Ecosystems & planet
Reefs, forests, fungal networks, migrations, ocean plankton, climate and the history of mass extinctions. Each topic lists only known properties from the cited papers; potential uses appear only when researchers proposed them.
- Animal migration3 studies · Some animals make enormous yearly journeys, from Arctic terns flying pole to pole to monarch butterflies crossing North America and wildebeest following the rains.
- Climate change and the timing of nature1 studies · As the climate warms, many species are shifting when they breed, flower or migrate, and where they live.
- Coral reefs and bleaching2 studies · Coral reefs are built by tiny animals living with algae. When the water gets too hot, corals expel their algae and turn white (bleaching).
- How many species are there?1 studies · Most of Earth's animal species are insects and other arthropods, many living in tropical forests. Estimates of how many exist have changed as methods improved.
- Mass extinctions and recovery2 studies · About 66 million years ago an asteroid impact ended the age of the dinosaurs. Fossils show how life recovered afterwards.
- Mycorrhizal networks between trees2 studies · Fungi that live on tree roots can link several trees underground. How much these networks move resources between trees is an active scientific debate.
- Prochlorococcus and ocean plankton1 studies · Prochlorococcus is a tiny photosynthetic bacterium, discovered in 1988, that is extremely abundant in sunlit ocean waters.