An unprecedented global assessment examines climate, economic, and governance threats to mountain systems and the benefits they provide, suggesting pathways toward sustainability.
Ecosystems, structure and dynamics
The Effect of Coral Bleaching Events in the Great Barrier Reef
A new study using seawater chemistry compares the status of the iconic reef before and after a bleaching event.
Bill Would Create a Wildlife Corridors System to Protect Species
In the wake of a recent United Nations report about threats to biodiversity, congressional legislation aims to protect wildlife that faces habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation.
Science in This Century Needs People
An ecologist built an army of beach surveyors over 20 years and now has the world’s largest data set of marine bird mortality informing climate change and disaster studies.
Ancient Fires and Indigenous Knowledge Inform Fire Policies
Global Paleofire Working Group 2: Diverse Knowledge Systems for Fire Policy and Biodiversity Conservation; Egham, United Kingdom, 4–9 September 2018
The Fate of Root Carbon in Soil: Data and Model Gaps
Root Trait and Soil Carbon Workshop; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 31 July to 1 August 2018
Peruvian Mountain Birds Take an “Escalator to Extinction”
As the climate warms, tropical birds living in the mountains are retreating to higher elevations to avoid the heat. What happens when they run out of mountain slope to escape to?
A Cross-Sectoral Approach to Tackle Ocean Plastic Pollution
Plastic in the Oceans: Challenges and Solutions; Cambridge, United Kingdom, 7 March 2018
Seasonal Leaf Production Is Key Control on Amazon Carbon Balance
Characterizing leaf phenology in process-based models reconciles both “dry season green-up” and drought controls on Amazonian carbon balance.
Upper Estuaries Found to Be Significant Blue Carbon Sink
Inland from the seagrass and salt marsh ecosystems that border the ocean, upper estuaries store more carbon than previously realized and could play an important role in mitigating climate change.
