Anna Nordseth is an ecology writer and Duke University Ph.D. candidate specializing in tropical forest ecology, conservation research, and biodiversity. Think plants can’t move? You’re only half right ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. This rainforest tree solved one of evolution’s hardest ...

Picture a mature, broad-branched tree like an oak, maple or fig. How does it reproduce so that its offspring don’t grow up in its shadow, fighting for light? The answer is seed dispersal. Plants have ...