Just as humans can suffer from an imbalance of microbes in their gut, plants can suffer a similar syndrome in their leaves. This finding opens up new possibilities for improving food security.
The deteriorating Western Grassland Reserve in Victoria represents a failure of imagination. When the grasslands are steeped with history and culture, imagine its potential.
A boomslang eating a bullfrog.
Provided by author/ G Cusins
Social media has proved to be a helpful source of observations of snakes feeding. Knowing more about their diet is useful because it’s linked to their venom biochemistry.
Parasites do very well for themselves, which is why they are so common in the animal kingdom.
Geoffrey Read
The invasive species was likely brought to Australia unintentionally by ship. Now found in every state and territory, the wasps are decimating our ecosystems.
Animals in national parks are sometimes harassed by tourists.
(AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
In the real world, new diseases emerge from complex environments. To learn more about how, scientists set up whole artificial ecosystems in the lab, instead of focusing on just one factor at a time.
Bulbine lilies flowering and eucalypts resprouting after fire in the Victorian high country.
Heidi Zimmer
Death is a natural part of ecosystems. But it’s unusual for a large number of animals to all die at once. Researchers are investigating how a mass mortality event affects what’s left afterwards.
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University