Biodiversity

The Succulent Karoo is home to desert plant species found nowhere else on the planet—criminal networks have been digging them up by the millions.

This tiny, fuzzy sunflower relative has been hiding in plain sight—it represents the first new genus identified in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years.

From fleeing mountain lions to scorched soil, the aftermath of intense fires shows an ecosystem transformed.

The Arctic facility is the world's largest safeguard for seeds—and fertile ground for critics and conspiracy theories.

Researchers exploring the country's threatened coastal habitats discovered 'staggering' biodiversity.

In Ecuador, Satanas the tarantula—named for his feisty attitude—became both teacher and friend to researchers.

A red velvet worm, jeweled corpse flower, and other rare species were found while retracing the route of the bloody 1911-12 Abor Expedition.

The project aims to make a complete 'bee atlas,' detailing every single local pollinator.

For these researchers in Southern Africa, tagging the apex predators starts with putting them in trancelike tonic immobility.

Eoghan Daltun has spent 14 years creating a showcase of native biodiversity.

At the Moriyama City Firefly Forest Museum, nurturing Genji fireflies comes with homework.

In Washington State, a new preservation facility offers a back-up plan for an uncertain future.

They often get a bad rap, but bacteria prevent erosion, undergird ecosystems, and make artificial snow.

In Arizona, the country’s most diverse desert teems with kaleidoscopic spring flowers, charming desert tortoises, and the famous saguaro cactus.

For centuries, hundreds of shrines have preserved crucial information about the marine mammals' diversity and distribution.