When you look at a forest, the variety of trees you see above ground is only part of the story. Beneath the soil, vast networks of fungi influence which trees thrive, which coexist, and how forests respond to the challenges of climate and geography.



A new study led by researchers from <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University</a> and <a href="https://english.pku.edu.cn/">Peking University</a> has revealed how these underground fungal allies shape tree diversity across the globe. Their influence varies depending on latitude, moisture, and environmental stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fungi-hidden-beneath-forests">Fungi hidden beneath forests</h2>



Jingjing Liang, an associate professor of quantitative forest ecology at Purdue, co-led the study with Zhiheng Wang from Peking University.



“What we can see above ground is governed to a large extent by what is happening belowground,” said Liang.



The experts analyzed data from over 442,000 forest plots worldwide and focused on two main groups of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-distribute-enormous-amounts-of-co2-to-mycorrhizal-fungi/">mycorrhizal fungi</a>: ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. 



Both form partnerships with tree roots, trading nutrients for carbohydrates, but they do so in different ways that profoundly influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-rich-tree-diversity-adapt-better-changing-climate/">forest diversity</a>.



“The loss in tree species diversity may damage the ecosystem services provided by forests," Wang said. "Understanding the mechanisms driving the maintenance of tree species forest diversity is fundamental for the conservation of tree species diversity.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solving-a-forest-diversity-puzzle">Solving a forest diversity puzzle</h2>



For years, scientists have debated how fungal partnerships impact tree species diversity, proposing three competing hypotheses. This comprehensive global study found that all three are valid, depending on environmental context.



“Our findings reconcile inconsistencies regarding how mycorrhizal symbiosis influences tree species diversity,” Wang said.



Using precise forest inventory data collected worldwide, the team applied advanced statistical methods to filter noise from complex ecological data, revealing hidden patterns.



“With this data, we were able to very accurately capture this relationship between different types of mycorrhizal fungi and forest tree species diversity,” Liang explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fungal-effects-shift-with-climate">Fungal effects shift with climate</h2>



<a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> ecologist Peter Reich, a senior co-author, highlighted the value of the study’s comprehensive approach. 



“This insight would have been impossible to detect without the comprehensiveness of this dataset, which allows us to test across large gradients of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-altering-the-temperature-in-66-of-tropical-forests/">temperature</a>, moisture, and latitude,” he said.



Reich explained that ectomycorrhizal fungi often dominate in cold, nutrient-poor regions that naturally have fewer tree species. Without a broad dataset, this dominance could obscure the fungi’s more nuanced effects.



“But by being able to tease apart temperature and moisture, we can see that when conditions are generally good," he said. "The more abundant the ectomycorrhizal are, the more they do to reduce tree richness.”



The process is complex. While dominant tree species naturally suppress less competitive species, root <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-pandemic-looms-as-pathogens-move-from-wild-plants-to-crops/">pathogens</a> usually check the dominance, allowing diversity. 



Ectomycorrhizal fungi suppress these pathogens, enabling dominant trees to thrive unchecked, which can reduce species diversity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-harder-climates-stronger-alliances">Harder climates, stronger alliances</h2>



The study also found that under stressful conditions - such as low moisture or cold climates - the combination of both fungal types fosters greater diversity.



In these environments, resource-sharing partnerships help more tree species survive, while pathogen suppression plays a smaller role.



“Both ways of influencing tree diversity are real, but their relative balance and magnitude of impacts vary with environmental context,” Reich said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-healing-forests-from-below">Healing forests from below</h2>



Liang emphasized that understanding the hidden fungal networks in forests is akin to treating a patient holistically. 



“We should not just look at the surface symptoms. We should look deep down, literally to the roots of the problems, and that is belowground mutualism,” he said.



This work, supported by the <a href="https://www.gfbinitiative.org/">Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative</a> and its Science-i platform, demonstrates how global collaborations can untangle complex ecological questions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forest-conservation-and-fungal-networks">Forest conservation and fungal networks</h2>



The findings open pathways for further research: How do these underground alliances affect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-forests-with-many-tree-species-are-more-effective-at-carbon-storage/">carbon storage</a> in forests? Can fostering specific fungal partnerships enhance forest resilience in a changing climate?



&nbsp;“And what can we do to enhance the health of our forest ecosystem by not just seeing what is on the surface, but what is belowground?” Liang asked.



By revealing the profound influence of underground fungal networks on forest diversity, this research underscores that the key to healthier forests - and perhaps a healthier planet - may lie hidden beneath our feet.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt5743">Science Advances</a>.



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How an invisible fungal alliance helps forests thrive

When you look at a forest, the variety of trees you see above ground is only part of the story. Beneath the soil, vast networks of fungi influence which trees thrive, which coexist, and how forests respond to the challenges of climate and geography. A new study led by researchers from Purdue University and Peking University has revealed how these underground fungal allies shape tree diversity across the globe. Their influence varies depending on latitude, moisture, and environmental stress. Fungi hidden beneath forests Jingjing Liang, an associate...

A new study led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-play-an-active-role-in-plant-pollination/">bats</a> play a fundamental role in keeping temperate forests growing by helping to protect young trees. According to the experts, without bats to prey upon them and hold their populations in check, insects that mulch on tree seedlings go wild, doing three to nine times more damage than when bats are present.



“A lot of folks associate bats with caves. But as it turns out, the habitat you could really associate with almost every bat species in North America is forest. And this is true globally. Forests are just really important to bats,”&nbsp;said study senior author Joy O’Keefe, an assistant professor and wildlife extension specialist at the University of Illinois. “We wanted to ask the question: Are bats important to forests? And in this study, we’ve demonstrated they are.”



While previous studies have proven bats’ insect-control services in crop fields and tropical forests, their similarly critical role in temperate forests has not yet been investigated. “It’s especially important for us to learn how bats affect forests, given that bats are declining due to diseases like white-nose syndrome or collisions with wind turbines. This type of work can reveal the long-term consequences of bat declines,” said study lead author Elizabeth Beilke, a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Sciences at the same university.



The scientists built large mesh-enclosed structures in an Indiana forest to exclude the eight bat species which frequent this region, while allowing insects free movement in and out. Moreover, the researchers made sure that birds had daytime access to the plots. Then, they measured the number of insects on oak and hickory seedlings in the forest understory, together with the amount of defoliation per seedling.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that, in plots where bats were excluded, there were three times as many insects and five times more defoliation on the seedlings than in the control plots. When analyzed separately, oaks experienced none times more defoliation and hickories three times more in the absence of bats.



“We know from other research that oaks and hickories are ecologically important, with acorns and hickory nuts providing food sources for wildlife and the trees acting as hosts to native insects. Bats use both oaks and hickories as roosts, and now we see they may be using them as sources of prey insects, as well. Our data suggest bats and oaks have a mutually beneficial relationship,” Beilke explained.



“I think it’s important to stress the value of this type of experimental work with bats, to really try to dig into what their ecosystem services are in a deliberate manner. While we can probably extrapolate out and say bats are important in other types of forest, I wouldn’t discount the value of doing the same kind of work in other systems, especially if there are questions about certain insect or tree species and how bats affect them. So rather than extrapolating out across the board, let’s do the work to try to figure out how bats are benefiting plants. And before they’re gone, hopefully,” O’Keefe concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3903">Ecology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bats protect young trees from insect damage

A new study led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign...

For many years, scientists have considered enhanced photosynthesis as one of the possible beneficial effects of increasing levels of atmospheric <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-tech-can-capture-carbon-dioxide-from-the-atmosphere/">carbon dioxide</a>: since plants use CO2 for photosynthesis, higher levels of this gas were thought to lead to more productive plants.&nbsp;



However, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.umontpellier.fr/en/recherche/unites-de-recherche/institut-des-sciences-des-plantes-de-montpellier">Institute of Plant Sciences</a> in Montpellier, France (IPSiM), has found that this effect may be less than expected because elevated carbon dioxide levels could make it difficult for plants to obtain minerals necessary to properly grow and provide nutritious food.



“There are many reports in the literature showing that the CO2&nbsp;levels expected at the end of the twenty-first century will lead to a lower concentration of nitrogen in most plants, mainly affecting the protein content in plant products,” explained study first author Alain Gojon, the research director of France’s <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en/about-us">National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment</a>. “It is very important to understand why growing plants at elevated CO2&nbsp;has such a negative effect on the protein content of most staple crops and the future of food.”



Although plants use photosynthesis to incorporate carbon dioxide into sugars that they derive their energy from, this process does not provide them with the key minerals they need to grow, such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and iron, which are instead collected from the soils through their root systems.&nbsp;



Among these minerals, nitrogen is particularly important not only as a key building block for the amino acids that plants use to make proteins, but also for providing proper nutrition for humans. “What is clear is that the nutrient composition of the main crops used worldwide, such as rice and wheat, is negatively impacted by the elevation of CO2. This will have a strong impact on food quality and global food security,” said study senior author Antoine Martin, a research scientist at IPSiM.



“Two main nutrients that are essential for human nutrition may be affected by this phenomenon,” Gojon added. “The first one is proteins built from nitrogen. In developing countries this can be a big issue, because many diets in these countries aren’t rich in proteins and plants grown at elevated CO2&nbsp;can have twenty to thirty percent less protein. The second one is iron. Iron deficiency already affects an estimated two billion people worldwide.”



Besides impacting global food systems, mineral deficiencies due to increased CO2&nbsp; levels may lead to a negative feedback loop for climate change mitigation. “The terrestrial carbon sink associated with enhanced photosynthesis may be limited if most of the vegetation is deficient in nitrogen and other minerals, which may prevent any additional increase of CO2&nbsp;capture from the atmosphere,” Gojon concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.09.002">Trends in Plant Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Elevated CO2 levels will make crops less nutritious

For many years, scientists have considered enhanced photosynthesis as one...

Aerial,View,Of,Amazon,Rainforest,,South,America

The central Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest tropical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-level-rise-can-increase-fires-in-tropical-peatlands/">peatland</a> complex, covering an area of around 16.7 million hectares, which is bigger than the area of England and Wales combined. Unlike temperate peat bogs that mostly accumulate carbon in the form of mosses, these peatlands underlie lush tropical forests and contain organic matter from the fall of leaves and forest debris. In addition, they are influenced by the movement of water from rivers and have been a source of food and resources for local people for thousands of years.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The Congo Basin spans across six central African countries, but the peatlands occur mostly within the Republic of Congo (ROC) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Due to the remote and inaccessible location of these peatlands, little research has been done on how the ecosystems function, although a previous study estimated that 29 Pg of carbon is stored below ground in peat across the region. (A Petagram is equivalent to a Gigaton and equals one billion metric tons.)&nbsp;



With the uncertainties surrounding the effects of climate change, scientists are concerned that this massive amount of stored carbon may be released into the atmosphere and contribute further to greenhouse gas concentrations. In order to understand the history of the Congo Basin peatlands, Congolese and European researchers have now taken samples of peat from beneath the remote swamp forests in the region. The results of their analysis, published in the journal Nature, carry a sober warning for the entire world, particularly as environmental leaders gather at the COP27 climate talks next week.



The research, led by scientists from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a>, involved analyzing plant remains in samples taken at depths beneath the surface of the peat. The scientists used waxes from plant leaves preserved in the samples to calculate the rainfall levels at the time that the plants were living. This enabled them to reconstruct a record of the vegetation and rainfall in the central Congo Basin over the last 17,500 years, from when the peat began to form.&nbsp;



The record showed that peat was accumulated gradually in the region up to around 7,500 years ago. During this time, the peat acted as a store of carbon. However, between 7,500 and 2,000 years ago, the peat layers either decomposed or never accumulated. The researchers described this as the “ghost interval." This same ghost interval was found in peat samples from hundreds of kilometers away in the DRC indicating it happened across the whole peatland region.&nbsp;



“The peat samples show us that there was a period of around 5,000 years when there was almost no build-up of peat, less than 0.1 mm per year.&nbsp;The samples also reveal what the rainfall and vegetation was like when the peat was formed. Together they give a picture of a drying climate that got progressively drier until about 2,000 years ago," explained study lead author Dr. Yannick Garcin of the National Research Institute for Sustainable Development of France.



At the height of this drought, rainfall was reduced by at least 800 mm a year. This caused the water table in the Congo peatlands to drop, exposing older layers of peat to the air, which led to decomposition and the release of carbon dioxide.&nbsp;The peatlands&nbsp;only&nbsp;stopped releasing carbon and reverted back to&nbsp;taking carbon out of the atmosphere when the&nbsp;climate&nbsp;got wetter&nbsp;again&nbsp;in the past 2,000 years, according to the results of the study.&nbsp; &nbsp;



“This drought led to a huge loss of peat, at least 2 meters,” said Dr. Garcin. “The drought flipped the peatland to a huge carbon source as the peat decomposed. This decomposition only stopped when the drought stopped, allowing peat to start accumulating again.”&nbsp;



The scientists warn&nbsp;that, while the peatlands are&nbsp;currently largely intact and managed sustainably by local people, they are vulnerable.&nbsp;If current global warming produces drying effects in the Congo region, history could repeat itself and 30 billion tons of carbon from decomposing peat could end up in the atmosphere. This is equivalent to all the emissions from burning fossil fuel globally over a three-year period, and the impact on climate change could be catastrophic.&nbsp;



“Our study brings a brutal warning from the past. If the peatlands dry beyond a certain threshold they will release colossal quantities of carbon to the atmosphere, further accelerating climate change," said study senior author Professor Simon Lewis. “There is some evidence that dry seasons are lengthening in the Congo Basin, but it is unclear if these will continue. But evidence from our study shows that drier conditions have existed in the past and did trigger a breakdown of the peatlands as a store of carbon.”&nbsp;



“This is an important message for world leaders gathering at the COP27 climate talks next week. If greenhouse gas emissions drive the central Congo peatlands to become too dry, then the peatlands will contribute to the climate crisis rather than protect us," emphasized Professor Lewis.



In addition to the threat of the peatlands getting drier&nbsp;from climate change, the region is subject to additional pressures which could cause damage to the fragile peatland ecosystem. These include draining the peatlands for industrial-scale agriculture, logging, and oil exploration.&nbsp;The central Congo peatlands are home to a rich biodiversity, including forest elephants, lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, all of which form part of this globally important but threatened ecosystem.



Professor Corneille Ewango from the University of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, led the expeditions to collect the peat samples from the DRC.&nbsp;



“This is another astonishing finding about the peatlands. They are more vulnerable than we thought, and everyone must play their role in protecting them," said Professor Ewango. “Polluting countries must cut their carbon emissions fast, to limit the possibility of droughts pushing the peatlands past their tipping point. The DRC will also need to strengthen protection of the peatlands. At stake is one of the most wildlife and carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth."



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The Congo Basin could release billions of tons of carbon

The central Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest...

Experts have identified a new method of using compost that could boost global crop production and help mitigate climate change. Professor Susanne Schmidt of the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> explained that adopting a Precision Compost Strategy (PCS) in large-scale <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/agriculture-could-play-a-key-role-in-limiting-global-warming/">agriculture</a> could improve crop yield and soil health, and would keep biowaste from ending up in the landfill where it releases harmful greenhouse gases.



“Instead of relying just on mineral fertilisers, PCS involves supplementing the right type of compost with nutrients to match the needs of soils and crops,” said Professor Schmidt.



“Soils that have become compacted and acidic are then aerated and neutralized. The result is they can retain more water, facilitate root growth and nourish the organisms that keep soils and crops healthy.”



According to Professor Schmidt, soil plays a crucial role in ensuring global food security. “But currently 30 percent of the world’s agricultural soil is classified as degraded, with projections that this could rise to 90 percent by 2050."



The researchers estimate that precision compost could boost the annual global production of major cereal crops by 96 million tons. “This has flow-on effects for consumers by addressing food shortages and price hikes," said Professor Schmidt.



The study also suggests that applying a precision compost strategy to large-scale agriculture could help mitigate climate change.



“In Australia alone, more than 7 million tons of biowaste ends up in landfill every year where it generates huge amounts of avoidable greenhouse gases and other undesirable effects,” said Professor Schmidt.



“If we repurpose it, we can restore crucial carbon in cropland topsoil. There are cost benefits too - diverting just 15,000 tons of biowaste could save a local council as much as $2-3 million a year.”



Tony Rossi is a sugarcane farmer in North Queensland. His family's company V. Rossi &amp; Sons has been using precision compost for seven years. “We’ve been able to almost halve our fertilizer use which is so much better for the environment, and our crop yield is the same,” said Rossi.



The research was supported by Fight Food Waste CRC and is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00584-x">Nature Food</a>.



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Compost could boost crop yields by millions of tons

Experts have identified a new method of using compost that...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-lakes-are-releasing-methane-from-melting-permafrost/">Arctic</a> is warming up at twice the average global rate and this is predicted to affect a variety of biogeophysical variables, such as rainfall, permafrost temperatures, ice mass, snow thickness and the structure and composition of Arctic vegetation. In turn, different types of vegetation influence the surface energy budget (SEB), which is the energy exchange between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. It is thus highly relevant to ask how the various types of vegetation found in the Arctic affect the surface energy budget, in order to understand how energy exchange in this sensitive area may change in the future.



An international team, led by two researchers from the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies of the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a> (UZH), has now taken a closer look at the factors driving the energy flux of the land surface in the Arctic. They focused their study on the circumpolar land north of 60° latitude, and specifically on the extent of the circumpolar Arctic vegetation map (CAVM). At 64 different tundra and glacier study sites across the area, they obtained half-hourly and hourly in situ observations of energy fluxes and meteorological variables from various monitoring networks, over the period between 1994 and 2021.&nbsp;



Their focus was on the summer months between June and August, during which sunlight, and thus energy absorption, is particularly high. Depending on the type of vegetation, either the surface or the air are warmed to varying degrees. In addition, with increasing shrub density land warms up earlier after winter. “The shrubs’ dark branches emerge from under the snow early, absorb sunlight and pass it on to the surface long before the snow melts away,” explains postdoc Jacqueline Oehri, first author of the study.



In an effort to explain differences in surface energy fluxes at the different sites, the scientists used a variance partitioning analysis to compare the extent to which 15 selected drivers predict mean magnitudes of surface energy fluxes. The drivers included factors such as cloud cover, snow cover, soil and permafrost characteristics, topography, precipitation, air temperature and vegetation type.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, current Earth system models represent Arctic vegetation as being of one or only a few functional types, while in truth it is far more diverse. In their study, they quantified the presence of all the main classes of vegetation described in the CAVM, namely barren complexes, grassy tundra, prostrate dwarf-shrub tundra, erect-shrub tundra, wetland complexes, glaciers and boreal peat bog.



Their results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34049-3">Nature Communications</a>, indicated that the Arctic’s diverse vegetation, which is disregarded in most climate models, is one of the key factors predicting the extent of the summer energy exchange between the Earth’s land surface and the atmosphere.



“Remarkably, in summer the difference in heat flux between two types of vegetation – such as a landscape dominated by lichens and mosses, and one with shrubs – is about the same as between the surface of glaciers and green grasslands,” says Oehri.



The researchers suggest that the various types of Arctic vegetation have different heights, productivities and albedos (solar radiation reflected rather than absorbed), all of which may affect surface energy fluxes. Furthermore, they say that as the Arctic warms, the distribution and extent of the different vegetation types will change, which will further impact climate changes.&nbsp;



“Our findings on the energy flows in the Arctic are extremely relevant, since the preservation of permafrost depends to a large extent on the heat flux into the ground,” says UZH professor Gabriela Schaepman-Strub. The study’s data now make it possible to incorporate the effects of different plant communities, and their distribution, into climate predictions. Researchers can thus use improved climate models to calculate whether, and to which extent, tundra vegetation in the Arctic plays a role in cooling the land surface.



“We now know which plant communities have a particularly pronounced cooling or warming effect through energy exchange. This enables us to determine how changes in plant communities, which are occurring in many regions in the Arctic, are affecting permafrost and the climate,” says Schaepman-Strub.&nbsp;



However, the study does highlight important data gaps. Long-term, year-round energy flux data for Arctic vegetation are still very scarce, and data are missing for autumn and winter seasons at many sites. In addition, observations for barren tundra vegetation are few and far between, even though this type of vegetation shows large differences in surface energy flux from the other types of tundra. The authors believe that new stations are needed in those Arctic landscapes where data are incomplete, and they also call for current stations to remain in operation.&nbsp;



The Arctic is changing rapidly and will have a major impact on the climate dynamics of the entire planet. This study indicates the important role of vegetation in driving energy exchanges, and emphasizes the fact that understanding and predicting how vegetation will be distributed in the Arctic in future, will help scientists to make more accurate climate projections in this sensitive system, as well as globally.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vegetation is a key driver of energy flux in the Arctic

The Arctic is warming up at twice the average global...

Scruffy yards are usually frowned upon and, especially in fall, people go to great trouble to collect up leaves and ‘tidy’ their gardens. Queues of trailers packed with garden waste are a familiar sight at recycling centers, as home owners work to keep control of their green space. But what if we saw garden waste differently – what if it had value left right there, in our back yards. According to Professor Per Gundersen of the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>, we would be making a useful contribution to both the climate and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanilla-cultivation-can-boost-biodiversity-in-madagascar/">biodiversity</a> crisis if we simply left our garden waste where it falls.&nbsp;



Each year, Danes shuttle nearly a million tons of waste from their gardens to recycling depots, calculates Gundersen, who is a professor of forest ecology at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management. This consists mostly of leaves, twigs and branches, and it is all sorted and processed by municipal waste management systems. The largest branches and trunks are burned for bioenergy, while small branches, leaves and grass clippings are composted.&nbsp;



According to a simple modelling exercise carried out by Gundersen, leaving this waste to decompose in our gardens represents an opportunity to store large quantities of carbon, rather than delivering it back into the atmosphere as CO2 when the waste is burned.&nbsp;



“When garden waste is burned or composted by municipal waste schemes, CO2 is returned to the atmosphere very quickly. By keeping waste in the garden, the decomposition process is significantly slower, sometimes taking several years. In practice, this means that one builds up a larger and larger storage of CO2 in the garden in the form of twigs, dead branches and leaves that are left to decompose,” says Gundersen. “If everyone went all-in and learned how to manage their garden’s branches and twigs, for example, my calculations suggest that we could store about 600,000 tons of CO2 annually.”&nbsp;



In fact, when Gundersen deducts the utility that branches and trunks used for bioenergy in the current system provide, the CO2 storage potential of garden waste could meet about half of one percent of Denmark’s 70 percent reduction target for 2030. Additionally, leaves and twigs are a boon for backyard biodiversity as they provide a food source and diverse microhabitats for animals to inhabit.&nbsp;



“Leaves help nourish the garden as they feed an entire ecosystem of decomposers. From fungi, bacteria and tiny, invisible soil creatures to earthworms and roly-poly bugs, which help break down and metabolize organic material so that nutrients are released into the soil. These decomposers then act as important food for larger animals, like hedgehogs and birds,” explains Gundersen.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



As microorganisms, worms and other decomposers use the leaves for food, they will convert the biomass into energy and release CO2 slowly as a consequence of respiration. It will take several years for the CO2 to be released into the atmosphere, in contrast to the rapid release due to burning. A portion of the gnawed leaves will also become soil humus, a common name for the organic material that enriches soil and is important for plant health.&nbsp;



“A high humus content in topsoil makes for a dark soil that has a good structure and retains water and nutrients well, which is important if you want garden plants to thrive,” explains Gundersen.



He suggests raking the fallen leaves into planting beds where vegetables are grown, or over to areas where you want to prevent the establishment of weeds. They can also be gathered in a part of the garden that you are willing to keep wild and allow to manage itself. By spring, a large portion of the leaves will have already disintegrated and returned into the invisible garden cycle. Leaves from linden and ash trees disappear quickly from gardens, while oak and fruit tree leaves are slower to break down, making them ideal for soil insulation around bulbous plants or vegetables, for example.



“Our gardens can contribute to both the climate and biodiversity crisis by harnessing more garden waste. I also think that it will lead to a little less gardening in the long run. And then it’s more fun, because there will be a greater abundance of life around the garden. We just need to dare to let go of control and make more room for nature by allowing for twigs and a few dead branches, for example,” concludes Gundersen.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Garden waste could store 600,000 tons of CO2  annually

Scruffy yards are usually frowned upon and, especially in fall,...

As the world’s cities grow, it becomes increasingly important to find ways of making them greener and more sustainable. A popular option for achieving this goal are rooftop gardens and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-from-wind-farms-could-affect-marine-mammal-behavior/">farms</a> which take advantage of underutilized roof space, providing new food resources, while at the same time cooling the surrounding area, increasing building insulation, and improving air quality. Yet, conditions on rooftops such as higher solar radiation, more wind exposure, and lesser soil moisture often make plants grow smaller and be less healthy. 



Now, a research team led by Sarabeth Buckley, an expert in Plant Sciences at the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a>, has found that repurposing the CO2 from building exhaust as a kind of fertilizer may help counter some of these challenges.



“We wanted to test whether there is an untapped resource inside buildings that could be used to make plants grow larger in rooftop farms. Creating more favorable conditions that increase growth could help make rooftop farms more successful and therefore more viable options for installation on buildings,” said Dr. Buckley.



The researchers chose corn and spinach as a test case, since they are edible plants that use different pathways to photosynthesize, one of which – called “C3” and used by spinach but not by corn – being highly sensitive to elevated CO2 levels, and grew them on the roof of a campus building at <a href="https://www.bu.edu/">Boston University</a>. Thus, corn acted as a control used to explore how other aspects of placement close to the exhaust vents, such as different temperatures, affected plant growth.&nbsp;



Moreover, the rooftop garden also featured controls that were fanned by large fans without any exhaust air, to check whether air movement from the vents was a contributing factor. The concentrations of CO2 in the classrooms and on the roof were regularly measured to see how much extra CO2 is reaching the plants.



The scientists monitored the plants during their growth for size, number of leaves, and – after harvesting – for wet and dry biomass. The examination revealed that spinach grown next to the exhaust vents had four times the biomass of spinach grown next to a control fan and, even when high winds decreased the size advantage, these plants were still twice as large as the ones in the control group.



“We are hoping this could lead to the further development of this system and eventual implementation in rooftop gardens and farms. If that happens, then hopefully more rooftop farms will be installed. They could provide a multitude of environmental and social benefits such as energy savings for the building, carbon drawdown, climate mitigation, urban heat reduction, local food production, community building opportunities, and aesthetic and mental health benefits,” Dr. Buckley concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.918027">Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How building exhaust could boost rooftop gardens

As the world’s cities grow, it becomes increasingly important to...

Panama disease is one of the most destructive plant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-heightens-risk-of-most-infectious-diseases/">diseases</a> of modern times. It is caused by a fungal pathogen called Fusarium oxysporum cubense, and is also known as Fusarium wilt. It infects banana plants, causing the leaves to turn yellow and wilt, the corm to rot and the vessels to become blocked. Infected plants will invariably die. The fungus is easily spread in the form of hardy spores residing in the soil and also by the transplantation of young banana suckers that appear uninfected but do, in fact, already carry the fungus.&nbsp;



Bananas are one of the most important crops in the world. Over 100 million metric tons are produced in total each year, in more than 150 countries. Not only are they exported and consumed world-wide, but also they provide staple local food for almost half a billion people. They are thus an essential calorie crop and a revenue-generating trade commodity.&nbsp;



In the 1950s, a race of the same fungus (Fusarium oxysporum cubense&nbsp;Race 1) was responsible for an outbreak of Panama disease that almost wiped out commercial banana production around the world. At that time the ‘Gros Michel’ cultivar was the dominant variety of banana and was relied upon for almost all exports. In order to overcome the disaster, a new variety known as ‘Cavendish’ was introduced. This cultivar was not susceptible to the disease and soon replaced the Gros Michel bananas in terms of exports.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, by 1967, a new race of the fungus, known as Tropical Race 4 (TR4), was detected in Taiwan and proved infectious even to the Cavendish variety of banana plants. Since then TR4 has spread rapidly to continents across the world; it reached Africa by 2015 and, by August 2019, had arrived in Colombia in Latin America, a region famed for being the world’s biggest exporters of bananas. This aggressive fungus once again places banana production in jeopardy, threatening to inflict enormous costs on farmers and local people who depend on the fruit for income as well as nutritional value.&nbsp;



The new Panama disease threat is of particular significance as Cavendish bananas currently account for about 40 percent of world production and more than 90 percent of all exports. Normally the best method of controlling fungi on crops is to use fungicides but, so far, none of the usual chemical measures has shown much efficacy against TR4. In a systematic new study, reported in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010860">PLOS Pathogens</a>, University of Exeter scientists have now tested 21 fungicides of seven different types, in the hope of identifying a chemical agent that can control Panama disease.&nbsp;



Funded by the BBSRC Global Food Systems initiative (GFS), the team of researchers, led by Professor Steinberg and Professor Sarah Gurr, used a multi-disciplinary approach to improve their understanding of why the trusted fungicides did not appear to work on Panama disease. They tested the fungicides against TR4 spores and hyphae in laboratory cultures, as well as in infected banana corms and roots in the field. By combining expertise in cell and molecular biology, bioinformatics and plant pathology, the team revealed that all major classes of single-site fungicides do not work against this troublesome pathogen.&nbsp;



Their results did, however, provide insight about the molecular reason behind the “tolerance” of these fungicides exhibited by Fusarium TR4. Guided by this understanding, the research team tested seven different multi-site fungicides and discovered that some of this specialized class of anti-fungal chemistries, not previously used on bananas, are toxic to TR4 spores. Further tests using different concentrations of these potentially effective fungicides, and monitoring for possible negative outcomes on plant leaves and corms, revealed two types of fungicides that do protected bananas against TR4-induced Panama disease. They identify these substances as captan and three types of mono-alkyl lipophilic cations (MALCS).



This discovery opens new avenues to develop efficient control strategies and provides a significant step forwards in the fight to protect this valuable crop. Professor Steinberg, who led the molecular and cellular aspects of the work, said: “Bananas are Britain's favorite fruit and Panama disease may ‘wipe’ them off the supermarket shelves. On top, millions of people in producer countries live on bananas. Providing an important step towards safeguarding bananas from Panama disease gives me great pride.”



"Our success is due to an enormous amount of dedicated work over several years with co-workers with hugely disparate skills," said Professor Sarah Gurr, the plant pathology expert who led all work on banana infection and pathogen cultivation. "We are highly delighted and excited by the outcome of our work and by the glimmer of hope that the beloved banana may remain as part of our daily diet.”



Professor Dan Bebber, who was not involved in the study but heads the Exeter Global Food Security program, said: “This work has rather excitingly opened the door to development of safe and effective ways of protecting the UK’s favorite fruit by demonstrating good levels of disease control with lesser known antifungals. It also confirms that basic research has the potential to provide answers to pressing challenges in global food security.”



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New research will help keep bananas on supermarket shelves

Panama disease is one of the most destructive plant diseases...

During evolution, when there are limited resources available, plants and animals often compete for nutrients, mates, and habitats. This makes the flower-covered meadows of China’s Hengduan mountains an evolutionary mystery, sporting dozens of species of closely-related rhododendrons – a family of flowering shrubs – which all live in harmony. Now, a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> in Chicago has found that these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mountain-formation-led-to-an-explosion-in-plant-diversity/">plants</a> are able to co-exist because they burst into bloom at different times of the season, and thus, don’t have to compete for pollinators.&nbsp;



“There’s this basic idea in ecology of the niche, that a species’ lifestyle, like what it eats and how it fits into the environment, cannot be replicated in the same community. If two species with the same lifestyle are living in the same space, they’ll compete with each other, so either one or both of them will adapt to have different, non-overlapping lifestyles, or they’ll go extinct,” explained study lead author Rick Ree, a curator at the Field Museum. “Since there are so many closely-related species of&nbsp;rhododendrons all living together in these mountains, we wanted to figure out how they were able to co-exist.”



According to Ree, the rhododendron diversity in this area is partly caused by speciation – the divergence of new ecologically-similar species from a common ancestor. This process, however, would theoretically increase the likelihood that the various species will need to compete with one another. Thus, in order to survive, they need to adapt so they can co-exist, by using different strategies.



“They can become very different in terms of their preferences for soil, light, and moisture, very basic physiological functional traits,” Ree said. “They can also evolve differences to reduce this potential for cross pollination or competing for pollinators. That would be manifested through differences in flower shape, size, or color, or could be manifested in when they make their flowers available for pollinators. By partitioning that timeline, they can reduce their chances of wasting their pollen and the resources that go into reproduction.”



By examining over 100 sites in the Hengduan mountains four times throughout the season, the scientists discovered that the key factor in allowing these plants to co-exist was that they all flower at different times. Unfortunately, while this strategy allows them to survive and share resources, it also makes the highly sensitive to climate change.



“There’s abundant evidence that the pace of climate change is messing with plants’ flowering times, causing population declines and extinctions. The question is, how are plant communities around the globe going to respond? Weather is part of what signals them to blossom, and since climate change affects the weather, it’s likely to shift that competitive landscape. When the environment changes, species have three choices: you move, you adapt, or you die. Climate change is accelerating that dynamic,”&nbsp;Ree concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14002">Journal of Ecology</a>.&nbsp;



Image Credit: Qin Li



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Flowers share resources by blooming at different times

During evolution, when there are limited resources available, plants and...

Out gut microbiome consists of thousands of microorganisms that play an essential role in digesting nutrients and can have both positive and negative effects on our health. While the mechanisms of how the gut microbiome impacts human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dietary-changes-can-improve-the-health-of-shift-workers/">health</a> is still under scientific investigation, new evidence suggests that eating specific kinds of food influences the type of bacteria living in our gut and their health-related role. For instance, a new study led by <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/">King’s College London</a> (KCL) has found that eating a handful of almonds per day significantly increases the production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid promoting gut health.



The scientists recruited 87 healthy adult participants who were already eating less than the recommended amounts of fibers and who typically snacked on unhealthy foods such as chocolate or crisps. The participants were split into three groups: the first group changed their snacks for 56 grams of whole almonds per day, the second one for 56 grams of ground almonds per day, and the control group ate energy-matched muffins during the course of a month.&nbsp;



Researchers discovered that butyrate – a fatty acid which is the main source of fuel for the cells lining the colon, contributing to a strong gut wall that can easily absorb nutrients, and allowing beneficial gut microbes to flourish – was significantly higher among almond eaters compared to those that consumed muffins. While no major difference was observed in gut transit time among the three groups, whole-almond eaters had an additional 1.5 bowel movements per week, suggesting that eating almonds could also benefit people with constipation.



Thus, eating whole and ground almonds can improve people’s diets, providing them with higher intakes of monounsaturated fatty acids, fiber, potassium, and other important nutrients. “Part of the way in which the gut microbiota impact human health is through the production of short-chain fatty acids, such as butyrate. These molecules act as a fuel source for cells in the colon, they regulate absorption of other nutrients in the gut, and help balance the immune system. We think these findings suggest almond consumption may benefit bacterial metabolism in a way that has the potential to influence human health,” concluded study lead author Kevin Wheelan, an expert in Nutritional Sciences at KCL.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac265">American Journal of Clinical Nutrition</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A daily dose of almonds can boost gut health

Out gut microbiome consists of thousands of microorganisms that play...

Although the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-amazon-is-the-main-source-of-rain-in-the-atacama-desert/">Atacama desert</a>, which stretches for 1,600 kilometers along the western coast of South America, is the Earth’s driest place, it is far from barren. Many plant species that are adapted to extreme conditions thrive here. Moreover, about every five to ten years, this desert hosts one of the world’s most spectacular sights: the so-called “desierto florido” (“blooming desert”) – amazing flower mass blooms that usually occur after rainfall.&nbsp;



Now, an international team of scientists has investigated which physiological and evolutionary mechanisms enable the great diversity of shapes, colors, and visual patterns of flowers during desiertos floridos, and how pollinators for whose benefit such visual extravaganza evolved, perceive these variations.&nbsp;



“Our aim was to shed light on the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that cause biological diversity in extreme environments like the Atacama desert,” said study first author Jaime Martínez-Harms, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.inia.cl/">Institute of Agricultural Research</a> in Chile.



“Here we show that flowers of the pussypaw&nbsp;Cistanthe longiscapa,&nbsp;a representative species for&nbsp;desiertos floridos&nbsp;in the Atacama desert, are highly variable in the color and patterns they present to pollinators. This variability probably results from different so-called ‘betalain’ pigments in the flower petals.”



During desiertos floridos, C. longiscapa – an annual plant growing up to 20 centimeters which blooms in patches of purple and yellow flowers, with numerous intermediate (reddish, pinkish, white) flowers in-between – appears to be the dominant species in the Atacama desert, suggesting that purple and yellow morphs are heritable variants that can be interbred.



In order to clarify how pollinators – mostly hymenopterans such as wasps and bees - perceive these flowers, the scientists used cameras sensitive to visible light and UV, together with spectrometers to measure the reflection, absorption, and transmission of different wavelengths of 110 purple, yellow, pink, and while C. longiscapa flowers, which helped them create composite images of these variants as seen by various species of pollinators.



The results showed that the diversity perceptible to pollinators was greater than what the human eye can perceive, since these insects can also distinguish between flowers with a high versus low UV reflection.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, the visual diversity of the flowers is due to differences between betalains (yellow, orange, and purple pigments) that not only give flowers their colors, but also protect them from drought, salt stress, and damage from the reactive oxygen radicals under environmental stress. Moreover, this diversity appears to be driven by differences in the sensitivity and preference for different colors and patterns across various species of pollinators.



“The great variation in flower color within&nbsp;C. longiscapa&nbsp;can be explained if different species of pollinating insects, through their preference for particular flower colors and patterns, could cause these variants to become reproductively isolated from other individuals of the same plant species. This ongoing process could ultimately lead to the origin of new races or species,” said Martínez-Harms.&nbsp;



“In our next studies, we will further investigate the chemical identity and the biological synthesis pathways of betalains and other flower pigments, as well as their relationship to traits such as the scents produced by the flowers. This should help us to understand their role in shaping the interactions between plants and their pollinators, and in the plants’ tolerance to biotic and abiotic stressors under fluctuating climate conditions,”&nbsp;he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.957318">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Desert flower diversity is driven by pollinators

Although the Atacama desert, which stretches for 1,600 kilometers along...

In contrast to prevailing theories claiming that canopy leaves can always maintain their temperatures within an optimal range for photosynthesis, a new study led by <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> (OSU) has found that, in fact, leaves in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-forests-are-more-resilient-and-productive/">forest</a> canopies are often not able to cool themselves below the ambient air temperature. These findings suggest that trees’ ability to avoid harmful temperature rises and to pull carbon from the atmosphere will likely be compromised in a warmer, drier climate.



“A hypothesis known as limited leaf homeothermy argues that through a combination of functional traits and physiological responses, leaves can keep their daytime temperature close to the best temperature for photosynthesis and below what is damaging for them,” said study lead author Chris Still, a professor of Forest Ecosystems and Society. “Specifically, leaves should cool below air temperature at higher temperatures, typically greater than 25 or 30 degrees Celsius. That theory also implies that the impact of climate warming on forests will be partially mitigated by the leaves’ cooling response.”



By using thermal imaging to measure canopy-leaf temperature at various sites in North and Central America, the scientists discovered that canopy leaves do not consistently cool below daytime air temperatures or remain within a narrow temperature range, as the limited leaf homeothermy theory would predict.&nbsp;



The investigations revealed that canopy leaves warm faster than air, are warmer than air during most of the day, and only start cooling off in mid- to late-afternoon. Since global warming will most likely lead to even higher canopy leaf temperatures, forest carbon cycling may be disrupted, and forest mortality risk will spike.



“Leaf temperature has long been recognized as important for plant function because of its influence on carbon metabolism and water and energy exchanges,” Professor Still explained. “If canopy photosynthesis declines with increasing temperature, the ability of forests to act as a carbon sink will be reduced.”&nbsp;



Leaf temperature in different regions is affected by how leaf size varies with climate and canopy structure. For instance, large leaves can be found mainly in warm and wet climates, while leaf traits such as higher reflectance and smaller sizes – features which increase the ability to shed heat – occur mostly in plants from hot, dry areas. Thus, in much of the warm, wet tropics, leaf temperatures are already approaching or even surpassing thresholds needed for positive net photosynthesis.



“Our results have big implications for understating how plants acclimate to warming, and they suggest a limited ability for canopy leaves to regulate their temperature. Our data and analyses suggest a warming climate will result in even higher canopy leaf temperatures, likely leading to reduction of carbon assimilation capacity and eventually heat damage,” Professor Still concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2205682119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Forest canopy leaves are losing their cooling ability

In contrast to prevailing theories claiming that canopy leaves can...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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