Wild animals expend 76,000 gigajoules of energy—the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of monsoons or floods—shaping our planet’s terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.
ecology
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Wildfires Pose a Threat to Volcanic Soils in the Peruvian Andes
Fragile highland ecosystems showed low resilience to fire, which renders them more vulnerable to long-term degradation.
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Snowmelt Sends Caribou Packing
Researchers compared caribou tracking data with satellite observations to learn whether snowpack conditions trigger the animals’ arduous annual migration.
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Planetary Perturbations May Strengthen Gaia
Large-scale disruptions to life may ultimately increase ecological complexity over geologic timescales, though the risk of extinction always looms.
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Next NASA Field Campaign Could Fund Projects in Drylands or Tropics
Scientific feedback can improve proposals and signal support for large-scale, intensive climate research.
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The Dirt on Biocrusts: Why Scientists Are Working to Save Earth’s Living Skin
Think twice before stepping on that crunchy top layer of soil. It may be a vital ecosystem—one that you can help protect.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Spectral Solar Radiative Transfer in Plant Canopies
Spectrally resolved radiative transfer is needed to compute reliable estimates of sunlight transmission and photolysis of molecules within plant canopies.
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Urban Lights Make Tree Leaves a Tougher Meal for Insects
Two common street trees in Beijing show different responses to artificial light at night, but both grow leaves that are tougher and less toothsome to insects.
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Corals Are Simplistic When Conditions Are Acidic
Increasing ocean acidity could spell trouble for fish that depend on corals’ many branches for protection.
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Hungry Stingrays Shift Serious Amounts of Sediment
While digging for food on estuary bottoms, rays push around literally tons of sediment, changing their habitat in profound ways.