27/02/2021 The breeding season may seem worlds away amidst the recent winter cold, but a research team led by Antica Culina has found that the earlier in the year great tits meet their 'spouse', the more likely they are to breed successfully.

The great tit has revealed its genetic code, offering new insight into how species adapt to a changing planet. Initial findings suggest that epigenetics – what’s on rather than what’s in the gene – may have played a key role in the evolution of the ability to learn. And not just that of birds...

British enthusiasm for feeding birds may have caused UK great tits to have evolved longer beaks than their European counterparts, according to new research. The findings, published in Science, identify for the first time the genetic differences between UK and Dutch great tits which researchers were then able to link to longer beaks.

Micro-organisms living inside plant roots team up to boost the plant’s growth and tolerance to stress. This research is featured this week in the scientific journal Science.

Leaf-feeding caterpillars greatly enrich their intestinal flora by eating soil. It's even possible to trace the legacy effects of plants that previously grew in that soil through bacteria and fungi in the caterpillars.

The latest UN Environment Frontiers Report has been launched in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.