Harsh environmental conditions promote cooperative behavior in an epiphytic fern.

Harsh, unpredictable environments are known to favor cooperative groups in animals. Whether plants exhibit similar relationships is unknown. Staghorn ferns (, Polypodiaceae) are epiphytes that form cooperative groups which build communal water and nutrient 'nests' at the tops of trees, a habitat characterized by water and nutrient stress.

Exploring the pathology of liver, kidney, muscle, and stomach of fledgling seabirds associated with plastic ingestion.

There remain significant gaps in knowledge about 'sub-lethal' impacts of plastic ingestion, particularly chronic impacts on cells, tissues, or organs. Few studies have applied traditional animal health tools, such as histopathology, to assess physiological damage to wildlife, with fewer still providing information on the dosage or exposure to plastics needed to elicit negative effects. Our study seeks to investigate a common hypothesis in plastic pollution research; that an increasing plastics burden will have an impact on an animal's health, examining two wild species with high levels of environmental exposure to plastic through their diet.

Temporal trends and interannual variation in plastic ingestion by Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) using different sampling strategies.

The world's oceans are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities, including significant and rapidly increasing inputs of plastic pollution. Seabirds have long been considered sentinels of ocean health, providing data on physical and chemical pollutants in their marine habitats. However, long-term data that can elucidate important patterns and changes in seabird exposure to marine pollutants are relatively limited but are urgently needed to identify and support effective policy measures to reduce plastic waste.

Plastics in regurgitated Flesh-footed Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) boluses as a monitoring tool.

Plastic production and pollution of the environment with plastic items is rising rapidly and outpacing current mitigation measures. Success of mitigation actions can only be determined if progress can be measured reliably through incorporation of specific, measurable targets. Here we evaluate temporal changes in the amount and composition of plastic in boluses from Flesh-footed Shearwaters during 2002-2020 and assess their suitability for measuring progress against national and international commitments to reduce plastic pollution.