The United States government is rolling back conservation policies in a way that demonstrably risks accelerating already at-risk coral reefs around its island territory Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Part of the issue is the way the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is defined. Researchers from the University of Tokyo, University of Guam, University of Technology Sydney and Cornell University strongly suggest broadening key species categories such that reefs are more generally protected. At present, overly specific terminology means anything outside key categories doesn't fall under the ESA and is therefore open to further human interference. 

A 40-year study using field data from Projeto Lontra reveals that Neotropical otters act as "living sensors" of ecosystem degradation, with 66% testing positive for land-based pathogens like Toxoplasma gondii carried by runoff. This research, published in Estuarine Management and Technologies, led to the creation of the Otter Health Index (OHI), a low-cost toolkit designed for muncipalities and NGOs to better monitor estuarine health through simple metrics.

In the longest-running field warming experiment of its kind, researchers have documented dramatic shifts in high-elevation mountain meadows, revealing that changes in climate alter not only the plants we can see above ground, but the invisible world of fungi and microbes in the soil below.

Species are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide – accelerated by climate change, habitat loss and invasive species. Little-studied groups, including many marine worms, are particularly affected: species are threatened with extinction before they have even been scientifically described. Researchers from the University of Göttingen, the Leibniz Institute for Biodiversity Change Analysis (LIB) and the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research will build a comprehensive dataset on European “marine annelids” – segmented sea worms – and make it openly accessible for international research. This should advance the discovery of new species and the knowledge of biological diversity worldwide. The project “EuroWorm: Accelerating Global Marine Annelid Biodiversity Research with Open Genomic Data for European Species” is led by the LIB and funded by the Leibniz Association.

A research team led by Professor William Mitch of Stanford University and Prof. Yong Sik Ok and Dr. Yoora Cho of Korea University, in collaboration with Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee of Korea University Business School and the International ESG Association, has introduced a new framework to curb greenwashing in ESG reporting. Published in Nature Water, the study presents the Water Sustainability Index, a transparent, quantitative metric designed to strengthen corporate water accountability worldwide.

The Doñana National Park, considered one of Europe’s most valuable wetlands, is expected to lose its marshland in 61 years, according to calculations from a major water-resource monitoring study carried out by the University of Seville. The study has developed an innovative algorithm, based on machine learning, capable of detecting the presence of surface water with high precision using images from the Sentinel-2 satellite