Discoveries

First identified in 1998, the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has infected more than 1,300 amphibian species in the last decade and led to the population decline of more than 200…

Alpine plants grow where they do because mountain summits are cold, icy, windy, snowy – but also sunlit, dry, and hot. Alpine plants are directly vulnerable to warming temperatures, and…

For as long as the blacklegged tick has been expanding its range in the Northeast, many have thought that cold winters limit its geographic range. This belief in part derived from laboratory…

The American marten (Martes americana) and fisher (Pekania pennanti) are closely related inhabitants of the Northern Forest region. Both species have been impacted by historical trapping and…

Two and a half years ago, much of the world shut down in response to the emergence of the Covid-19 virus. Some people worked, many stayed home, everyone worried. The outdoors was both the…

Up until a few decades ago, cold temperatures limited the range of the southern pine beetle to areas south of New Jersey, where winter temperatures rarely dip below minus 15 degrees…

Forest fragments in tropical regions are often skirted by trees dying along the edges as the ecosystem declines. But new research in northeastern forests suggests that a different dynamic is…

The modern world is filled with plastic in part because plastic is, well, plastic: flexible and moldable, polymers can be formed into a seemingly infinite variety of shapes. Aluminum, too, has…

Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq peoples maintain relationships with hundreds of species of plants and fungi in their forested homelands of the Canadian Maritimes, the Gaspe…

When northeastern farmers left for the city or for greener pastures to the west in the early 20th century, their abandoned fields grew into sunlit forests marked by mossy stone walls, wolf…

The largest butterfly in North America has expanded its range from the South and Midwest during the last decade and is now appearing in much of New England with regularity. The eastern giant…

When thousands of acres of oak trees across southern New England died following an outbreak of spongy moth, (Lymantria dispar, formerly known as Gypsy moth), from 2016 to 2018, a team of…

The number and size of trees that can occupy a given area has been a key metric in forest management for decades. It’s vital to ensuring the health of forests and the effectiveness of…

Brook trout are among the most attractive freshwater fish in the Northeast and a favorite target of anglers in the region. Vermont state fisheries biologist Jud Kratzer said they look…

Common loons in the Northeast and nearby southern Canada have faced numerous environmental changes that have impacted their health in recent decades, from acid rain and mercury to the changing…

University of Maine researchers recently discovered invasive earthworms from Europe in Aroostook County, Maine timberlands, in what they say is the first reported sighting of the creatures in…

Many scientists have predicted that as the climate warms, red oak trees will gain a significant amount of suitable habitat in the Northeast and perhaps become a dominant species in northern…

Researchers studying mercury gas in the atmosphere have concluded that trees and plants absorb a vast amount of the toxic element in the same way that plants absorb carbon dioxide. Rainfall is…

With the risk of tick-borne diseases increasing in northern New England, scientists at the University of Maine launched a citizen science project in nine southern and coastal counties in 2020…

Ants play a vital role in the health of forested ecosystems as seed dispersers, decomposers of wood and leaves, aerators of soil via their nesting and tunneling, recyclers of nutrients, and…