See nature's patterns in this photo gallery. They're in everything from ocean currents to a flower's petals. Scientists are taking a new look at Earth-patterns, from the biodiversity of yard plants in the U.S. to that of desert mammals in Israel. From where flowers and bees live on the Tibetan plateau to how willow trees in America's Midwest make use of water. They're finding that two fields of science--ecology and phylogenetic--are inextricably intertwined.

Credit: National Science Foundation.

A tale of two fields--ecology and phylogenetics--reported in a special issue of Ecology.

Credit: Ecological Society of America

Trees that move into gaps in the forest are closely related.

Credit: Robin Chazdon

Urban yards, such as those in the Twin Cities, harbor plants adapted to humans.

Credit: Regents of the University of Minnesota, with permission of the Metropolitan Design Center.

Caterpillars feed in a forest in Peru: do insects have an effect on where plants live?

Credit: G. Lamarre

Burke's goldfields, an endangered species, is now found only in California vernal pools.

Credit: D.D. Ackerly