Feature Channels: Nature

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Love hurts "” really bad, for some unlucky crickets, anyway.

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A landmark study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and US Geological Survey says tigers living in one of India's best-run national parks lose nearly a quarter of their population each year from poaching and natural mortality, yet their numbers remain stable due to a combination of high reproductive rates and abundant prey.

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A team of teenage volunteers will explore the changing ecology of coral reefs in the Bahamas this summer, part of an Earthwatch-supported research project led by John Rollino of Earth Tech. Inc. This vital research on coral decline is featured in A Year on Earth, a new TV documentary about teens making a difference by participating in scientific research, to air on Animal Planet, Earth Day, April 22, at 6:00 p.m.. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)

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Though promiscuity may be risky behavior for humans, it's healthy for honeybees: Queen honeybees who indulge in sexual surfeits with multiple drones produce more disease-resistant colonies than monogamous monarchs, according to a new study.

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A 100-million-year-old bee fossil and a DNA study suggest that bees may have originated in the Northern rather than the Southern Hemisphere and from a different family of bees than previously thought.

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A team of researchers, including Laurie Godfrey, anthropology professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has found that nocturnal lemurs thought to belong to different species because of their strikingly different coat colors are not only genetically alike, but belong to the same species.

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In this month's American Naturalist (Dec. 2006) and the Nov. 2006 issue of Evolution, Indiana University Bloomington scientists present an entirely new function for the horns: during their development, Onthophagus horned beetles use their young horns as a sort of can opener, helping them bust out of thick larval shells.

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A study led by University of California, San Diego biologists shows that invasive Argentine ants appear to use genetic differences to distinguish friend from foe, a finding that helps to explain why these ants form enormous colonies in California.

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In a new paper appearing in the journal Bioscience, the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) examines the current hodgepodge of population target levels (PTLs) being used by wildlife managers, and proposes a simpler, four-tiered system to measure conservation success.

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University of Alberta researchers have pinpointed a section in the tiny hummingbird's brain that may be responsible for its unique ability to stay stationary mid-air and hover.

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Rising temperatures may disrupt gender balance among reptile populations, says Earthwatch-supported crocodile researcher Dr. Alison Leslie of University of Stellenbosch. Her comments came during the filming of A Year on Earth, premiering this week on Discovery Kids Channel.

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A technique used since the 1930s to estimate the abundance of fish has shown for the first time that enforcement patrols are effective at reducing poaching of elephants, African buffaloes and black rhinos in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

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With the annual dolphin drive hunts in full swing in the Japanese villages of Taiji and Futo, a consortium of scientists and zoo and aquarium professionals continues its public awareness campaign to end the practices and is now appealing to both the government of Japan and the global community.

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For the first time, Lake Oloidien has attracted thousands of lesser flamingos, a near-threatened species hard hit by recent die-offs. Earthwatch-supported scientist Dr. David Harper (University of Leicester) and colleagues, who have been researching the lake ecology of Kenya's Rift Valley for almost two decades, are investigating the die-offs at nearby lake Bogoria. (VIDEO EMBEDDED)

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In an effort to protect a large grassland bird from possible extinction, the government of Cambodia has recently moved to set aside more than one hundred square miles of habitat for the Bengal florican, a bird now classified as endangered, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

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Genetic analysis of an obscure, worm-like creature retrieved from the depths of the North Atlantic has led to the discovery of a new phylum, a rare event in an era when most organisms have already been grouped into major evolutionary categories.

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A pig-sized, tusked creature that roamed the earth some 27 million years ago represents a missing link between the oldest known relatives of elephants and the more recent group from which modern elephants descended, an international team that includes University of Michigan paleontologist William J. Sanders has found.

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Roads used for natural resource extraction, such as logging or oil and mineral removal, often run through otherwise undisturbed forested areas. A new study led by a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher has found that these forest roads, whether in current use or abandoned years earlier, negatively impact wildlife populations.

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Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Vermont have discovered a key molecular mechanism that allows tiny flies and other "no-see-ums" to whirl their wings at a dizzying rate of up to 1,000 times per second. The findings are being reported in the Oct. 30-Nov. 3 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Dr. Tigga Kingston of Texas Tech University is conducting one of the most intensive studies of bat assemblages in the world, deep in Malaysia's ancient rainforest. Earthwatch volunteers assisting Kingston gain new perspectives on the environment and the crucial role of these flying mammals in tropical ecology.

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What makes a bee a he or a she? The new insights could prove useful in designing strategies for breeding honey bees, which are major pollinators of economically important crops---and notoriously tricky to breed.

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North American beekeepers love to have pedigreed bees, but the research now shows mixed ancestry. The sequencing indicates bees originated in Africa and spread from there to Europe, the Mideast and Asia Minor.

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A fly introduced to control pests in 1906 is also linked to the decline of several native species of butterflies and moths.

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When a female animal compares males to choose a mate, she can't order a laboratory genetic screen for each suitor. Instead, she has to rely on external cues that may indicate genetic quality. Until now, biologists have focused on elaborate ornaments, such as the peacock's tail, as cues that females might use.

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Researchers found very few grey whales in their traditional feeding grounds in the North Pacific last summer. Earthwatch volunteers will help Bath University's Dr. William Megill investigate unusual feeding behavior exhibited by grey whales off Baja California, Mexico, this winter.

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A group of scientists led by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) working in Mongolia's windswept Gobi Desert recently fitted high-tech GPS (Global Positioning System) collars on eight saiga antelope in an effort to help protect one of Asia's most bizarre-looking "“ and endangered "“ large mammals.

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A study of ten beaked whales of two poorly understood species shows their foraging dives are deeper and longer than those reported for any other air-breathing species. This extreme deep-diving behavior is of particular interest since beaked whales stranded during naval sonar exercises have been reported to have symptoms of decompression sickness.

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CHICAGO"”Almost 50 years ago, Michael Armas, a mining engineer from the central Philippines, discovered some fossils in a tunnel he was excavating while exploring for phosphate. Forty years later, Dr. Hamilcar Intengan, a friend of his who now lives in Chicago, recognized the importance of the bones and donated them to The Field Museum.

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They may be black and white, but new research at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta shows that giant pandas can see in color.

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Researchers have uncovered physiological differences among female Glanville fritillary butterflies that allows some to move away from their birth place and establish new colonies. These venturesome butterflies are stronger fliers and reproduce more quickly compared to their less mobile female relatives. The study will be presented at Comparative Physiology 2006.

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The delicate lady bug in your garden could be frighteningly large if only there was a greater concentration of oxygen in the air, a new study concludes. The study adds support to the theory that some insects were much larger during the late Paleozoic period because they had a much richer oxygen supply. The study will be presented Comparative Physiology 2006.

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Scientists at the University of New Hampshire hope to learn more about memory and its evolution by studying the Clark's nutcracker, a bird with a particularly challenging task: remembering where it has buried thousands of pine nuts that serve as its sole supply of food for winter.

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Seals shiver when exposed to cold air but not when diving in chilly water, a finding that researchers believe allows the diving seal to conserve oxygen and minimize brain damage that could result from long dives. This research was presented at The American Physiological Society conference Comparative Physiology 2006: Integrating Diversity.

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The thyroid may play an important role in longevity, with longer-lived rodents showing significantly lower levels of a thyroid hormone that speeds metabolism. The study further strengthens the theory that the faster an animal's metabolism, the shorter its life, and vice versa. The thyroid releases hormones that regulate metabolic rate.

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Nothing can be more fun: Watch cockroaches race for glory, paint your face like a bug, grab a handful of maggots, and taste edible creepy-crawlies at "Insectapalooza 2006," the open house at Cornell University's Department of Entomology on Saturday, Oct. 14, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Comstock Hall.

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Fishermen caught and killed about 1 percent of the world's waved albatrosses in a year, according to a new study by Wake Forest University biologists. The research shows the Galapagos waved albatrosses are unintentionally killed when caught in fishing nets or on fishing hooks, but are also intentionally harvested for human consumption.

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The larvae of Antarctic midges never stop producing special proteins that minimize environmental stress, allowing them to withstand a range of intense environmental conditions in one of the world's harshest environments.

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Scientists have found preliminary evidence that narwhals, Arctic whales whose spiraled tusks gave rise to the myth of the unicorn, produce signature vocalizations that may facilitate individual recognition or their reunion with more distant group members.

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The American Physiological Society's, Comparative Physiology conference taking place October 8-11 includes symposia on the biomedical applications of suspended animation and comparative biology of aging. Here's your chance to talk to scientists who are studying animal physiology that apply to medicine, the environment and more.

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A new study from the National Wildlife Federation based on 65 different scientific studies shows the impact and extent of mercury pollution in wildlife is greater than previously thought.

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Tropical rainforests are among the most stable environments on Earth, but they are still no match for global climate change. Dr. Patricia Wright, primatologist and Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, finds that climate change could mean the difference between survival and extinction for endangered lemurs.

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Purdue University research has shown that the vole, a mouselike rodent, is not only the fastest evolving mammal, but also harbors a number of puzzling genetic traits that challenge current scientific understanding.

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Researchers at the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University finish a six-year study on roadside animal-detection systems.

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This year's population is probably the biggest Monarch watchers have seen in 10 years, but extreme temperatures in Texas and Oklahoma pose dangers.

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A team led by a conservationist from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society, working with the Chadian government and the European Union project CURESS near Chad's Zakouma National Park, has discovered 100 slaughtered elephants, most of them missing only their tusks "” a sure sign that poaching is on the upswing just outside of this renowned protected area.

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If you could peer microscopically into the closest freshwater pond, you'd hesitate before dipping a toe. Amid the murky water, you'd probably notice an oddly furry, pear-shaped organism gliding along"”and gobbling up everything in its path. This tiny predator has a big name--Tetrahymena thermophila--and a big fan club among scientists, as a star organism for research into how cells work.

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Cooling water temperature during the fall prompts the crucian carp to store vast amounts of glycogen in its brain and vastly reduce the amount of energy its brain needs. These physiological changes keep the brain functioning from February to April, when there is no oxygen in its ponds. The carp, a goldfish cousin, avoids predators this way.

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They take a long time before they mate and, once old enough, don't mate every year. Even so, sturgeons are heavily sought after for their eggs, which are made into caviar. For these and other reasons, many sturgeons - a variety of ancient, bottom-feeding fish - are in trouble.

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To a tiny tadpole, life boils down to two basic missions: eat, and avoid being eaten. But there's a trade-off. The more a tadpole eats, the faster it grows big enough to transform into a frog; yet finding food requires being active, which ups the odds of becoming someone else's dinner.

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A team of researchers from the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are mapping out areas of habitat suitable for the ivory-billed woodpecker, the largest and most regal member of the woodpecker family, which may still survive some 60 years after it was thought to have gone extinct.