanished and the Catastrophic Flood That Brought It Back

Oct. 8, 2025 Researchers at KAUST have confirmed that the Red Sea once vanished entirely, turning into a barren salt desert before being suddenly flooded by waters from the Indian Ocean. The flood carved deep channels and restored marine life in less than ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:47am EDT

Scientists Discovered a Secret Deal Between a Plant and Beetles

Mar. 12, 2026 A study from Kobe University has uncovered a surprising partnership between Japanese red elder plants and Heterhelus beetles. The beetles pollinate the flowers but also lay eggs inside the developing ...

Scientists Discover Seven Strange Frog-Like Insects Hidden in Uganda’s Rainforest

Mar. 11, 2026 Researchers exploring Uganda’s Kibale National Park have discovered seven new species of frog-like leafhoppers. The tiny insects, named for their ...

Tiny Clump of Moss Helped Solve a Shocking Cemetery Crime

Mar. 6, 2026 A tiny piece of moss helped expose a cemetery scandal in Illinois, where workers allegedly dug up graves and resold burial plots. By identifying the moss and analyzing its chlorophyll to estimate its ...

T. Rex Took 40 Years to Reach Full Size, Study Finds

Mar. 5, 2026 Tyrannosaurus rex may have taken far longer to grow up than scientists once thought. By analyzing growth rings in fossilized leg bones from 17 tyrannosaur specimens and using new statistical methods, ...

For Every Known Vertebrate Species, Two More May Be Hiding in Plain Sight

Mar. 3, 2026 Earth’s vertebrate diversity may be far richer than anyone realized. A sweeping analysis of more than 300 studies suggests that for every known fish, bird, reptile, amphibian, or mammal species, ...

This Weird Deep-Sea Creature Was Named by Thousands of People Online

Feb. 7, 2026 A newly discovered deep-sea creature has become an unlikely Internet star. After appearing in a popular YouTube video, a rare chiton found nearly three miles beneath the ocean surface sparked a ...

A Hidden Chemical War Is Unfolding Inside Spruce Trees

Jan. 8, 2026 Spruce bark beetles don’t just tolerate their host tree’s chemical defenses—they actively reshape them into stronger antifungal protections. These stolen defenses help shield the beetles from ...

From Biting Flies to Feathered Dinosaurs, Scientists Reveal 70 New Species

Dec. 19, 2025 Researchers announced over 70 new species in a single year, including bizarre insects, ancient dinosaurs, rare mammals, and deep-river fish. Many were found not in the wild, but in museum ...

Wild Chimps Consume More Alcohol Than Anyone Expected

Dec. 1, 2025 Chimpanzees naturally ingest surprising amounts of alcohol from ripe, fermenting fruit. Careful measurements show that their typical fruit diet can equal one to two human drinks each day. This ...

This Tiny Worm Uses Static Electricity to Hunt Flying Insects

Oct. 15, 2025 A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and biologists at Emory and Berkeley. By generating opposite charges, the worm and ...

Hidden Gene Trick Lets Ants Smell With Super Precision

Sep. 20, 2025 Researchers uncovered how ants keep their powerful sense of smell clear: by using a genetic safeguard that silences surrounding receptor genes. This discovery not only solves a decades-old puzzle but ...

What Looks Like Dancing Is Actually a Bug’s Survival Trick

Oct. 3, 2025 The matador bug’s flamboyant leg-waving puzzled scientists for years, with early guesses pointing to courtship. But experiments revealed the waving is a defense tactic against predators. Related ...

How Orangutans Thrive in Feast and Famine Without Gaining Weight

Sep. 9, 2025 Orangutans, humans’ close evolutionary relatives, have developed remarkable strategies to survive in the unpredictable rainforests of Borneo. A Rutgers-led study reveals that these apes balance ...

Scientists Just Found Hidden Parasitic Wasps Spreading Across the U. S.

Sep. 15, 2025 Researchers discovered two new parasitic wasp species living in the U.S., tracing their origins back to Europe and uncovering clues about how they spread. Their arrival raises fresh questions about ...

Scientists Unlock Nature’s Secret to Superfast Mini Robots

Aug. 24, 2025 Ripple bugs’ fan-like legs inspired engineers to build the Rhagobot, a tiny robot with self-morphing fans. By mimicking these insects’ passive, ultra-fast movements, the robot gains speed, ...

Most of Earth’s Species Came from Explosive Bursts of Evolution

Aug. 23, 2025 A new study reveals that the majority of Earth’s species stem from a few evolutionary explosions, where new traits or habitats sparked rapid diversification. From flowers to birds, these bursts ...

This Is Where Tree Planting Has the Biggest Climate Impact

Aug. 21, 2025 Planting more trees can help cool the planet and reduce fire risk—but where they are planted matters. According to UC Riverside researchers, tropical regions provide the most powerful climate ...

Can Humans Regrow Eyes? These Snails Already Do

Aug. 6, 2025 Apple snails can fully regrow their eyes, and their genes and eye structures are strikingly similar to humans. Scientists mapped the regeneration process and used CRISPR to identify genes, including ...

Did Drunk Apes Help Us Evolve? New Clues Reveal Why We Digest Alcohol So Well

Aug. 1, 2025 Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, ...

Did Humans Learn to Walk in Trees?

July 29, 2025 In the quest to understand how and why early humans started walking on two legs, scientists are now looking to chimpanzees living in dry, open savannah-like environments for clues. A new study ...

These Butterflies Look the Same, but DNA Uncovered Six Hidden Species

Aug. 4, 2025 Glasswing butterflies may all look alike, but behind their transparent wings hides an evolutionary story full of intrigue. Researchers discovered that while these butterflies appear nearly identical ...

Woodpeckers Thrive Where Missiles Fly. How a Bombing Range Became a Wildlife Refuge

Aug. 4, 2025 In a surprising twist of conservation success, a U.S. Air Force bombing range in Florida has become a sanctuary for endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker. Michigan State University ...

From Air to Stone: The Fig Trees Fighting Climate Change

July 6, 2025 Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away carbon, sweeten surrounding soils, and still ...

Multisensory VR Forest Reboots Your Brain and Lifts Mood—study Confirms

July 6, 2025 Immersing stressed volunteers in a 360° virtual Douglas-fir forest complete with sights, sounds and scents boosted their mood, sharpened short-term memory and deepened their feeling of ...

These Beetles Can See a Color Most Insects Can’t

June 17, 2025 Beetles that can see the color red? That s exactly what scientists discovered in two Mediterranean species that defy the norm of insect vision. While most insects are blind to red, these beetles use ...

What a Dinosaur Ate 100 Million Years ago—Preserved in a Fossilized Time Capsule

June 10, 2025 A prehistoric digestive time capsule has been unearthed in Australia: plant fossils found inside a sauropod dinosaur offer the first definitive glimpse into what these giant creatures actually ate. ...

160 Million Years Ago, This Fungus Pierced Trees Like a Microscopic Spear

June 8, 2025 In a paper published in National Science Review, a Chinese team of scientists highlights the discovery of well-preserved blue-stain fungal hyphae within a Jurassic fossil wood from northeastern ...

Whales Blow Bubble Rings--And They Might Be Talking to Us

June 7, 2025 Humpback whales have been observed blowing bubble rings during friendly interactions with humans a behavior never before documented. This surprising display may be more than play; it could represent ...

Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends

May 29, 2025 Forest-based agroforestry can restore forests, promote livelihoods, and combat climate change, but emerging agroforestry initiatives focusing only on tree planting is leading to missed opportunities ...

Bed Bugs Are Most Likely the First Human Pest, New Research Shows

May 28, 2025 Researchers compared the whole genome sequence of two genetically distinct lineages of bed bug, and their findings indicate bed bugs may well be the first true urban ...