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Spirit Lake
This time-lapse video captures two monarch caterpillars feeding on a milkweed leaf, and illustrates the caterpillars' role in the ecosystem as they consume plant matter.
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Montgomery County
Many trees in Montgomery County were left damaged after an EF-3 tornado in May 2024.
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Ackley
Using goats to control invasive trees, shrubs and other plants is a unique solution for maintaining remnant prairie.
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Bedford
The northern lights have been frequently visible further south of the poles.
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Sioux County
Avian influenza is a virus that affects bird populations, both domestic and wild. Like all viruses, avian influenza changes over time due to mutations that affect proteins.
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Clinton
Areas along the shores of the Mississippi River are experiencing a complete loss of trees which causes a decline in ecosystem biodiversity.
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Des Moines
Land use in Iowa has changed significantly over the last hundreds of years.
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Davenport
Rusty patched bumble bees were listed as endangered in 2017. This is just one species of bumble bee that has been on the decline.
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Baldwin
Eden Valley Refuge features exposed limestone outcrops. Limestone is a sedimentary rock and is formed by an accumulation of skeletal fragments of marine organisms.
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Cedar Rapids
Indian Creek Nature Center land management planning includes surveying butterfly populations, and data shows how the 2020 derecho is impacting those survey results.
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Princeton
Reed canary grass grows natively in Europe and Asia, but it is taking over in some Iowa locations.
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Oxford
Data shows the changes in dissolved oxygen levels from various test locations over the summer months.
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Charles City
Macroinvertebrates can help limnologists assess water quality when looking at the biodiversity of a stream
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Ida Grove
Distinct differences in road surfaces across Iowa are connected to geologic processes over time and location.
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Monona County
The Loess Hills of western Iowa are a unique landform, the formation of which has resulted in characteristic "steps" in the hills.
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Cherokee
Owls tend to only interact together in a coupling and are territorial in order to protect their hunting grounds and their young.
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Buena Vista County
Parents teach their offspring a number of skills for survival, including hiding from predators.
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Red Oak
Boreal chorus frog songs are an excellent first sign of spring's arrival.
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Maquoketa
Exotic bush honeysuckles are invasive, perennial deciduous shrubs which prefer sunny sites such as forest edges, pastures, roadsides, and open woodlands.
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Carroll
Foxglove has a tightly connected ecological relationship with bumblebees.
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Prairie City
The musk thistle is an invasive species must be controlled to prevent its spread.
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Adel
When working with natural gas, a spark can mean danger. Selecting tools made from the right materials can reduce that danger.
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Council Bluffs
Urban runoff is the trash run off that occurs after each major rain or wind storm, and in Iowa results in millions of pounds of trash being washed into Iowa waterways.
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Ames
"Al dente" means "to the tooth" in Italian and refers to the ideal consistency of pasta when cooked. Besides a more appealing taste, cooking pasta "al dente" provides inherent nutritional value.
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Waverly
Humans are able to safely eat some plants but not others.
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Sumner
Retention ponds are artificial structures designed to retain and treat contaminated stormwater runoff.
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Tipton
The Eastern Iowa tornado of March 2023 demolished a century farm. The rebuilding process included balancing several constraints.
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Sioux Center
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.
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Waverly
Dry run creeks are a strategically placed design solution for flood mitigation.
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Rock Valley
Sundogs are colored spots of light visible around the sun during cold temperatures.
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Waterloo
Two photos, taken at the same moment but in different parts of the world, show different views of the sky.
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Orange City
Animals, including dogs, change their bodies and lifestyles with the seasons and other situations in order to survive.
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