Discoveries

Brook trout are often cited as “indicator species” of stream health. They require clean, cold water, so finding them in abundance means you have an especially healthy stream. A…

The results are in from a long-term study that has been measuring the response of sugar maples to calcium addition at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. They confirm…

A new study conducted by The Heinz Center, a national environmental and economic think tank, analyzes greenhouse-gas emissions from magazine and lumber production – from tree to final…

While many of us shy away from the sunlight’s ultraviolet (UV) rays, male raptors may rely on that light to find their mates. Research by Francois Mougeot and Beatriz Arroyo from the…

When a non-native plant appears on the scene, resource managers sometimes suggest introducing one of the non-native plant’s non-native predators to control it. New research by John D. Parker…

Nearly 10 years ago, an analysis by the Vermont Forest Bird Monitoring Program (FBMP) revealed that Canada warblers were declining significantly on study sites across the state. The warbler…

It may sound politically incorrect, but let’s face it: males and females are different. Some human animals strive to bridge those differences, but in most of the animal kingdom, differences…

In our Autumn 2004 Discoveries, we reported on research suggesting that friction and gravity constrain evapotranspiration in trees and thus limit tree height – to 426.51 feet in the…

In last summer’s Discoveries, we reported that overly abundant white-tailed deer are inflicting great damage on forest understory plants, like ginseng. What are the implications of a forest…

It is spring again, and that means that bees are buzzing about. Recently, two studies of bees have attempted to answer two basic questions – how honeybees fly and how bumblebees learn.…

Scientists have found that Christmas trees have more to offer people than just a dose of holiday cheer. In fact, one tree in particular, Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), has bark that…

Our regenerating forests may not be the panacea for mitigating global climate change that some experts once expected, say researchers in the journal Science. By sponging up vast amounts of the…

We’ve all heard that crows and jays are among the smartest of the avian crew. And we have all year to watch them excel, since they don’t fly south for the winter. But chickadees and…

If you have your window open right at this moment, you may hear it: a chickadee chick-ing and dee-ing away. Bird enthusiasts and even the rest of us think of the call primarily as a…

There is yet another invasive pest to beware of, says Cornell Extension Associate Dr. E. R. Hoebeke. Last September, he happened across the woodwasp Sirex noctilio (Fabricius) while searching…

Too often, innovations that have existed in the plant world for millennia are attributed to the human mind. A study of the bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), found in woodlands throughout New…

Humans have a long time to choose if, when, and how many times to reproduce. But many animals have short lives and must spend most of their time surviving and ensuring the perpetuation of…

You might have a hard time finding wild ginseng in the future woods, thanks to one of our most abundant herbivores: the white-tailed deer. Though deer populations are temporarily low in some…

Scientists have recently found that, when it comes to making offspring, American redstarts have good years and bad years. More specifically, a good year will likely be followed by a bad year,…

Two of the most important components of biodiversity are species diversity (how many species are out there) and genetic diversity (how wide a variety of genes are present in one species).…