Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Environmental Science

ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Jackie Webb

Double trouble: how floods after bushfire affect the health of our rivers

Between Christmas 2019 and the  2020 New Year, forested mountain ranges across drought-stricken areas in Eastern Australia came alight, with fires ravaging 11 million hectares of bush (Eucalyptus woodlands and rainforests) – a size comparable to England’s land area. These megafires threw the states of New South Wales and Victoria into a state of emergency. The bushfire crisis took a sudden turn when heavy rainfall flooded the scorched land in the span of just two weeks. Unfortunately, while rainfall might appear to be a blessing in light of the megafires, the resulting floods were ultimately not sweet relief for rivers. 

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Brianne Palmer

What Smokey the Bear didn’t know about invasive species

Fires are increasing across the United States and researchers are looking to weed out the one of the culprits — invasive grasses. Using information from fires and non-native grass invasion across the country, researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst set out to determine if invasive grasses increase the number of fires across the United States. Of the twelve grass species analyzed, 66% increased fire frequency, adding another layer to the complexity of managing wildfires. As individuals we can help halt this “grass-fire cycle” by reducing the spread of invasive grasses and human-caused sparks.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Connor Rosenblatt

Macadamia Farmers Going Nuts Over Birds and Bats

Removing natural vegetation around farms may keep crop predators such as monkeys off farms, but it also can keep away beneficial species of birds and bats that eat common insect pests. Do the services provided by birds and bats outweigh the disservices from monkeys? Researchers ventured into macadamia orchards to try and crack open the answer.

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ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Christina M. Marvin

A Race against Climate Change: Predatory Arctic Shorebirds vs Insect Prey

What happens when one organism in a food chain adapts to climate disruption faster than another one? Prey is disappearing for some predators and species decline might be the result.

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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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Environmental Science
Sarah Shainker

Expanding the conservation “cool clique” to include freshwater megafauna

When you think of endangered species, what comes to mind? Even though the global list of endangered species includes plants, animals, and even algae, of all sizes, colors, and general aesthetic appeal, a few large animals typically serve as ambassadors for endangered species.

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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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