Evolution has long been viewed as a rather random process, with the traits of species shaped by chance mutations and environmental events — and therefore largely unpredictable.
But an international team of scientists led by researchers from Yale...
One proposed strategy in the fight against climate change is to increase tree cover in the world’s savannas, either through the planting of new trees or fire suppression, to boost the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, a new Yale-led study of...
The last decade has seen important but insufficient progress in protecting areas that are home to endangered species worldwide, conservation leaders say. As governments prepare to discuss new conservation goals at the 2022 U.N. Biodiversity Conference in...
From 50,000 years to 6,000 years ago, many of the world’s largest animals, including such iconic grassland grazers as the woolly mammoth, giant bison, and ancient horses, went extinct. The loss of these grazing species triggered a dramatic increase in...
Plants know winter is coming. But exactly how they detect this seasonal change has never been clear.
Yale researchers took a novel approach to understanding a plant’s secrets. They asked one.
And the answer they received — in the form of changes in the...
As the world’s nations prepare to set new goals for protecting biodiversity, Yale researchers have identified where data gaps continue to limit effective conservation decisions.
In a new study, a team of researchers created maps and assessed regional...
Tropical cloud forests exist in 60 countries but account for less than a half of 1% of all land mass on Earth. Yet they are home to 15% of the world’s known species, researchers estimate.
Despite enormous conservation efforts, including designation of...
Less than a decade after unveiling the “Map of Life,” a global database that marks the distribution of known species across the planet, Yale researchers have launched an ambitious and perhaps even more important project — creating a map of where life has...
Where trees cluster in the world’s savannas is not chiefly determined by environmental influences, but instead follows distinct patterns that can be mathematically described, according to a study appearing the week of May 13 in the journal Proceedings of...
An international expedition to a remote Galapagos Island rescued enough tortoises to start a breeding program that may help resurrect an extinct species, investigators from Yale University report Sept. 13 in the journal Science Reports. However, the...