Climate science, earth systems and environmental research.
A sediment record from a lake in southern Iceland suggests its insect community remained broadly stable through two centuries of agricultural intensification. Statistical warning signs of growing instability increased, but the lake did not reach a detected ecological tipping point.
A study of 37 vessels from an early Mesopotamian institutional site found evidence of meals containing ruminant and other animal products, freshwater resources, plants and dairy. Tree-resin compounds suggest that resin was routinely used to flavor or process food.
A study examines how countries moved hydrofluorocarbon governance from the UN climate regime to the Montreal Protocol through the Kigali Amendment. It argues that the ozone treaty’s practical advantages helped states overcome initial objections that it lacked authority over these substances.
Pallas’s cats continued to occur in Bogd Khan Mountain near Mongolia’s capital, despite activity by people, livestock and free-ranging dogs. Their presence was associated with red squirrel activity, while the study found no strong response to the human-disturbance measures it examined.
New climate-model projections suggest that future productivity in major coastal upwelling regions will be shaped by more than changes in winds. The models disagree more with one another than they do across emissions scenarios, leaving the direction of change uncertain in many areas.
A three-month pond experiment found that nutrient ratios in the digestive tissue of largemouth bass were linked to the abundance of Crepidistomum parasites. The tissue measure explained more variation in parasite abundance than any other variable measured, although the study could not show whether it directly affected the parasites.
Deep convective clouds carried ice-forming particles into the upper atmosphere at concentrations at least 100 times higher than the local upper-troposphere background. The measurements also suggest that precipitation removes particles that form ice at relatively warm temperatures, while colder-active particles are transported upward.
Long ocean waves can bend Antarctic ice shelves, creating stresses that may amplify fractures and contribute to calving. Researchers developed and tested a model that can examine shelves with varied shapes, thicknesses, grounding and wave directions, including the Drygalski Ice Tongue.
A study of satellite images from 1999 to 2020 finds that sandy shorelines in England and Wales changed in highly localized, persistent patterns. The results support site-specific coastal management alongside broader national planning.
Victoria’s lowland temperate grasslands have been extensively cleared and degraded by farming, urban growth, invasive species and poor management. A review warns that without substantial conservation action, the fat-tailed dunnart could be among the species pushed to extinction.
Hydrogen peroxide-treated biochar made from waste tyres removed 99% of phosphorus from a simulated wastewater solution, compared with 20% for untreated tyre biochar. After capturing phosphorus, the treated material was used in nutrient-poor soil, where maize biomass was nearly three times higher than with untreated material or no added fertiliser.
A chromosome-level genome of the Chinese algae eater has helped researchers resolve difficult relationships among minnows, carps, loaches, suckers and their relatives. Comparing gene order across 43 fish genomes strongly supported a close evolutionary relationship between suckers and minnows and carps.
Researchers tested an autonomous drone system that drops biochar-coated native seed balls at planned locations. In a representative 27-waypoint mission in Northern Thailand, 24 drops were confirmed by both the drone and ground observations, while a controlled test found 95% of drops landed within 0.66 metres of their targets.
England’s new market for biodiversity offsets is directing planned work toward a small number of habitat types, with neutral grassland making up 44% of planned habitat. But only about 2% of the registered offset area had been sold after 16 months.
A machine-learning study predicts that 15% to 23% of uncultivated microbes may have symbiotic lifestyles. These predicted symbionts appear across half of all known bacterial and archaeal groups, according to a new genomic catalog.
