More sustainable watershed management and agriculture are needed to avoid a desiccated fate.
wetlands
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Measuring Methane Stemming from Tree Stems
Wetland tree stem emissions have emerged as a significant contributor to the global methane budget. A new study tracks how they vary by season, location, and hydrological conditions.
Posted inNews
Frost Quakes Shake Up Finland’s Wetlands
New research shows frost quakes may happen more frequently in wetland areas and, similar to earthquakes, can cause damage to infrastructure.
Posted inNews
Climate Change Threatens the Future of Wild Rice
As a precious plant struggles to thrive in the U.S. Upper Midwest, researchers are taking steps to understand the reasons for its decline.
Posted inNews
Natural Floodplains Are Quickly Vanishing
From 1992 to 2019, 600,000 square kilometers of natural floodplains were lost globally due to land conversion.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Better Bottom-Up Estimates of Wetland Methane Emissions
Limited monitoring of methane emissions from tropical wetlands could be obscuring these environments’ role in climate change.
Posted inOpinions
The Supreme Court Is Bypassing Science—We Can’t Ignore It
The court’s exclusion of scientists from the environmental rulemaking process comes full circle as the EPA strips federal protections for wetlands.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mapping Beaver Dams with Machine Learning
A new model deploys a neural network to spot beavers’ engineering exploits in aerial and satellite imagery, an approach that should aid studies of ecosystem and landscape change.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Turning Point for Estuaries Worldwide
As estuarine barriers are built in response to sea level rise, flooding, and salinization, more research is needed to better understand their implications for human activities and ecosystems.
Posted inNews
Mapping Wetland Loss Across Three Centuries
Millions of square kilometers of wetlands have been drained or converted to make room for crops, pastures, or development. In some places, up to 80% are gone.