Natural asphalt seeps on the ocean floor provide a stable home for diverse marine life that sequesters greenhouse gases.
ecosystems
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Oceans Could Change If We Reverse Anthropogenic Warming
A computer simulation shows a net increase in primary production by phytoplankton if climate change were mitigated by 2200 but also indicates big changes in the makeup of those species.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Plant Life Survives on Earth's Driest Inhabited Continent
Australia is a continent of extremes, and researchers find that some ecosystems are better equipped than others to deal with the country's characteristic extreme climatic variation.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Soil Crusts Play a Dual Role in Desertification
Rain falling on bare soil can form a hard crust that prevents further infiltration. But do these crusts worsen land degradation or help to prevent it?
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Details of Gas Flow in Wetland Plant Roots Unearthed
Scientists track the flow of trace gases through wetland root systems to understand the role of plants in biogenic gas fluxes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Satellites Track Chlorophyll Fluorescence to Monitor Drought
New satellite observations show connection between solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and soil moisture—a key mechanism behind drought onset.
Posted inOpinions
Understanding Ecosystem Services from a Geosciences Perspective
Assessment of ecosystem services—the benefits society receives from ecosystems—can be improved by including broader spatial and temporal scales of geosciences perspectives.
Posted inNews
Three–Dimensional Scans Illuminate Wildlife Environments
Detailed laser imaging of vegetation and landforms where animals live and roam offers revealing new perspectives on interactions between those creatures and their surroundings.
Posted inNews
Giant Balls of Bacteria Pile Up on Arctic Lake Beds, Ooze Toxin
Researchers have found cyanobacteria colonies as big as softballs thriving unexpectedly on shallow Greenland lake bottoms, exuding liver-damaging microcystin. Locals dubbed them "sea tomatoes."
Posted inNews
Ships Bring More Than Cargo to Arctic Waters
A probe of ballast water in ships at an Arctic port finds hitchhiking organisms that polar warming could allow to invade the region's ecosystems in less than 40 years.