ecology

Conservation biologist Gliselle Marin carefully untangles a bat from a net in Belize during the annual Bat-a-thon. Her fanny pack is decorated with printed bats. Luis Echeverría for NPR hide caption

Some researchers say the African coral tree has a racial slur embedded in its name. This month, scientists at an international meeting voted to have that epithet removed. tree-species/Flickr hide caption

When Australia's black flying foxes are well-fed, they tend to be healthy. A lack of food stresses the bats — and stress causes them to shed, or release, viruses into the environment. Ko Konno/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption

A sea otter in the estuarine water of Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, Calif. Emma Levy hide caption

Spiderwebs can act as air filters that catch environmental DNA from terrestrial vertebrates, scientists say. Rob Stothard/Getty Images hide caption

Do you know this goose? Researchers have developed a new facial recognition tool for geese that can ID them based on their beaks. Konrad Lorenz Research Center hide caption

The Steller's jay, Cooper's hawk, and Wilson's warbler will all get renamed under a new plan to remove human names from U.S. and Canadian birds. Mick Thompson, Tom Murray, Jerry McFarland/Flickr Creative Commons hide caption

Devils Hole pupfish gather on the precious rocky shelf that supports their entire fragile existence in the wild. Olin Feuerbacher/NPS hide caption

A female cockroach considers accepting a sugary offering from a male cockroach. Ayako Wada-Katsumata hide caption

The cover of Cylita Guy's children book, illustrated by Cornelia Li, Chasing Bats & Tracking Rats: Urban Ecology, Community Science, and How We Share Our Cities. Annick Press hide caption

Picture of a sign warning about the presence of hippos in a neighborhood in Colombia, near the Hacienda Napoles theme park, once the private zoo of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Suzanne Simard is a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia. Her own medical journey inspired her research into, among other things, the way yew trees communicate chemically with neighboring trees for their mutual defense. Brendan George Ko/Penguin Random House hide caption

Prairie strips in fields of corn or soybeans can protect the soil and allow wildlife to flourish. This strip was established in a field near Traer, Iowa, in 2015. Omar de Kok-Mercado, Iowa State University hide caption

Humans would do better to accept many of the life forms that share our space, than to scrub them all away, says ecologist Rob Dunn. Basic Books hide caption

A female Scandinavian brown bear with her cub. Mother bears take care of their young for a year longer, likely due to hunting regulations that protect bears with cubs. Ilpo Kojola/Nature hide caption

A white-throated round-eared bat (Tonatia silvicola) catches — and munches — a katydid on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Katydids are "the potato chips of the rain forest," scientists say. Christian Ziegler/ Minden Pictures/Getty Images hide caption

For 15 years, biologists in single-person, ultralight aircraft would each lead an experimental flock of young whooping cranes from Wisconsin to a winter home in Florida. But not anymore. Dave Umberger/AP hide caption

Green when young, and about the size of an adult human's hand when full-grown, Dryococelus australis is more commonly known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect, or the tree lobster. Courtesy of Rohan Cleave/Melbourne Zoo hide caption