The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., and the Alaska Sea Grant Program of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, were recently identified as the […]

The post Smithsonian scientists to help identify and eradicate invasive species in Alaskan waters appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The discovery of starch granules in the calculus on Neandertal teeth provides direct evidence that they made sophisticated, thoughtful food choices and ate more nutrient-rich plants, for example date palms, legumes and grains such as barley.

The post Starch grains found on Neandertal teeth debunks theory that dietary deficiencies caused their extinction appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

By pulling together data from eight different studies, we now have irrefutable evidence that vines are on the rise not only in the Amazon, but throughout the American tropics.

The post Scientists race to determine why vines are taking over forests in the American tropics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

These opportunistic plants quickly fill-in the gap taking advantage of the increased light coming through the tree canopy and the fresh soil at the fallen tree’s turned-up roots.

The post Falling trees help invasive wineberry move into deciduous forests in North America appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 1909, naturalist Dr. Edgar A. Mearns joined Theodore Roosevelt and scientists from the Smithsonian and New York’s American Museum of Natural History on an […]

The post New project will improve access to thousands of scientific field books, journals and notes in Smithsonian collections appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Introducing Leafsnap, an electronic field guide to North America trees run on a mobile phone app appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study shows that as climate change enhances tree growth in tropical forests, the resulting increase in litterfall could stimulate soil micro-organisms leading to a release of stored soil carbon.

The post Increased tropical forest growth may result in release of stored carbon in the soil appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

It is one of the rarest shrubs in the southeastern United States but for scientists trying to save it, the critically endangered Michaux’s sumac (Rhus michauxii) is not cooperating.

The post Super tough seed coat keeps Michaux’s sumac on critically endangered list appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Studies at two remote Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory sites in Panama and Thailand show the first evidence of long-term effects of nitrogen pollution in tropical trees.

The post Air pollution is fertilizing tropical forests appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Lodgepole pine drawn in 1898 by U.S. National Herbarium illustrator Frederick Andrew Walpole.

The post Frederick Walpole illustrations recovered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Older forests with just the right fungi may be secret to saving these vulnerable plants.

The post Fungi-filled forests are critical if endangered orchids are to thrive appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has created NEMESIS--National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System--an online public database that provides key information about the non-native marine species throughout the United States.

The post New invasive species database allows public to ID marine invaders with a home computer appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution have announced a new partnership to share responsibility for selected National Park Service natural history collections, making them more readily available to researchers through the Smithsonian.

The post National Park Service natural history collections transferred to care of the Smithsonian appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Exquisitely preserved in fossil sediments dating from the Middle Jurassic, the insect, newly named Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, was discovered in 165 million-year-old deposits, as was the ginko-like tree, Yimaia capituliformis, the mimicked plant.

The post Insect mimic of ginko-like leaf discovered 165 million years after its extinction appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Invasive European earthworms could prevent roughly half a North American forest’s orchid seeds from even germinating, ecologists from Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Johns Hopkins […]

The post Invasive earthworms threaten wild American orchids appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Smithsonian scientists work to ensure survival of North America’s wild orchids appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

They’ve got no roots or veins and grow in hanging pendants or tightly packed mats attached to stones, soil and wood. Called by some “the […]

The post Mosses have strong potential to acclimate to global warming, study indicates appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The North Pole isn’t the only place on Earth affected by slight increases in temperature. Until recently, scientific thinking used to posit that tropical forests, […]

The post Rising temperatures mean more blooms for tropical rainforests appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smooth and shiny, the tough body of the South African beetle Pedinorrhina trivittata, a flower eater, appears to be a non-inviting surface for pollen grains […]

The post Caught on camera: Despite hard shells pollen sticks to South African beetles appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tropical forests speed their own recovery, capturing nitrogen and carbon faster after being logged or cleared for agriculture. Researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research […]

The post Tropical forests “fix” themselves appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An ancient new player has entered the debate over global warming and it is pink. Labrador fishermen call them “red rocks” because underwater they resemble […]

The post Ancient algal ‘tree rings’ show dramatic decline in Arctic and sub-Arctic sea ice appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The hard rocklike material on which the living algae Clathromorphum compactum sits are layers of calcified crusts the algae deposit year after year. These “red […]

The post New climate ‘archive’ discovered in sub-Arctic appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

By simulating the environment when corn was first exploited by people and then domesticated, Smithsonian scientists discovered that corn’s ancestor; a wild grass called teosinte, […]

The post Greenhouse “time machine” sheds light on corn domestication appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Mexico is the fourth largest honey producer and fifth largest honey exporter in the world. A Smithsonian researcher and colleagues helped rural farmers in Mexico […]

The post Genetically modified soybean pollen threatens Mexican honey sales appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A 57-acre research plot at a University of Michigan forest preserve northwest of Ann Arbor has been added to a Smithsonian Institution global network used […]

The post University of Michigan forest preserve joins Smithsonian global network appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When Gary Graves cranks up his boom box and drives remote back roads through pine plantations in Texas, Louisiana and other southern states, a few […]

The post Rare American warbler surprises scientists by adapting, thriving in a new ecosystem appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What plant species has just been discovered but is almost gone? Bidens meyeri–a just discovered flowering plant from the small South Pacific island of Rapa, […]

The post New South Pacific cliff flower is critically endangered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientific inspiration springs from many sources. In the case of Smithsonian botanist David Kenfack, ant bites were the inspiration for a recent paper he co-authored […]

The post Sweet life: tropical plants attract ants with sugary nectar appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A global analysis raises the minimum estimated number of tropical tree species to at least 40,000–53,000 worldwide in a paper appearing in Proceedings of the […]

The post Analysis: Many tropical tree species have yet to be discovered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

“When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters,” once a tagline of the American Lung Association, today it might easily describe what is happening in many […]

The post Gasping for air: nutrients, warming trigger ocean oxygen deficit appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History announced today that scientists with the museum’s Global Genome Initiative will attempt to capture the genomic diversity of half the […]

The post Smithsonian and Partners To Preserve Earth’s Genomic Plant Diversity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

On crime scene investigation shows, forensic scientists use remnants of genetic material to solve mysteries in a matter of hours. Researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental […]

The post Environmental “Forensics” Pieces Together Mysterious Plant Invasion appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Although useful to Tarzan, vines endanger tropical forests’ capacity to store carbon. In a major experimental study in Panama, Smithsonian researchers showed that woody vines, […]

The post Climbing plants disturb carbon storage in tropical forests appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Ubiquitous as they may be today, the origin of the Christmas tree is unknown to most. The tradition of decorating a tree, usually an evergreen […]

The post Agustín Stahl: Scientist Who Introduced the “Arbol de Navidad” (Christmas Tree) to Puerto Rico appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What can we discover in just a cubic foot of Earth? As it turns out, a whole lot! Biocubes—the life in a cubic foot of […]

The post Life in One Cubic Foot appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Profound ideas don’t need to be complicated. A simple cube made of aluminum tubing, a centerpiece of a new exhibit “Life in One Cubic Foot,” […]

The post From Rochester to Polynesia, a simple cube unveils Earth’s dazzling biological diversity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Long ago, one great ocean flowed between North and South America. When the narrow Isthmus of Panama joined the continents about 3 million years ago, […]

The post Recent Connection Between North and South America Reaffirmed appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Skinny lines of ants snake through the rainforest carrying leaves and flowers above their heads—fertilizer for industrial-scale, underground fungus farms. Soon after the dinosaur extinctions […]

The post Some ants still trying to get crop domestication right appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

During the course of a year, a western gorilla in the Lossi Forest of Northern Congo stuffs its face with a profusion of fruit, including figs, […]

The post Gorillas Aren’t Tricked By a Faux Sugary Fruit Thanks to a Mutation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Internet and phone connections are essential for effective communicators and for success in business. New results from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama show […]

The post Ant bridges connect tropical tree crowns appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

By now, most of the United States has started to feel the first cool caresses of winter. Everything is pumpkin spiced, and the last crickets […]

The post Feathered diplomats unite pupils in North and Central America appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Federal agencies act as custodians of hundreds of diverse scientific collections that contain everything from plant and animal specimens, tissues, and DNA to microbes, minerals, […]

The post One-Stop Shopping for Federal Scientific Collections appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A newly discovered Hawaiian tree recently had the distinction of being added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Critically […]

The post Newly named, Hawaiian tree species already critically endangered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Rainforests on infertile wet soils support more than half of all plant species. Shrublands on infertile dry soils in southwestern Australia, jokingly called “knee-high tropical […]

The post Microbes rule in ‘knee-high tropical rainforests’ appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Finding a mouse in your morning coffee might give you an unwelcome jolt, but there’s a strong connection between small mammals, birds and the plantations […]

The post Of mice and macchiato: Bird Friendly coffee gives a paw-up to small mammals as well appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Named for Charles Darwin, the only known specimen of a newly discovered beetle, Darwinylus marcosi, died in a sticky battle in a gob of tree […]

The post Beetle and pollen trapped in 105 million-year-old amber reveal fourth major pollination mode in mid-Mesozoic appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Global forest network cracks the case of tropical biodiversity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Visitors to the tropics are amazed by the huge variety of colorful, complex and sometimes ferocious creatures living near the equator. Smithsonian scientists and colleagues […]

The post Is This the Long-Sought Answer to the Question of Tropical Biodiversity? appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time, a new public database will link genetic data with records of where and when the samples it was taken from were […]

The post A first: New website reveals origin of genetic samples and date collected appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Coral reefs are home to some of the most colorful, diverse life on the planet. And yet, for all their fame as biodiversity hotspots, it’s […]

The post Coral reef eavesdropping unveils burrowed, romantic male singers appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.