Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Ecosystems

ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Sienna Wessel

Where have all the flowers gone? Climate change is driving the loss of forbs and diversity in Californian grasslands

Science predicts that climate change will disrupt many natural processes and cycles and there is ever increasing media coverage regarding expectations for Earth’s future under these pressures. Yet there is little popular discussion about how plant communities will be impacted by these changes despite the fact that they represent the first level of the food web, support entire ecosystems of species, and contain one of the only organisms that can capture free energy to produce life. Understanding the ways that these communities are changing and will change in the future is crucially important to seeing the full picture of how climate change will re-shape life as we know it.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Jessica Espinosa

Spotting the Shy Guy – Why Collaboration With Local Indigenous People Can Be An Asset to Conservation Management

A recent Australian study highlights the importance of including local and indigenous people in conservation research. While examining mitigation of lizard population declines, scientists stumbled upon a surprising finding about how researchers’ cultural differences can affect fieldwork and experimental outcomes.

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Case StudiesClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceRemote EnvironmentsScience through timeToxicology
Anita Masse

Unleashing Pollutants: Environmental Fate of Antarctica In a Warmer World

Antarctica has been a depository for pollutants for decades. The brutal cold has kept them dormant and unable to inflict harmful effects on nature. As temperatures rise and ice melts, what is the fate of these pollutants in this unique landscape?

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Abigail Bezrutczyk

The Cows and the Bees

In the age of the sixth extinction, we need to think carefully about how we use our land– especially when different land uses are at odds. As a way to advance conservation, researchers in Israel examined “land sharing” of rangelands: a way of using land to benefit agriculture and biodiversity alike.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Mary Grace Lemon

History and Science; An Essential Duet for River Conservation

Recently I was down by the Mississippi River with a friend when he remarked, “Look at that tree!” A 30 foot log was barreling downstream in the middle of the 1 mile wide river channel bouncing along the many eddies created by the rushing, brown water. I had heard about large wood rafts that historically clogged up the Red River in Louisiana and many rivers around the world. I tried to imagine what thousands of 30 foot logs floating in the river together would look like and I didn’t get very far before I googled “The Great Raft.” The old images of a massive log jam displayed on my phone were beyond anything I could have imagined.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Abigail Lewis

Mayfly swarms are visible on weather radar. Their declines spell bad news for ecosystem health

Mayfly swarms used to be so large that snowplows had to take to the streets to clear the road of their carcasses. However, recent evidence demonstrates that mayfly populations are decreasing dramatically. This is bad news for surrounding ecosystems, especially for fish and birds that depend on these insects for food.

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ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceRemote Environments
Andrew Barton

Fire Refugia are Critical for Conserving Biodiversity

“Fire refugia are landscape elements that remain unburned or minimally affected by fire, thereby supporting postfire ecosystem function, biodiversity, and resilience to disturbances.” (Meddens et al. 2018)

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Ecosystems
Sarah Shainker

How identifying the proper questions to ask can help save a non-charismatic animal

Pandas and whales grab a lot of our conservation attention (and funds), but what about the finelined pocketbook? This daintily named species, along with other freshwater mussels, is in deep trouble. Scientists worked together to identify research priorities for their conservation.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceRemediation
Abigail Bezrutczyk

Pollution in Polish Rivers, and the Cucumber Solution

Pollution is dangerous, both to humans and the ecosystems we care about. But researchers in Poland have studied the sources and dynamic movement of pollutants in rivers, and may have found potential in cucumbers to help improve the system.

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