Species in the air and on the ground are in deep trouble, according to two recent studies tallying steep declines in bird and amphibian populations.

South Africa's Kruger National Park elephant population has nearly doubled in recent years, causing heavy habitat destruction and invasion of adjacent farms. The government may soon approve killing as a solution.

Piles of un-decomposed, waterlogged plant material known as peatlands cover about 3 percent of Earth's land and freshwater surface area. But scientists and conservationists are just beginning to fully understand the role of peatlands in the environment.

Environmental activist Maude Barlow believes the world is poised for a freshwater crisis of "monumental proportions." In an interview she shares her views on global water use and abuse.

Environmental activist Maude Barlow believes the world is poised to experience a freshwater crisis of "monumental proportions." The Canadian author shares her views on global water use and abuse with National Geographic News.

Researchers say Mongolia's last nomadic reindeer herders could disappear unless their ancestral forests are protected. Already some nomads have been forced to eat the reindeer they depend on. Photo Gallery.

In the Potomac River scientists and anglers have uncovered male smallmouth bass growing eggs. The reason is a mystery, but clues point to estrogen-enhanced sewage.

Deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheets are at least 145 lakes that may be teeming with microscopic organisms similar to those that could be thriving beneath the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Every October or November the reproductive swarming of an ocean worm known as the palolo is cause for a Samoan celebration. Fried in oil, baked into bread, or swallowed raw, worm sperm and eggs are a seasonal delicacy here.

Residential energy use in the United States is predicted to increase 25 percent by 2025. A small but increasing share of that power will trickle in from renewable energy sources, experts say.

For the first time in nearly a half century, puffins are returning to Ailsa Craig. The Scottish island is already well-known in the sport of curling as the world's best source of curling stones.

One of the rarest snakes in the U.S., the Louisiana pine snake is relatively abundant on a tract of commercial forest in the state. Scientists hope to learn why.

A politically charged program to poison prairie dogs has begun in South Dakota. Mixed in with the controversy is an endangered ferret and the rights of cattle ranchers.

Birder Mathew Tekulsky recalls how American robins and other species visited his California yard for a few weeks in January, when a pyracantha bush produced its ripe berries.

Scientists are getting to the root of the matter, compiling a fungus "tree of life" that could have health benefits for humans.