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Categories: Ecology: Nature, Environmental: Ecosystems
Published The complexity of forests cannot be explained by simple mathematical rules, study finds



The way trees grow together do not resemble how branches grow on a single tree, scientists have discovered.
Published War in Ukraine severely limits ability to track Arctic climate change



Scientists no longer have direct access to data from Russian Arctic research stations. Without this data, our view of climate changes in the region is increasingly biased, new research shows.
Published World's largest database of weeds lets scientists peer into the past, and future, of global agriculture



A new database of weeds that can help scientists understand how traditional agricultural systems were managed throughout history, could also provide insights into how global trends like the climate crisis could affect the resilience of our modern day food systems.
Published Study offers rare long-term analysis of techniques for creating standing dead trees for wildlife habitat



Ecologists have long known that standing dead trees, commonly referred to as snags, are an important habitat element for forest dwellers and act as a driver of biodiversity. They're so important that in some managed forests, snag creation is part of the conservation tool kit -- i.e., crews sometimes convert a percentage of live trees into dead ones through techniques ranging from sawing off their tops to wounding their trunks to injecting them with disease-causing fungi.
Published Marine heat waves trigger shift in hatch dates and early growth of Pacific cod



Marine heat waves appear to trigger earlier reproduction, high mortality in early life stages and fewer surviving juvenile Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska, a new study shows. These changes in the hatch cycle and early growth patterns persisted in years following the marine heat waves, which could have implications for the future of Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod, an economically and culturally significant species.
Published When conditions cool down, a bacterial prey species becomes the predator



In a new study, two species of bacteria grown in a lab reversed their predator-prey relationship after one species was grown at a lower temperature.
Published Three-year population study supports fight to save Cameroon's Kordofan giraffe



Crucial new data about the numbers of Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffe living within Cameroon's B nou National Park has been released, supporting conservation efforts to save the subspecies from extinction.
Published Blue tit population booms with moths on the menu



Researchers found that years when moth numbers were up resulted in increased population growth for the blue tit.
Published Gulls swap natural for urban habitats, machine-learning study finds



The study is the first of its kind to compile a three-year dataset using a citizen science-based, opportunistic research method to include a large sample of gulls and other sub-Arctic birds in urban Alaska. The study provides a current snapshot of the habitat shift to an urban landscape.
Published A new perspective on the temperature inside tropical forests



New worldwide maps of temperatures inside tropical forests show that global warming affect different way in different parts of the forests. Undergrowth level temperature of the tropical forests can be even 4 degrees less than average temperature of the area.
Published Uncovering the secrets behind the silent flight of owls



Owls produce negligible noise while flying. While many studies have linked the micro-fringes in owl wings to their silent flight, the exact mechanisms have been unclear. Now, a team of researchers has uncovered the effects of these micro-fringes on the sound and aerodynamic performance of owl wings through computational fluid dynamic simulations. Their findings can inspire biomimetic designs for the development of low-noise fluid machinery.
Published Complex green organisms emerged a billion years ago



Of all the organisms that photosynthesize, land plants have the most complex form. How did this morphology emerge? A team of scientists has taken a deep dive into the evolutionary history of morphological complexity in streptophytes, which include land plants and many green algae. Their research allowed them to go back in time to investigate lineages that emerged long before land plants existed.
Published Planetary Commons: Fostering global cooperation to safeguard critical Earth system functions



Tipping elements of the Earth system should be considered global commons, researchers argue. Global commons cannot -- as they currently do -- only include the parts of the planet outside of national borders, like the high seas or Antarctica. They must also include all the environmental systems that regulate the functioning and state of the planet, namely all systems on Earth we all depend on, irrespective on where in the world we live. This calls for a new level of transnational cooperation, leading experts in legal, social and Earth system sciences say. To limit risks for human societies and secure critical Earth system functions they propose a new framework of planetary commons to guide governance of the planet.
Published Wolves and elk are (mostly) welcome back in Poland and Germany's Oder Delta region, survey shows



An online survey conducted in Germany and Poland shows that large parts of the participants support the return of large carnivores and herbivores, such as wolves and elk, to the Oder Delta region. Presented with different rewilding scenarios, the majority of survey participants showed a preference for land management that leads to the comeback of nature to the most natural state possible. Locals, on the other hand, showed some reservations.
Published Deepwater Horizon oil spill study could lead to overhaul of cleanup processes worldwide



New research could lead to major improvements in marine oil spill cleanup processes. The innovative study assessed the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on microscopic seawater bacteria that perform a significant role in ecosystem functioning.
Published A window into plant evolution: The unusual genetic journey of lycophytes



An international team of researchers has uncovered a remarkable genetic phenomenon in lycophytes, which are similar to ferns and among the oldest land plants. Their study reveals that these plants have maintained a consistent genetic structure for over 350 million years, a significant deviation from the norm in plant genetics.
Published How does one species become many?



A global team of biologists has compiled nearly two decades of field data -- representing the study of more than 3,400 Darwin's finches in the Galapagos Islands -- to identify the relationship between beak traits and the longevity of individual finches from four different species.
Published Sea otters helped prevent widespread California kelp forest declines over the past century



The study reveals dramatic regional kelp canopy changes along the California coast over a 100-year period. During this time there was a significant increase in kelp forest canopy along the central coast, the only region of California where southern sea otters survived after being hunted nearly to extinction for their fur in the 1800s. Contrastingly, kelp canopy decreased in northern and southern regions. At the century scale, the species' favorable impact on kelp forests along the central coast nearly compensated for the kelp losses along both northern and southern California resulting in only a slight overall decline statewide during this period.
Published Scientists, farmers and managers work together to avoid the decline of the little bustard, an endangered steppe bird



The collaboration between scientists, farmers and managers is crucial to improve the protection of the little bustard, an endangered steppe-land bird in Spain due to human activity. The reduction of natural habitats, the increase in irrigation and the urbanization of the land have led to having less surface areas that guarantee the survival of this vulnerable species.
Published Researchers pump brakes on 'blue acceleration' harming the world ocean



Protecting the world ocean against accelerating damage from human activities could be cheaper and take up less space than previously thought, new research has found.