Intensive agriculture poses a significant threat to global biodiversity. However, one aspect of biodiversity in farmland is little studied: algae. Most people have seen algae growing in streams, lakes or the sea. However, algae have also adapted to survive in dryer, harsher conditions on land. In fact, soil algae are thought to be responsible for about 6% of the vegetation production on Earth. This led a research team at the universities of Göttingen and Kassel to investigate the algae in the surface soils of farmland. Their pilot study revealed more than 100 different algae, likely to be made up of hundreds of individual species. Unlike most other microbes, these algae showed seasonal variation in their communities. These are the first steps towards understanding the factors that determine the diversity of these important microorganisms. The results were published in the Journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

 

Hydrogen gas formed by natural processes in the subsurface of mountain ranges could represent a promising source of clean energy. A new international study led by Unil and GFZ shows that erosion plays a key and complex role in the formation and accumulation of this natural resource. This research confirms that the Pyrenees and the Alps could constitute key targets for natural hydrogen exploration.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have developed a game-based rainfall–runoff model that allows users to explore how floods form by adjusting land and environmental conditions. A classroom study with high school students showed that interactive, trial-and-error gameplay with score-based feedback improved their understanding of complex hydrological processes.

The climate of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean was far more turbulent than previously thought — and a new study suggests that people adapted anyway.

A new University of Maryland-led study shows that meltwater flowing off ice shelves changes the ocean in ways that drive even faster melting—and most global climate projections don’t even include it.