Ecosystems

A recent study uncovers the overlooked purpose of the strange floral snouts in some lousewort species.

Pollinators are a vital link between biodiversity and human health, securing both essential nutrients and family livelihoods. While their decline threatens to deepen poverty and malnutrition, protecting local plant diversity offers a sustainable path to resilience.

By testing how seeds respond to drought and smoke together, scientists uncover how plants in Brazil’s Cerrado survive the harsh mix of fire, dry spells and unpredictable rain.

Tent-roosting bats are the unsung "nocturnal gardeners" of the Lacandon Rainforest. New research reveals they disperse up to 79.8 million large seeds annually, carrying fruits weighing up to 250% of their own body mass to help regenerate mature forests.

Newly revealed peatlands in the Cerrado hold millennia of carbon, but shifting water and climate regimes could turn them from allies into threats.