Eutrophication harms the environment in many ways. Unexpectedly, nitrogen fertilizer may also be positive for the environment. And even acidic soils, promoting the destruction of forests, can have a positive effect. Researchers from the Biogeochemistry Department at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz found out that nitrogen fertilizer indirectly strengthens the self-cleaning capacity of the atmosphere.
The explosive growth of cities worldwide over the next two decades poses significant risks to people and the global environment, according to a meta-analysis published today in Plos One.
Recent study of grasslands shows that species variety more important to ecosystem services than previously thought.
New research by scientists in the Department of Biology at the University of York shows that species have responded to climate change up to three times faster than previously appreciated. These results are published in the latest issue of the leading scientific journal Science.
Bacteria from fecal material -- in particular, dog fecal material -- may constitute the dominant source of airborne bacteria in Cleveland's and Detroit's wintertime air, says a new University of Colorado, Boulder study.
A federal grand jury in Cincinnati, Ohio, returned a four-count indictment today charging Allan Wright, 45, of Russellville, Ohio, with trafficking in and making false records for illegally harvested white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in violation of the Lacey Act.
How common are droplets of saltwater on Mars? Could microbial life survive and reproduce in them? A new million-dollar NASA project led by the University of Michigan aims to answer those questions.
A research team from Rollins College in Florida and the University of Georgia has identified human sewage as the source of the coral-killing pathogen that causes white pox disease of Caribbean elkhorn coral. Once the most common coral in the Caribbean, elkhorn coral was listed for protection under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2006, largely due to white pox disease.
Improved nutrition for billions of people around the world and the development of clean, green biofuels are two key aims of a major new research center at the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus.
The cisco, a key forage fish found in Wisconsin’s deepest and coldest bodies of water, could become a climate change casualty and disappear from most of the Wisconsin lakes it now inhabits by the year 2100, according to a new study.
Scientists have discovered that zebra finch mothers favor their sons over their daughters, so male chicks end up getting fed more than their sisters do. But fathers don't appear to be as biased.
Lake Tahoe clarity dropped in 2010, but the rate of decline in clarity over the past decade remains slower compared with previous decades, according to UC Davis scientists who have monitored the lake for more than 40 years.
The team’s analysis—published in a recent issue of Science magazine’s Policy Forum—is the first study of global tuna and billfish populations using the methods of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Recent data from NSF-funded research in both Greenland and Antarctica demonstrate that fossil-fuel related emissions of both methane and ethane, two of the most abundant hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, declined at the end of the twentieth century, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Nature.
Consider the apple core. From an environmental perspective, what’s the most responsible way to dispose of it, or a banana peel, or any food waste?
People are swimming in the Hudson again, and while clumps of sewage rarely float by anymore, the water is not reliably clean, according to a recent report released from the environmental group Riverkeeper.
World financial markets may be reeling from new setbacks, but it turns out there’s a secret economy right under our noses and it’s thriving. The movers and shakers, however, are plants and fungi.
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey will embark on a research cruise to the Arctic Ocean beginning today to collect water samples and other data to determine trends in ocean acidification from the least explored ocean in the world.
The study, say the authors, will help to conserve some of the world’s most important coral reefs by identifying reef systems where biodiversity is high and stress is low, ecosystems where management has the best chance of success.
High concentrations of phosphorus in aquatic ecosystems are often associated with human activities in the surrounding area, such as agriculture and urban development.