ecology

Poorly protected areas: human impacts are destroying nature’s safeguards

We found that roughly one-third of the globally protected area estate (amounting to six million km²) is under intense human pressure. Governments around the...

Arid lands transform abruptly as aridity increases

Ongoing climate change is expected to increase aridity conditions in worldwide, particularly in drylands, the vastest biome on Earth. However, whether...

The silent battle of young corals against ocean acidification

Why some forests burn better than others

Know your enemy. To prevent forest fires from spreading it is important to know its strengths...and tackle them.

Finding the novelty in nature

Ecosystems change over time. We devised a way to separate rapid and profound ecological changes from the slow, gradual turnover of species. We used fossil...

Nitrogen is becoming less available in ecosystems around the world

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants and is necessary for making proteins. We gathered a diverse set of published records measuring nitrogen...