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Ramaria flava or Golden coral fungus in natural habitat, oak forest, close up view, horizontal orientation; Shutterstock ID 1739516405; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Underground fungi absorb up to a third of our fossil fuel emissions

5 June 2023

Researchers estimate that plants transfer more than 13 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide each year to mycorrhizal fungi, which grow around their roots

Glass Mountains, situated in the north tip of the Chihuahuan Desert, as seen from Alpine, Texas. - Image ID: R97NY1 (RF)

US desert grassland collapse is linked to changes in the Pacific Ocean

17 May 2023

Researchers have discovered a long-standing connection between temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and the health of arid grasslands in the US Southwest – but climate change seems to have broken it

Plankton are organisms drifting in oceans and seas. Zooplankton.

Geoengineering the seas could be catastrophic for marine life

19 April 2023

Proposed methods of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by increasing the alkalinity of seawater using minerals such as basalt could severely affect the availability of nutrients in the deep ocean

Rubbish pulled from the great Pacific garbage patch

Great Pacific Garbage Patch hosts stable community of coastal animals

17 April 2023

Arthropods and molluscs dwelling on plastic and other rubbish in the middle of the Pacific Ocean seem to be part of a new type of ecological community inadvertently created by humans

Ecologists are infecting trees with fungi to make them age prematurely

14 March 2023

Many species depend on the cavities inside veteran trees, but such spaces are in short supply. Researchers are exploring ways to make young trees old before their time

Reef fish are more placid around islands infested with invasive rats

5 January 2023

Around rat-infested tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, jewel damselfish change their behaviour because the algae they eat is less nutritious

Tropical forests ravaged by logging can still have thriving ecosystems

14 December 2022

Logged forests in Borneo have more abundant birds and mammals than pristine forests, showing that conservationists should still try to protect these habitats

Gliding sensors inspired by floating seeds will biodegrade after use

29 November 2022

A biodegradable glider based on the seeds of the Javan cucumber, which float for long distances, could be used to monitor the environment without leaving polluting e-waste

One of the mussels gathered in the 2020 survey on the river Thames

Mussel numbers in the river Thames have dropped by up to 99 per cent

28 November 2022

Populations of native mussels in the river Thames have dropped massively between 1964 and 2020, possibly because of the effects of pollution and invasive species

Wild feral cat on the banks of Cooper Creek, South Australia

Making Australia’s native animals poisonous could curb feral cats

5 September 2022

An implant embedded in Australian animals that releases lethal poison when feral cats eat them could stop species being driven to extinction by cat predation