Plants play a key role in regulating Earth’s climate, but recent research suggests that rising temperatures could disrupt this balance, because plants are leaking more water than previously thought. UBC assistant professor Dr. Sean Michaletz, a newly minted Sloan Research Fellow in the department of botany, studies how plants respond to heat. His findings challenge…
The field of evolution examines how organisms adapt to their environments over generations, but what about the evolution of evolution itself? Researchers have long questioned why biological populations are so good at exploiting their environments—a trait called “evolvability.” Think, for example, of antimicrobial resistance and the speed with which new viral pathogens change and are…
A new Nature publication shows how soil invertebrates influence the world beneath our feet and thus also ecosystem services worldwide. Since the Industrial Revolution, global changes have led to a decline in biodiversity. To address these changes, it is crucial to understand what constitutes healthy ecosystems – and how to protect and build them. A…
Around the world, huge swathes of fertile land are turning into arid wastelands at alarming rates, threatening ecosystems, agriculture, and humanity. This process is known as desertification, and it is closely linked to the effects of climate change. Desertification is accelerating due to rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and human activities. The consequences of desertification…
There is a critical link between reduced river flow into the Mediterranean and the health of the Mediterranean marine ecosystems. New research underscores the urgency of integrating water resource management to properly safeguard the rich biodiversity of seas and ocean and the economies it supports. Climate change impacts such as more frequent and more severe…
What is an Herb? An herb, botanically, is a seed-producing annual, biennial, or perennial that does not develop persistent woody tissue but dies down at the end of a growing season (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). It can also refer, culturally, to a plant or plant part used for its medicinal, savory, or aromatic qualities. Gathering, cultivating, and…
Complex organisms, thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand, can shape massive ecosystems and influence the fate of Earth’s climate, according to a new study. Researchers from Arizona State University, along with their colleagues from the National University of the Peruvian Amazon, have identified an unknown family of microbes uniquely adapted to the…
A new study led by the University of Oxford has used a modelling approach to show that it is unlikely that plants would evolve to warn other plants of impending attack. Instead of using their communication networks to transmit warning signals, the findings suggest it is more likely that plants ‘eavesdrop’ on their neighbours. The…
Despite their reputation as buzzing nuisances, flies serve a critical role as some of the Earth’s most prolific pollinators. A new study led by Penn State scientists suggests that flies are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures. An international team of researchers examined the heat tolerance of various bee and fly species in…
Oxford University ecologists have co-devised a new framework to classify how biodiversity credit operators define what a unit of nature is. The new analysis demonstrates the challenges involved with devising a biodiversity credit market to fund nature recovery, and the risks of relying too heavily on ‘offsetting.’ We can’t avoid all impacts of human activity…