About 66 million years ago, a radical change on the Earth filled tropical forests with flowers. A new catalog of fossil pollen grains may hold an explanation.
Smithsonian scientists who documented massive mortality of corals and reef organisms meticulously studied one of the apparent causes: oxygen deficiency. A Smithsonian paleobiologist asks if the recent fossil record shows signs of similar hypoxia events.
Rapid increases in ocean acidity puts crustose coralline algae in a growth predicament, research by a Smithsonian marine scientist shows.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published a newly revised version of The pollination of cultivated plants: A compendium for practitioners, edited by STRI staff scientist, David Roubik. Its release this year coincides with the first World Bee Day, on May 20 and contributes to awareness of the importance of pollinators for food security and conservation and direct steps to save them.
Inspired by a universal call-to-action from the Interacademy Partnership (IAP) within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), in conjunction with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and other organizations, is bringing together a global team to design inclusive and equitable research-based science education.
Which mosquito species is likely to transmit the virus that causes the next epidemic? Join José Loaiza, Smithsonian research associate, senior scientist at Panama’s government research bureau, INDICASAT, and University of Panama professor, as he visits back yards and used-tire lots to find the answer.
Perhaps old species, like some older people, gradually lose their ability to deal with changes in their environment. Aaron O’Dea and colleagues show that when the Caribbean was cut off from the Pacific by the rise of the Panama land bridge, evolutionarily old species took longer to expand into new habitats than evolutionarily younger species did.
How do animals adapt to urban environments? In the case of the Tungara frog, city males put on a more elaborate display than males in forested areas.
Some organisms adapt more quickly than others and may have a better chance to survive climate change. 2018 Tupper Fellow, Mike Logan, follows lizards as they adapt to islands.
At STRI, Jim Porter began the long-term ecological research that later became an important component of the winning documentary, Chasing Coral
