land-use-and-ecosystem-services

When an earthquake lifted the seafloor in Alaska, it accidentally created a evolutionary laboratory where fish rewrote millions of years of adaptation in just five decades.

British scientists are fighting to save a rare snail which is considered "as precious as an Egyptian artefact". Ian Hughes, based in Llanarth, Ceredigion, has devoted himself to protecting the glutinous snail, one of Europe's rarest species, after becoming "beguiled by their cuteness." The fingertip-sized mollusc survives in just one British lake. The creature, known scientifically as Myxas gluti…

Nature Communications, Published online: 12 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77501-4 Human-driven environmental change is reshaping ecological communities worldwide. Analysing 4,748 sites across 129 studies, we show that formerly common species decline disproportionately compared to rare species in marine and terrestrial assemblages.

A picturesque introduction of two swans to Michigan a century ago has become an ecological crisis the state now races to reverse.

When fruit disappears, bearded capuchins switch from foraging to hunting, targeting everything from lizards and rodents to snakes, iguanas, and young birds. Bearded capuchin monkeys hunt more small vertebrates when fruit is scarce, according to a long-term field study in Brazil. The behavior may offer clues to how early human ancestors obtained nutrient-rich food during [...]

Scientific Data, Published online: 12 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-08288-8 A dataset of drought-induced tree mortality in Canada’s boreal forests from 1970 to 2020

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Jenni Doering with Emily Renkey from the Marmot Project.  You may have heard of Fat Bear Week, the annual contest where the public gets to vote on who they think is the fattest bear gorging on salmon in Katmai National […]

An agreement signed Friday formalizes seven tribes as co-managers of the Clear Lake watershed. Mercury contamination, toxic algal blooms and invasive fishes have threatened a rare and revered local fish.

Nature Communications, Published online: 11 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77711-w Mycorrhizal associations with trees help regulate nutrient cycling in forests. This study found that the dominance of arbuscular mycorrhizal trees across Japan is associated with climate warming and tree diseases and may influence forest nitrogen cycling.