The Colorado River, one of the longest rivers in the United States, is gradually shrinking. This is partly a result of overuse by municipalities and seasonal drought. The other reason is global warming.

A pink flower bloomed from the cactuses. The small sign of life appeared just one month after UNLV student Ka-Voka Jackson began a project to research the best way to eradicate invasive plants and bring new, but familiar life to her ancestral land in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The cactuses may be one way.

While most people can appreciate the beauty of the grasslands and rocky canyons of Northern Arizona, the land holds a special meaning for Ka-Voka Jackson.

Ka-Voka Jackson wants to replace invasive plants with native ones at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

In a remote canyon off the northern reaches of Lake Powell, a fourwing saltbush is growing deep roots as part of Ka-Voka Jackson's experimental plots of native plants. The silvery, sea-green shrub is joining grasses and succulents in Jackson's efforts to remedy ravenna grass infestations that threaten native flora and fauna in the sacred ancestral lands of her tribe and others around the Colorado River.

A dry wash cuts through rolling hills dotted by desert plants at Lindsay Chiquoine’s research site near Lake Mead, but the only scenery that seems to interest her is right at her feet.

Itchy, watery eyes, congestion and don't forget the sneezing. Have you seen the yellow dust collecting on your car? The culprit is pollen and it has been floating in the air much earlier than expected this year. Plants pollinated by insects are not the biggest offenders, the highest pollen producers are male trees that spread pollen by the wind. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Professor M.L. Robinson said this pollen came early this year due to the mild winter and early spring.

For a half-century, scientists have debated whether animals can hibernate for as little as a day

Scientists study how animals hibernate and how doing so might benefit people

If the sneezing, wheezing and nose-running weren’t enough evidence, the monitor on the roof of the Juanita Greer White Life Sciences building at UNLV confirms the worst.

In dry, disturbed soil throughout the West, a weedy invader from Eurasia has gained a tenacious foothold. Kochia scoparia, also called poor man’s alfalfa, has slender, gray-green leaves that turn an ornamental orange in autumn. Despite control efforts, this weed springs back relentlessly thanks to its bountiful seed bank.

Armed with shovels, the group turned enough dirt to plant 630 trees and grasses along the Las Vegas Wash, an area that was once submerged and served as a docking area for boats. “This area was 50 feet below Lake Mead,” said Dr. Scott Abella, assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences at UNLV.