Wild turkey numbers are falling in some parts of the US – the main reason may be habitat loss

Wild turkeys were overhunted across the US through the early 1900s, but made a strong comeback. Now, though, numbers are declining again. Two ecologists parse the evidence and offer an explanation.

William Gulsby, Associate Professor of Wildlife Management, Auburn University • conversation
April 19, 2024 ~10 min

Billions of cicadas are about to emerge from underground in a rare double-brood convergence

The last time that these two groups of cicadas emerged from underground together, Thomas Jefferson was president.

Chris Simon, Senior Research Scientist of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut • conversation
April 18, 2024 ~11 min


How a little-known clergyman studying worms by candlelight in the 1700s inspired Charles Darwin – but didn’t get the credit he deserved

My passion for earthworms and ecology led me to continuing Darwin’s experiments in his own ‘back garden’

Kevin Richard Butt, Reader in Ecology, University of Central Lancashire • conversation
April 16, 2024 ~22 min

What is dirt? There’s a whole wriggling world alive in the ground beneath our feet, as a soil scientist explains

Rock dust is only part of the story of soil. Living creatures, many of them too tiny to see, keep that soil healthy for growing everything from food to forests.

Brian Darby, Associate Professor of Biology, University of North Dakota • conversation
March 25, 2024 ~7 min

How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecology

When Frank Herbert sat down in 1963 to start writing ‘Dune,’ he wasn’t thinking about how to leave Earth behind. He was thinking about how to save it.

Devin Griffiths, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences • conversation
March 15, 2024 ~10 min

Solar power occupies a lot of space – here’s how to make it more ecologically beneficial to the land it sits on

Solar development isn’t always good for the land, but pairing it with agriculture can produce multiple benefits.

Matthew Sturchio, PhD Student in Plant and Ecosystem Ecology, Colorado State University • conversation
March 12, 2024 ~8 min

Texas fires: With over 1 million acres of grassland burned, cattle ranchers face struggles ahead to find and feed their herds

The state’s largest wildfire on record tore across the heart of Texas cattle country, and more days of strong winds were forecast. A rangeland ecologist explains why the flames spread so fast.

Karen Hickman, Professor and Director of Environmental Science, Oklahoma State University • conversation
March 1, 2024 ~6 min

Texas fires: Cattle ranchers face struggles ahead to find and feed their herds while burned grasslands recover

Over 1 million acres have burned in Texas’ largest wildfire on record, and more days of strong winds are forecast across the Panhandle, the heart of Texas’ cattle country.

Karen Hickman, Professor and Director of Environmental Science, Oklahoma State University • conversation
March 1, 2024 ~6 min


Texas fires: Burned rangeland can recover quickly, but cattle ranchers face struggles ahead to find and feed their herds

Over 1 million acres have burned in Texas’ largest wildfire on record, and more days of strong winds are forecast across the Panhandle, the heart of Texas’ cattle country.

Karen Hickman, Professor and Director of Environmental Science, Oklahoma State University • conversation
March 1, 2024 ~6 min

Murderous mice attack and kill nesting albatrosses on Midway Atoll − scientists struggle to stop this gruesome new behavior

On a small, remote island in the Pacific Ocean, an unlikely predator feasts on the world’s largest albatross colony. Researchers are trying to figure out how to stop these murderous mice.

Wieteke Holthuijzen, Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee • conversation
Feb. 20, 2024 ~9 min

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