Exotic Species News
September 17, 2025
Top Headlines
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 biodiversity, ecological risks, and the role of ...
Sep. 9, 2025 — Flathead catfish are rapidly reshaping the Susquehanna River’s ecosystem. Once introduced, these voracious predators climbed to the top of the food chain, forcing native fish like channel catfish and bass to shift diets and habitats. Using stable ...
Sep. 9, 2025 — Plants are spreading across the globe faster than ever, largely due to human activity, and new research shows that the very same traits that make plants thrive in their native lands also drive their success abroad. A study of nearly 4,000 European ...
Sep. 9, 2025 — Tiny ocean microbes called Prochlorococcus, once thought to be climate survivors, may struggle as seas warm. These cyanobacteria drive 5% of Earth’s photosynthesis and underpin much of the marine food web. A decade of research shows they thrive ...
Sep. 1, 2025 — Sargassum has escaped the Sargasso Sea and exploded across the Atlantic, forming the massive Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Fueled by nutrient runoff, Amazon outflows, and climate events, these blooms now reshape ecosystems, economies, and ...
Aug. 31, 2025 — A massive global study uncovered a striking paradox: even as total burned land has dropped by more than a quarter since 2002, human exposure to wildfires has skyrocketed. Africa accounts for a ...
Aug. 25, 2025 — Researchers uncovered that the Maui wildfires caused a spike in deaths far higher than reported, with hidden fatalities linked to fire, smoke, and lack of medical access. They warn that prevention rooted in Native Hawaiian ecological knowledge is ...
Aug. 21, 2025 — Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations feed fire severity, but also shows that proactive ...
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 benefits because trees there grow year-round, absorb ...
Aug. 20, 2025 — Kelp forests bounce back faster from marine heatwaves when shielded inside Marine Protected Areas. UCLA researchers found that fishing restrictions and predator protection strengthen ecosystem resilience, though results vary by ...
Aug. 16, 2025 — Mediterranean bryozoans, including the “false coral,” are showing alarming changes in structure and microbiomes under acidification and warming. Field studies at volcanic CO₂ vents reveal that these stressors combined sharply reduce survival, ...
Aug. 15, 2025 — In a Puerto Rican coffee farm, researchers uncovered a web of chaotic interactions between three ant species and a predator fly, revealing how shifting dominance patterns make pest management unpredictable. By combining theories of cyclic dominance ...
Latest Headlines
updated 10:12am EDT
Aug. 9, 2025 — Over 300 million years ago, Illinois teemed with life in tropical swamps and seas, now preserved at the famous Mazon Creek fossil site. Researchers ...
Aug. 9, 2025 — Deep beneath the Antarctic seas lies a hidden network of 332 colossal submarine canyons, some plunging over 4,000 meters, revealed in unprecedented detail by new high-resolution mapping. These ...
Aug. 7, 2025 — Deep beneath the ocean's surface, a groundbreaking DNA study reveals that the deep sea is far more globally connected than once thought. By analyzing thousands of brittle stars preserved in museum ...
Aug. 4, 2025 — An intriguing new study reveals that over 80% of parasites found in the ancient poo of New Zealand’s endangered kākāpō have vanished, even though the bird itself is still hanging on. Researchers ...
Aug. 2, 2025 — Between 2003 and 2021, Earth saw a net boost in photosynthesis, mainly thanks to land plants thriving in warming, wetter conditions—especially in temperate and high-latitude regions. Meanwhile, ...
July 27, 2025 — Mesopelagic fish, long overlooked in ocean chemistry, are now proven to excrete carbonate minerals much like their shallow-water counterparts—despite living in dark, high-pressure depths. Using the ...
July 27, 2025 — For over two decades, satellites have quietly documented a major crisis unfolding beneath our feet: Earth's continents are drying out at ...
July 26, 2025 — A new eco-friendly plastic called LAHB has shown it can biodegrade even in the extreme environment of the deep ocean, unlike conventional plastics that persist for decades. In real-world underwater ...
July 21, 2025 — A scorching marine heatwave from 2014 to 2016 devastated the Pacific coast, shaking ecosystems from plankton to whales and triggering mass die-offs, ...
July 21, 2025 — Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. ...
Earlier Headlines
July 16, 2025 — After devastating wildfires scorched the Brazilian Pantanal, an unexpected phenomenon unfolded—more jaguars began arriving at a remote wetland already known for having the densest jaguar population ...
July 16, 2025 — Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many ...
July 8, 2025 — High heat and heavy metals dampen a bumblebee’s trademark buzz, threatening pollen release and colony chatter. Tiny sensors captured up-to-400-hertz tremors that falter under environmental stress, ...
July 7, 2025 — Feral honey bees, once celebrated for their agricultural value, are now threatening native ecosystems in Southern California by monopolizing pollen sources and overwhelming native pollinators. A new ...
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 ...
July 5, 2025 — For decades, scientists believed the Arctic Ocean was sealed under a massive slab of ice during the coldest ice ages — but new research proves otherwise. Sediment samples from the seafloor, paired ...
July 7, 2025 — Long-lost 1960s aerial photos let Copenhagen researchers watch Antarctica’s Wordie Ice Shelf crumble in slow motion. By fusing film with satellites, they discovered warm ocean water, not surface ...
July 4, 2025 — Forests aren’t keeping up with today’s climate chaos. While temperatures soar within decades, tree populations take 100 to 200 years to shift in response. A sweeping new analysis of ancient ...
July 3, 2025 — Tropical trees are dying faster than ever, and it's not just heat or drought to blame. Scientists have uncovered a surprising culprit: ordinary thunderstorms. These quick, fierce storms, powered ...
July 2, 2025 — A massive and surprising change is unfolding around Antarctica. Scientists have discovered that the Southern Ocean is getting saltier, and sea ice is melting at record speed, enough to match the size ...
June 30, 2025 — Smoke from wildfires and structural fires doesn t just irritate lungs it actually changes your immune system. Harvard scientists found that even healthy people exposed to smoke showed signs of immune ...
June 30, 2025 — Wildfires are becoming more intense and dangerous, but a new Stanford-led study offers hope: prescribed burns—intentionally set, controlled fires—can significantly lessen their impact. By ...
June 26, 2025 — South Australia’s tiny pygmy bluetongue skink is baking in a warming, drying homeland, so Flinders University scientists have tried a bold fix—move it. Three separate populations were shifted ...
June 24, 2025 — Wildfires don’t just leave behind scorched earth—they leave a toxic legacy in Western rivers that can linger for nearly a decade. A sweeping new study analyzed over 100,000 water samples from ...
June 19, 2025 — During Earth's ancient Snowball periods, when the entire planet was wrapped in ice, life may have endured in tiny meltwater ponds on the surface of equatorial glaciers. MIT researchers ...
June 18, 2025 — A breakthrough study has uncovered that the Southern Ocean's power to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere fluctuates dramatically depending on winter sea ice. When sea ice lingers longer ...
June 23, 2025 — Ancient coral fossils from the remote Seychelles islands have unveiled a dramatic warning for our future—sea levels can rise in sudden, sharp bursts even when global temperatures stay ...
June 14, 2025 — Ten thousand years after mastodons disappeared, scientists have unearthed powerful fossil evidence proving these elephant cousins were vital seed spreaders for large-fruited trees in South America. ...
June 14, 2025 — A pioneering study reveals how archaeologists' satellite tools can be repurposed to tackle climate change. By using AI and satellite LiDAR imagery from NASA and ESA, researchers have found a ...
June 2, 2025 — New research adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand ...
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
- They Fled the Flames—now Jaguars Rule a Wetland Refuge
- 25 Years, 1 Coastline Report Card: The Shocking Wins and Misses
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Monday, July 7, 2025
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Monday, July 7, 2025
Friday, July 4, 2025
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Monday, June 30, 2025
- Fire Smoke Exposure Leaves Toxic Metals and Lasting Immune Changes
- Fighting Fire With Fire: How Prescribed Burns Reduce Wildfire Damage and Pollution
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025
Saturday, June 14, 2025
- Fruit-Eating Mastodons? Ancient Fossils Confirm a Long-Lost Ecological Alliance
- Space-Laser AI Maps Forest Carbon in Minutes—a Game-Changer for Climate Science
Monday, June 2, 2025
- Geological Time Capsule Highlights Great Barrier Reef's Resilience
- Research Shows How Solar Arrays Can Aid Grasslands During Drought
- Air-Quality Monitoring Underestimates Toxic Emissions to Salton Sea Communities, Study Finds
Friday, May 30, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- Cotton Virus Circulated Undetected for Nearly 20 Years, Study Finds
- A Cheap and Easy Potential Solution for Lowering Carbon Emissions in Maritime Shipping
- Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- New Velvet Worm Species a First for the Arid Karoo
- Coastal Alaska Wolves Exposed to High Mercury Concentrations from Eating Sea Otters
- When the Forest Is No Longer a Home -- Forest Bats Seek Refuge in Settlements
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Friday, May 23, 2025
- El Niño and La Niña Climate Swings Threaten Mangroves Worldwide
- Managing Surrogate Species, Providing a Conservation Umbrella for More Species
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- New Study Reveals How Competition Between Algae Is Transforming the Gulf of Maine
- Climate Change Poses Severe Threat to Bowhead Whale Habitat
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Imaging Technique Removes the Effect of Water in Underwater Scenes
- Songbirds' Great Risk Results in Great Genetic Reward
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
- Coastal Squeeze Is Bad for Biodiversity, and for Us, Experts Say
- Forest Management Can Influence Health Benefits
- Native Turtles Return to Yosemite After Removal of Invasive Bullfrogs
- Thousands of Animal Species Threatened by Climate Change
- Surprise Baby Whale Sightings Reveal There's Still Much to Learn About Humpbacks
Monday, May 19, 2025
- Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk
- Fitness Fight: Native Bees Struggle Against Invasive Honey Bee
Friday, May 16, 2025
- Heat-Tolerant Symbionts a Critical Key to Protecting Florida's Elkhorn Coral from Bleaching During Marine Heatwaves
- Rising Temperatures Lead to Unexpectedly Rapid Carbon Release from Soils
- Ancient Ocean Sediments Link Changes in Currents to Cooling of Northern Hemisphere 3.6 Million Years Ago
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
- Should We Protect Non-Native Species? A New Study Says Maybe
- Sharp Depletion in Soil Moisture Drives Land Water to Flow Into Oceans, Contributing to Sea Level Rise
- Europe's Forest Plants Thrive Best in Light-Rich, Semi-Open Woodlands -- Kept Open by Large Herbivores
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Monday, May 12, 2025
- Invasive Salmon, Clams and Seaweed Are Next Threats to Biodiversity in Britain
- Helping Birds and Floating Solar Energy Coexist
Friday, May 9, 2025
Thursday, May 8, 2025
- Red Alert for Our Closest Relatives
- Researchers Find New Defense Against Hard-to-Treat Plant Diseases
- Removing Selenium from Water Takes Iron Strength
- Waxing and Waning Prairie: New Study Unravels Causes of Ancient Climate Changes
- Satellites Observe Glacier Committing 'ice Piracy'
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
- Pioneering Research Reveals Tree-Mendous Potential of Inexpensive Drones to Help Community Forests Flourish and Unlock Restoration Funding
- Fewer Parasites in the Indian River Lagoon Signal Big Ecosystem Problems
- New Roadmap Advances Catalytic Solutions to Destroy 'forever Chemicals'
- Climate Change: Future of Today's Young People
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
- Replanted Rainforests May Benefit from Termite Transplants
- 2024 Sea Level 'report Cards' Map Futures of US Coastal Communities
Monday, May 5, 2025
- Western US Spring Runoff Is Older Than You Think
- Halo Patterns Around Coral Reefs May Signal Resilience
- Artificial Oxygen Supply in Coastal Waters: A Hope With Risks
- Urban Rats Spread Deadly Bacteria as They Migrate, Study Finds
- Ancient Poems Tell the Story of Charismatic River Porpoise's Decline Over the Past 1,400 Years
Friday, May 2, 2025
- Scientists Discover Key to Taming Unrest at Italy's Campi Flegrei
- Loss of Sea Ice Alters the Colors of Light in the Ocean
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
- Restoring Oil Wells Back to Nature With Moss
- 'Scratching' More Than the Ocean's Surface to Map Global Microplastic Movement
- When Sea Stars Fall, Sea Otters Rise: Sea Otters Benefit from Prey Boom Triggered by Loss of Ochre Sea Stars
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Monday, April 28, 2025
- Extreme Monsoon Changes Threaten the Bay of Bengal's Role as a Critical Food Source
- New Pests and Diseases Will Cut UK Tree Growth
- 'Wood You Believe It?' Engineers Fortify Wood With Eco-Friendly Nano-Iron
- Climate Change Increases the Risk of Simultaneous Wildfires
- Flood Risk Increasing in Pacific Northwest
- Chip-Shop Fish Among Key Seabed Engineers
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
- Paying Fishers to Release Endangered Catches Can Aid Conservation, but Only If Done Right
- Newborns Living Near Trees Tend to Be Healthier: New Data Suggests It's Not Because Healthier People Reside Near Parks
- Toxic Blooms in Motion: Researchers Map Algae Patterns in Lake Okeechobee, Florida
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
- Trash Talk: As Plastic Use Soars, Researchers Examine Biodegradable Solutions
- Major Dust-Up for Water in the Colorado River
Monday, April 21, 2025
- What If Mother Earth Could Sue for Mistreatment?
- Simulations Predict How Pesticides May Affect Honeybee Colonies
- Coastal Management Model Plays the Long Game Against the Rising Tides
- Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Introduced Trees Are Becoming More Common in the Eastern United States, While Native Diversity Declines