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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=microorganisms&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/microorganisms/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:49:45 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Microorganisms</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/microorganisms/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Dark earth: Ancient Amazonian soil can boost forest restoration, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 18:18:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Evanildo da Silveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08100220/20260708_044730-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322832</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Recovery, Forest Regeneration, Forests, Fungi, Indigenous Peoples, Microorganisms, Rainforests, Research, Restoration, Science, Solutions, Sustainability, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pink ipê trees grow taller and faster thanks to a microscopic boost from an ancestral formula.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Soil created centuries ago by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon could help speed up recovery of degraded lands, changing the way ecological restoration is approached in Brazil. A study conducted by researchers from the University of São Paulo’s Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA-USP), Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Western Amazon, and the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) found that small amounts of Amazonian dark earth (ADE) significantly increased native tree growth under real field conditions. The results, published in January 2026 in the academic journal Springer Nature, caught experts’ attention especially regarding Handroanthus avellanedae, locally known as pink ipê, a species found in both the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest. After just 180 days, seedlings grown with modest amounts of ADE were up to 55% taller and 88% larger in stem diameter than those grown without the anthropogenic soil — that is, soil resulting from human action, the study found. Findings were also notable for paricá (Schizolobium amazonicum), another Amazonian species widely used in reforestation and also in the timber industry due to its fast growth. On average, they grew 20% more and had stems that were 15% larger in diameter. Professor Tsai Siu Mui, one of the study’s co-authors, stands between trees cultivated with Amazonian dark earth (left) and without that dark soil (right) after six months of experimentation. Image courtesy of Tsai Siu Mui. The study underscores the scientific potential of Amazonian dark earth, also known as “Indigenous dark earth.” It is an extremely fertile, organic-rich dark&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322832</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Microplastic pollution can fuel rise in antibiotic resistance, studies find</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/microplastic-pollution-can-fuel-rise-in-antibiotic-resistance-studies-find/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/microplastic-pollution-can-fuel-rise-in-antibiotic-resistance-studies-find/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 16:55:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06145915/1-resistant-bacteria-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322580</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Diseases, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Medicine, Microorganisms, Microplastics, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Research, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastic pollution is among the gravest environmental crises facing humanity. Plastic production since 1950 has exceeded 8,300 million metric tons, with most plastic waste ending up in the environment, affecting wildlife, ecosystem functionality, and human health. Simultaneously, the ability of disease-causing bacteria to withstand one or more antibiotics (known as antimicrobial resistance, or AMR) has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastic pollution is among the gravest environmental crises facing humanity. Plastic production since 1950 has exceeded 8,300 million metric tons, with most plastic waste ending up in the environment, affecting wildlife, ecosystem functionality, and human health. Simultaneously, the ability of disease-causing bacteria to withstand one or more antibiotics (known as antimicrobial resistance, or AMR) has surged to become a public health emergency now accounting for around 5 million deaths worldwide annually. “AMR is an existential human threat,” says Tim Walsh, a professor at the University of Oxford and director of biology at the U.K.’s Ineos Oxford Institute of Antimicrobial Research, who spoke to Mongabay via video call. “It will kill more people [each year] than TB, HIV and malaria, and if unchallenged could eclipse cancer as the biggest killer.” Until very recently, these two global crises, plastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance, were considered separately by scientists and policymakers. But a new line of research suggests they’re inextricably linked: Plastic waste is quickly colonized by microorganisms, creating a new type of ecosystem dubbed the “plastisphere.” And bacteria living in the plastisphere are developing greater resistance to antibiotics at an unprecedented rate. A polyethylene plastic “bio-bead,” used to aid the breakdown of sewage in wastewater treatment plants, which has been colonized by fungi and other microbes. Sometimes, these bacteria-laden plastic pellets can escape wastewater treatment facilities and enter the environment. Image courtesy of Emily Stevenson. How microplastics enhance antimicrobial resistance In 2025, researchers at Boston University found that Escherichia coli bacteria exposed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/microplastic-pollution-can-fuel-rise-in-antibiotic-resistance-studies-find/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/microplastic-pollution-can-fuel-rise-in-antibiotic-resistance-studies-find/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322580</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Linking habitats strengthens wildlife microbiomes, helps fight disease: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2026 14:29:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23133143/4-Atlantic-Forest-frog-Dendrophryniscus-haddadi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318009</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Conservation, Diseases, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Freshwater, Frogs, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Microorganisms, Planetary Health, Research, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease. This troubling finding could also apply to a host of other species, the study researchers say, but may also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease. This troubling finding could also apply to a host of other species, the study researchers say, but may also have positive implications for conservation to counteract the problem. Habitat split, first associated with amphibian decline in a 2007 study, occurs when multiple “classes” of aquatic and terrestrial habitat — such as forests, streams and ponds — vital to a species’ life cycle are separated by human activities (such as agriculture), causing the species to decline. Studies have already shown that this phenomenon is a driver of localized frog extinctions in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. In the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists investigated the effect of “habitat split” on the microbiome of four frog species (Haddadus binotatus, Rhinella ornata, Boana faber and Ischnocnema henselii), all dwelling in the highly fragmented Atlantic Forest. They found that where forest and aquatic habitats are linked, frogs are more likely to host skin microbes that inhibit the deadly fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus, known as chytrid, is responsible for large-scale declines of hundreds of amphibian species across the globe. Importantly, the skin microbiome of frogs living in areas where these habitats were split hosted fewer pathogen-fighting microbes, leaving the frogs more susceptible to infection. Two of the frog species sampled also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318009</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Canadian muskoxen hit by double punch of novel diseases and climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 15:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02214119/1-Edit-35-BANNER-IMAGE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316879</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Atlantic Forest, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Climate, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Planetary Health, Public Health, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger cows and bulls, leaving the breeding animals alone. It takes a couple hours to skin, butcher and load up the sleds, the older and younger generations working together in -30° Celsius to -35°C (-22° Fahrenheit to -35°F), weather that is “just perfect,” says Niptanatiak, an Inuk hunter and trapper from Nunavut, who is also a retired conservation officer. “Then we eat and have a big meal and just enjoy it and talk and say, ‘Oh, this is a blessing,’” he says. Muskoxen are an integral part of Arctic ecology and, with their thick shaggy coats, are synonymous with the Far North. Nearly driven to extinction by commercial hunting in the early 1900s, surviving in just a few pockets in Canada, they began to recover following a 1917 hunting ban. By the 1990s, the Canadian population was estimated at 108,600. About 70% of the Canadian population was on Victoria and Banks islands, in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago — large islands with a combined area of nearly 290,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), about the size of Italy. Niptanatiak lives in Kugluktuk, a small hamlet on the mainland, just across from Victoria Island. Diets vary there, but for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316879</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Poop pills and gut microbes: Wildlife microbiome studies aid conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/poop-pills-and-gut-microbes-wildlife-microbiome-studies-aid-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/poop-pills-and-gut-microbes-wildlife-microbiome-studies-aid-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2026 15:35:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/26151027/Image_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316334</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Cheetahs, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Mammals, Marsupials, Medicine, Microorganisms, Planetary Health, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Human microbiome research is a blossoming field of study, shedding light on the millions of microbes living within us — microscopic species frequently vital to our health. In tandem, researchers across the globe have also been delving into the microbes living inside wildlife in hopes of developing a new conservation and rewilding tool. Early research [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Human microbiome research is a blossoming field of study, shedding light on the millions of microbes living within us — microscopic species frequently vital to our health. In tandem, researchers across the globe have also been delving into the microbes living inside wildlife in hopes of developing a new conservation and rewilding tool. Early research on endangered Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) in Australia, for instance, found that the gut microbiome of this carnivorous marsupial, when kept in captivity, differs vastly from its cousins in the wild. This echoes other studies on a range of species in captivity, showing a species-specific response — some animals have lower microbiome diversity in captivity, while others have higher. In the case of Tasmanian devils, low microbial diversity in captive populations raised numerous health concerns, as that deficiency could potentially leave animals susceptible to illness and disease. “Initially we had concerns that their reduced gut microbiome in captivity would be an issue when they were released, and we wanted to know if we needed to manage this [issue] in captivity or undertake actions for when the [animals] were released” to better protect them in the wild, says Carolyn Hogg, research manager of the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group at the University of Sydney. But for Tasmanian devils reintroduced to the wild, at least, it turned out no intervention was needed. Monitoring of the released devils’ microbiomes, via the collection and analysis of their feces, showed that the animals were able to regain a “wild” microbiome, a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/poop-pills-and-gut-microbes-wildlife-microbiome-studies-aid-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/poop-pills-and-gut-microbes-wildlife-microbiome-studies-aid-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316334</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>IUCN launches group to conserve at-risk microbes vital to life on Earth</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/iucn-launches-group-to-conserve-at-risk-microbes-vital-to-life-on-earth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/iucn-launches-group-to-conserve-at-risk-microbes-vital-to-life-on-earth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2026 21:12:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/21192536/Image_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313188</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Health, Land Use Change, Microorganisms, Oceans, Planetary Health, Plants, Pollution, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Invisible in their trillions, microbes dwell in our bodies, grow in soils, live on trees and are integral to planetary health. Yet the huge oversized roles these teeming biodiverse microbial communities play as a foundation for life on Earth is often overlooked. And so, too, are the threats microorganisms face, especially from humanity’s actions. But [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Invisible in their trillions, microbes dwell in our bodies, grow in soils, live on trees and are integral to planetary health. Yet the huge oversized roles these teeming biodiverse microbial communities play as a foundation for life on Earth is often overlooked. And so, too, are the threats microorganisms face, especially from humanity’s actions. But this scientific inattention is about to end, as a newly launched International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) species survival commission focuses on microbiology and dire threats to microbial species. “I think this is a huge milestone for microbiologists, but also for conservation overall, because for the first time, we have an official recognition that microbes need to be included in the conservation agenda,” says Raquel Peixoto, co-chair of the IUCN specialist group and chair of the Marine Science Program at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. “We cannot talk about either climate change or biodiversity loss without talking about microbes, because we need them to keep the ecosystems healthy and working, and we need them to keep the organisms working,” she adds. All plants and animals host invisible communities of microbes. These vast unseen microbiomes are fundamental to life as we know it, but these invisible ecosystems are also threatened by numerous intensifying pressures, including pollution, climate change and land use change. Prochlorococcus microorganisms in the world’s oceans produce vast amounts of oxygen via photosynthesis. Increasing water temperatures could cause declines of this invaluable microbe. A recent study estimates that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/iucn-launches-group-to-conserve-at-risk-microbes-vital-to-life-on-earth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/iucn-launches-group-to-conserve-at-risk-microbes-vital-to-life-on-earth/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>There&#8217;s hope for sunflower sea stars, with their killer unmasked and reintroductions pending</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2025 14:19:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Darren IncorvaiaSharon Guynup]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/18145341/4.-Pycnopodia-and-vase-tunicates-in-Rivers-Inlet_Photo-courtesy-of-Bennett-Whitnell_Hakai-Institute-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304445</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Coral Reefs, Diseases, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There&#8217;s hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak of sea star wasting disease, a deadly ailment that pocks starfish bodies with lesions and then dissolves their flesh. It affects roughly 20 species, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There&#8217;s hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak of sea star wasting disease, a deadly ailment that pocks starfish bodies with lesions and then dissolves their flesh. It affects roughly 20 species, and has killed a staggering 5.75 billion sea stars. But it’s been particularly catastrophic for sunflower sea stars. About 99% of the population along its southern range is gone, from Washington state to Mexico. It’s the largest epidemic ever to occur in the ocean. Though the disease peaked between 2013 and 2017, localized outbreaks still occur, and the population hasn’t recovered. Now, more than a decade after the epidemic began, the mysterious killer has finally been unmasked. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Hakai Institute in Canada just published their discovery, identifying a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida as a culprit. Increasing sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, driven by anthropogenic climate change, are believed to have triggered or exacerbated the disease, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sea stars are voracious predators that feed on sea urchins and other prey. In their absence, urchins have proliferated and laid waste to the kelp forests that historically lined the California coast, which are homes and nurseries to innumerable marine species, from fish and seabirds to otters and sea lions. A sunflower sea star clings to life in Knight Inlet,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304445</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Microbiomes may be corals’ secret weapon against climate change: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/microbiomes-may-be-corals-secret-weapon-against-climate-change-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/microbiomes-may-be-corals-secret-weapon-against-climate-change-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2025 17:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marlowe Starling]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/12094137/fish-coral-reef-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304039</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Pacific Ocean, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Microorganisms, Ocean Warming, Temperatures, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As ocean temperatures set new heat records, coral reef scientists are on a mission to identify which species and reefs can tolerate heat stress the best. But how and why do some corals cope with heat extremes better than others? A research team led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama investigated this question [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As ocean temperatures set new heat records, coral reef scientists are on a mission to identify which species and reefs can tolerate heat stress the best. But how and why do some corals cope with heat extremes better than others? A research team led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama investigated this question by studying not just corals’ genes and environment, but also their microbiomes. By running a series of heat stress tests on two populations of Pocillopora corals — one from the Gulf of Panama and the other from the Gulf of Chiriquí, both on Panama’s Pacific coast — they found that corals exposed to upwelling in the Gulf of Panama were better able to withstand higher temperatures, thanks in part to their microbiomes. The study was published in June in the journal Current Biology. A coral’s microbiome is made up of microorganisms such as algae and bacteria, some of which are considered “symbionts” that co-evolved to live within a host coral. Collectively, the microbiome, symbionts and host are called the holobiont. The new study is the first in the Eastern Pacific to assess coral heat tolerance by looking at the entire holobiont, said Victoria Marie Glynn, an evolutionary biologist and lead author of the study, who at the time was earning her doctorate at McGill University in Canada. “You cannot separate what the host is doing from what its microbiome is doing,” Glynn said. Microbiomes can influence gene expression and adaptation, for example. “All of that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/microbiomes-may-be-corals-secret-weapon-against-climate-change-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/microbiomes-may-be-corals-secret-weapon-against-climate-change-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304039</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Another way to check the health of a coral reef: Study the microbes in the seawater</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/another-way-to-check-the-health-of-a-coral-reef-study-the-microbes-in-the-seawater/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/another-way-to-check-the-health-of-a-coral-reef-study-the-microbes-in-the-seawater/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2025 19:45:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/17102941/4-coral-reef-around-Nukuoro-Atoll-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300882</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Microorganisms, Monitoring, Oceans, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Prochlorococcus, a genus of bacteria that’s key to oxygen production in the ocean, tends to disappear when faced with marine pollution. It lives throughout the sunlit layer of tropical oceans and, while it doesn’t necessarily play a key role in coral biology, its abundance is a sign of a healthy coral reef ecosystem. A growing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Prochlorococcus, a genus of bacteria that’s key to oxygen production in the ocean, tends to disappear when faced with marine pollution. It lives throughout the sunlit layer of tropical oceans and, while it doesn’t necessarily play a key role in coral biology, its abundance is a sign of a healthy coral reef ecosystem. A growing number of scientists are studying it and other microorganisms to keep tabs on reef health. Two marine scientists explain the “why” and the “how” of microbial-based reef monitoring, which is still relatively rare, in a paper published May 23 in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability. Lead author Amy Apprill, an associate scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a nonprofit research center in the United States, said this kind of monitoring is part of a larger effort to protect reefs. “Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and I&#8217;m one of many scientists trying to do everything we can to help them, and so we were excited to put this article together because we think it&#8217;s an important way to examine the health of reefs,” Apprill told Mongabay. Apprill said the paper is aimed at coral reef conservation practitioners and managers. She’s given talks on the subject for the last two years, and a journal editor commissioned the paper after hearing her speak. She said the message of the talks is, “You all should think about using reef water microbes to understand more about what&#8217;s going on at your reef sites.” Amy Apprill collecting water in St.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/another-way-to-check-the-health-of-a-coral-reef-study-the-microbes-in-the-seawater/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/another-way-to-check-the-health-of-a-coral-reef-study-the-microbes-in-the-seawater/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300882</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rhino poop draws all the deer (and boars and more) to the yard, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jul 2024 16:28:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/26161538/IMG_20240315_081824-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285171</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystems, Grasslands, Landscape Restoration, Mammals, Megafauna, Microorganisms, One-horned Rhinos, Reintroductions, Rewilding, and Rhinos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Amid the tall, rustling elephant grass on the banks of a nearly stagnant Rapti River, half a dozen spotted deer approach mounds of rhino excrement. Unbeknown to them, a camera trap nearby is recording, and it catches them as, with delicate sniffs and tentative nibbles, they begin to eat this most unexpected of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Amid the tall, rustling elephant grass on the banks of a nearly stagnant Rapti River, half a dozen spotted deer approach mounds of rhino excrement. Unbeknown to them, a camera trap nearby is recording, and it catches them as, with delicate sniffs and tentative nibbles, they begin to eat this most unexpected of snacks. It’s not just spotted deer (Axis axis); the cast of animals drawn to these unlikely buffets is diverse. Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), wild boars (Sus scrofa), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and peafowl (Pavo cristatus) were also found roaming around the droppings left by greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), according to a recently published study assessing the efficacy of reintroduction of species to habitats from which they&#8217;ve been extirpated. “We found that while some animals ate bits and pieces of the dung, others consumed herbs, seedlings or mushrooms that had grown on the dung,” study lead author Balram Awasthi, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Mongabay. “Similarly, there were others that ate insects found on or near the dung or relieved themselves close to the dung or even sniffed it.” A one-honed rhino photographed at its latrine site. Image courtesy of Balram Awasthi. Rhinos, once abundant on the floodplains of the Ganga and the Indus but now restricted to patches in India and Nepal, are known to defecate in the same area time and again over a period of time. Researchers have also observed multiple rhinos choosing to poop in the same spot. This&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285171</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Yucatán Peninsula’s hidden underground life tracks changes at the surface</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/yucatan-peninsulas-hidden-underground-life-tracks-changes-at-the-surface/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/yucatan-peninsulas-hidden-underground-life-tracks-changes-at-the-surface/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2024 11:52:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Astrid Arellano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/29114344/ycatann-768x450.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Infrastructure, Microorganisms, Research, Science, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beneath the Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern region of Mexico, lies a vast network of flooded tunnels and caves. These intricate and shadowy labyrinths serve as subterranean rivers, constituting the sole source of drinking water for millions of people. In August 2019, a team of scientists and divers ventured into these passages, driven by the question [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beneath the Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern region of Mexico, lies a vast network of flooded tunnels and caves. These intricate and shadowy labyrinths serve as subterranean rivers, constituting the sole source of drinking water for millions of people. In August 2019, a team of scientists and divers ventured into these passages, driven by the question of what kind of microscopic life thrives under these complex conditions. Armed with diving suits, specialized tools, and an innovative invention comprising a tube filled with glass containers, the team, led by scientists from Northwestern University in the U.S., successfully obtained water samples to analyze in a lab. The results proved to be astonishing: The research uncovered a vast diversity of microorganisms, enabling the scientists to develop the most comprehensive map to date of the microbial communities inhabiting these waters. In a 2023 study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, led by Northwestern University geobiologist Magdalena R. Osburn, experts emphasized the delicate and indispensable nature of this aquifer system to the region. Any adverse impacts on the microbial communities within these waters, the noted, have the potential to affect the people living at the surface significantly. The study area, located in the eastern region of the Yucatán Peninsula, is intersected by a multitude of flooded and interconnected tunnels, functioning as underground rivers. These waterways are the sole source of drinking water available throughout the entire region. The diver in the picture is Vicent Rouquette Cathala. Image courtesy of Natalie Gibb. Patricia Beddows, a hydrogeologist and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/yucatan-peninsulas-hidden-underground-life-tracks-changes-at-the-surface/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282633</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Record North Atlantic heat sees phytoplankton decline, fish shift to Arctic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/record-north-atlantic-heat-sees-phytoplankton-decline-fish-shift-to-arctic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/record-north-atlantic-heat-sees-phytoplankton-decline-fish-shift-to-arctic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2023 18:29:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliette Portala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/12161218/trawler-atlantic-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274249</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Arctic Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, data, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, Microorganisms, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Remote Sensing, Research, Saltwater Fish, Temperatures, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists were shocked by the high degree of warming in the North Atlantic Ocean this summer, and are concerned about effects on phytoplankton and fish. Intensifying and lengthening marine heatwaves around the globe are also worrying.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The verdict is in: Global sea temperatures shattered new heat records in 2023, with anomalous warmth erupting in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean in a year that also saw numerous record-setting extreme terrestrial heat waves, droughts, floods and wildfires on five continents. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), North Atlantic waters reached a high of 24.9° Celsius (76.82° Fahrenheit) in July — where an annual peak isn’t usually reached until early September, worrying the scientific community about repercussions for aquatic life. July’s record high was more than 1°C (1.8°F) warmer than the 30-year climatological normal for the North Atlantic from 1982 to 2011. Researchers say rapid warming in the region is endangering phytoplankton — the base of the marine food chain, thus reducing food availability for species that depend on these microscopic algae to survive. A hotter North Atlantic could also be accelerating the “Atlantification” of the Arctic Ocean, as more temperate fish species move into Arctic waters to beat the heat. All this comes as a new El Niño takes hold globally in 2023. El Niños — caused by the development of a band of warmer surface water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean — recur naturally every few years. They have major impacts on the world’s weather, including elevated atmospheric temperatures, which could in turn increase ocean warming, lengthening and intensifying marine heat waves. NOAA says this El Niño has a greater than 95% likelihood of lasting through January-March 2024, with a more than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/record-north-atlantic-heat-sees-phytoplankton-decline-fish-shift-to-arctic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/record-north-atlantic-heat-sees-phytoplankton-decline-fish-shift-to-arctic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274249</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Microplastics pose risk to ocean plankton, climate, other key Earth systems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/microplastics-pose-risk-to-ocean-plankton-climate-other-key-earth-systems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/microplastics-pose-risk-to-ocean-plankton-climate-other-key-earth-systems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2023 15:05:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/09130622/microplastic-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274117</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Microorganisms, Microplastics, Novel Entities, Oceans, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Sustainability, Waste, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Research finds impacts by tiny plastic particles on marine plankton and microbes could disrupt carbon and nitrogen cycling in the world’s oceans, possibly putting Earth’s operating system and the planet’s habitability at risk.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Heart-wrenching images of sea turtles entangled in fishing nets, or dead seabirds with stomachs clogged by plastic trash, justifiably attract media and public attention. But zoom down to the microscopic scale and plastics are having far more pervasive, insidious effects on ocean life — even potentially impacting key Earth operating systems that keep the planet habitable. An estimated 12 million metric tons of plastic currently enters the ocean each year. This plastic debris gradually breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments — micro- and nanoplastics — which, while less visually striking, can have serious effects on marine ecosystems and may even pose a threat to the stability of Earth’s climate. A recent estimate suggests that as much as 358 trillion microplastic particles are floating on the surface of the world’s oceans, with untold trillions more in deeper reaches. Their prevalence is particularly worrisome because these tiny particles are easily mistaken as food by marine life. The smaller the microplastic particles, the more species that can ingest them, from huge filter-feeding whales to tiny organisms at the base of the food chain collectively known as plankton. “Microplastics truly are omnipresent in these environments,” says Carroll Muffett, president and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law, adding that “they are affecting marine biota at every trophic scale.” Unlike larger plastic litter, which can entangle and suffocate marine animals, microplastics are unlikely to be lethal over short time scales. But their long-term impacts on plankton and microbial communities could have profound implications&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/microplastics-pose-risk-to-ocean-plankton-climate-other-key-earth-systems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/microplastics-pose-risk-to-ocean-plankton-climate-other-key-earth-systems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274117</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sounds of the soil: A new tool for conservation?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/sounds-of-the-soil-a-new-tool-for-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/sounds-of-the-soil-a-new-tool-for-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2023 17:14:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/29113101/beetle-on-earth-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270318</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Microorganisms, Research, Restoration, Soil Carbon, Solutions, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Jake Robinson, Greno Woods was an easy choice. This large, old forest in South Yorkshire county in the U.K. has historically undergone timber harvesting, quarrying and fires. Plantations of non-native conifers replaced parts of the forest several decades ago. At the same time, restoration efforts have tried to revive some of the degraded and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For Jake Robinson, Greno Woods was an easy choice. This large, old forest in South Yorkshire county in the U.K. has historically undergone timber harvesting, quarrying and fires. Plantations of non-native conifers replaced parts of the forest several decades ago. At the same time, restoration efforts have tried to revive some of the degraded and deforested areas through the planting of native broadleaved and deciduous trees. This setting presented a unique opportunity: to listen to the sounds of restoration. Robinson, a microbial and restoration ecologist at Flinders University in Australia, was particularly interested in two types of area in the forest: sites that had been cleared in the past three years, and previously deforested plots that restorers had planted with native trees more than 30 years ago. Aboveground, the differences between the two were easy to spot. The recently cleared plots were mostly covered by bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), with a sprinkling of silver birch saplings (Betula pendula). By contrast, the restored areas had more diverse trees, including English oak (Quercus robur), sessile oak (Q. petraea), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and silver birch, along with a complex understory of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.), holly (Ilex aquifolium) and bracken. Field recording in Greno Wood. Sound can be used as a proxy in some cases — listening to soil can indirectly show what’s happening belowground without having to overturn every inch and disturb the denizens of the dirt. Image courtesy of Jake Robinson. But Robinson wasn’t just interested in what he could see. He&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/sounds-of-the-soil-a-new-tool-for-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/sounds-of-the-soil-a-new-tool-for-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
					<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/29113558/degraded-plot-imageaudio.mp4" length="3529324" type="video/mp4" />
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					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270318</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Microbes play leading role in soil carbon capture, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/microbes-play-leading-role-in-soil-carbon-capture-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/microbes-play-leading-role-in-soil-carbon-capture-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2023 16:52:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/10050907/soilcoverseedling-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270247</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Microorganisms, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Research, Soil Carbon, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More carbon is stored in the soil than in all plants, animals and the atmosphere combined, making it among the most critical conservation frontiers as we face the climate crisis. According to a recent study published in the journal Nature, microbes are the key drivers behind carbon storage in soil, surpassing other soil processes by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More carbon is stored in the soil than in all plants, animals and the atmosphere combined, making it among the most critical conservation frontiers as we face the climate crisis. According to a recent study published in the journal Nature, microbes are the key drivers behind carbon storage in soil, surpassing other soil processes by a factor of four. “We know that microbes are important for soil health,” Steven Allison, a professor in Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in this study, told Mongabay. “But this is really the first paper that establishes this positive link between the efficiency of microbial metabolism and the amount of organic carbon that&#8217;s stored in soils around the world.” Boreal forest covers much of Canada and northern Eurasia and, when undisturbed, act as a major carbon sink. Photo by user peupleloup via WIkimedia Commons (CC 2.0) When plants and other organisms die, microorganisms (microbes) such as bacteria and fungi release enzymes that break those organisms down into reusable nutrients and smaller carbon compounds. Some of those carbon compounds feed soil organisms, some accumulate in the soil and become attached to particles in the soil, and some are exhaled as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When carbon is held in the soil, it can remain stable there for millions of years if undisturbed. This is why soil is such an effective carbon sink. Because soil acts as this remarkable sink, conservationists and policymakers are paying more attention to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/microbes-play-leading-role-in-soil-carbon-capture-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/microbes-play-leading-role-in-soil-carbon-capture-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270247</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mycorrhizal fungi hold CO2 equivalent to a third of global fossil fuel emissions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/mycorrhizal-fungi-hold-co2-equivalent-to-a-third-of-global-fossil-fuel-emissions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/mycorrhizal-fungi-hold-co2-equivalent-to-a-third-of-global-fossil-fuel-emissions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jun 2023 17:25:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/13162825/Low-Res_Mycelium-of-arbuscular-mycorrhizal-fungi-with-false-color-CREDIT-Oyarte-Galvez-AMOLF.jpg.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269741</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Microorganisms, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Research, Soil Carbon, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plants and fungi struck a deal way back when. More than 400 million years ago, plants began trading sugar made from sunlight (a.k.a. carbon) for some of the soil nutrients gathered by mycorrhizal fungi. Nearly 90% of all land plants are now part of this arrangement, so scientists estimated that the amounts of carbon flowing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plants and fungi struck a deal way back when. More than 400 million years ago, plants began trading sugar made from sunlight (a.k.a. carbon) for some of the soil nutrients gathered by mycorrhizal fungi. Nearly 90% of all land plants are now part of this arrangement, so scientists estimated that the amounts of carbon flowing through underground fungi must be significant. However, they didn&#8217;t realize how much carbon was in the system until now. According to a recently published study in Current Biology, more than 13 billion metric tons of CO2 is passed from plants to mycorrhizal fungi each year — equivalent to around 36% of all annual global fossil fuel emissions. “We always suspected that we may have been overlooking a major carbon pool,” said study co-author Heidi Hawkins, research lead at Conservation South Africa and research associate on plant-soil-microbe interactions at the University of Cape Town. “Understandably, much focus has been placed on protecting and restoring forests as a natural way to mitigate climate change,&#8221; Hawkins said. &#8220;But little attention has been paid to the fate of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide that are moved from the atmosphere during photosynthesis by those plants and sent belowground to mycorrhizal fungi.” Researchers examined 194 data sets from 61 peer-reviewed papers and four unpublished studies to determine how much carbon plants allocate to fungi. They found that plants pass between 1% and 13% of their carbon to mycorrhizal fungi, depending on the type of fungi. Most of these estimations came&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/mycorrhizal-fungi-hold-co2-equivalent-to-a-third-of-global-fossil-fuel-emissions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/mycorrhizal-fungi-hold-co2-equivalent-to-a-third-of-global-fossil-fuel-emissions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269741</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Soil carbon in urban parks important in fighting climate change, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/soil-carbon-in-urban-parks-important-in-fighting-climate-change-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/soil-carbon-in-urban-parks-important-in-fighting-climate-change-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2023 16:47:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Priscilla Misiekaba-Kia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/05110719/trees-city-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269373</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Cities, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Microorganisms, Parks, Plants, Soil Carbon, and urban ecology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Urban green spaces — parks, gardens and other green areas where people can go to enjoy some fresh air — are more than just pretty places to relax. New research shows they have a significant role in the fight against climate change through the sequestration of carbon. The study, published in March in the journal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Urban green spaces — parks, gardens and other green areas where people can go to enjoy some fresh air — are more than just pretty places to relax. New research shows they have a significant role in the fight against climate change through the sequestration of carbon. The study, published in March in the journal Nature Climate Change, highlights the importance of parks in the context of climate change by showing that urban parks and green spaces throughout the world store similar amounts of carbon in their soil to natural regions close to cities. Even though, globally, the total area of urban green spaces is much smaller than that of natural ecosystems, the role of urban green spaces in carbon storage could help support the efforts of cities to mitigate their carbon footprint through natural climate solutions. The soil in urban green spaces stores carbon in the ground, where it can remain for a long time and prevent it from returning to the atmosphere. So, by increasing the amount of green space, thereby increasing the amount of carbon in the soil, cities can help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and slow down the effects of climate change. The researchers studied 56 areas of urban green spaces and natural ecosystems across 17 countries and a range of environmental gradients on six continents to look for potential natural solutions for mitigating climate change. They analyzed samples from surface soils beneath dominant vegetation in both green spaces and natural&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/soil-carbon-in-urban-parks-important-in-fighting-climate-change-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/soil-carbon-in-urban-parks-important-in-fighting-climate-change-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269373</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Overlooked and underfoot, mosses play a mighty role for climate and soil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/overlooked-and-underfoot-mosses-play-a-mighty-role-for-climate-and-soil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/overlooked-and-underfoot-mosses-play-a-mighty-role-for-climate-and-soil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2023 17:50:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/22174230/DanoMoss-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268851</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Microorganisms, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Research, Soil Carbon, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It&#8217;s easy to miss the mosses, the ubiquitous green, silver and brown carpets that drape across nature&#8217;s surfaces, from forest to fen. It’s also easy to underestimate just how big a role these small but mighty organisms play in maintaining ecosystems and countering climate change. A recent study in the journal Nature Geoscience looked into [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It&#8217;s easy to miss the mosses, the ubiquitous green, silver and brown carpets that drape across nature&#8217;s surfaces, from forest to fen. It’s also easy to underestimate just how big a role these small but mighty organisms play in maintaining ecosystems and countering climate change. A recent study in the journal Nature Geoscience looked into the contributions of mosses that grow on soil and found that they cover an estimated 9.4 million square kilometers (3.6 million square miles) of land — an area roughly the size of China. On a global scale, soil mosses have the potential to add 6.43 billion metric tons of carbon to the soil, an amount roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 2.8 billion passenger cars, underscoring the substantial impact of these wee plants. The researchers found several other benefits for soil covered with mosses versus bare soils. For example, mosses cycle higher amounts of essential nutrients through the soil, contribute to faster decomposition, and reduce the number of harmful plant pathogens in the soil.  Moss carpets the landscape in Iceland. Image by Ævar Guðmundsson via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). &#8220;The biggest surprise for us was that at least half of the attributes we measured were significantly enhanced under mosses compared with bare soil,” study co-author David John Eldridge, a professor of dryland ecology at the University of New South Wales in Australia, told Mongabay. “Overall, it&#8217;s a huge positive effect.” Researchers collected soil samples from both natural areas and urban green spaces in 123&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/overlooked-and-underfoot-mosses-play-a-mighty-role-for-climate-and-soil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/overlooked-and-underfoot-mosses-play-a-mighty-role-for-climate-and-soil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268851</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sagarmatha microbes may survive harsh conditions for decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2023 07:35:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/21071613/mountaineering-sagarmatha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Climate Change, Diseases, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Microorganisms, Mountains, Permafrost, Pollution, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The South Col in the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) region faces blasts of unrelenting winds that sweep away almost everything in their path, including snow. Located nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level, the southeastern ridge of this desolate terrain is where mountaineers heading to world&#8217;s tallest peak make their final camp. A recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The South Col in the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) region faces blasts of unrelenting winds that sweep away almost everything in their path, including snow. Located nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level, the southeastern ridge of this desolate terrain is where mountaineers heading to world&#8217;s tallest peak make their final camp. A recent study published in the journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, shows that even the winds haven’t swept away a trail of tough microbes that can survive the harsh conditions on the Roof of the World for decades, if not centuries, left behind by mountaineers in the area. “Some of the microbes we found were possibly transported by humans when they sneeze or cough,” said Steve Schmidt, co-author on the paper and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “The concern, with all the pollution that’s going on Everest, is that these microbes aren’t going to go away,” he told Mongabay, adding that he himself didn’t go to Sagarmatha to collect soil samples there. Through his previous work, Schmidt had established ties with researchers on their way to Sagarmatha to set up the world&#8217;s highest weather station on South Col in May 2019 as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition (April to May 2019).  He requested collections of soil samples, to which Baker Perry, co-author and professor of geography at Appalachian State University, obliged. As part of the study, three surface sediment samples from the South Col were collected by members of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/sagarmatha-microbes-may-survive-harsh-conditions-for-decades/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266633</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘During droughts, pivot to agroecology’: Q&#038;A with soil expert at the World Agroforestry Centre</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2023 20:17:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kang-Chun Cheng]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/28185158/IMG_4644-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266030</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Bacteria, Climate, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crops, Degraded Lands, Drought, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Mongabay Data Studio, Poverty, Soil Carbon, Subsistence Agriculture, Trees, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This interview was produced with the funding support of the Pulitzer Center. WESTERN TURKANA, Kenya—Driving across Northern Kenya’s Turkana County, the seemingly boundless terrain of sand dunes, dusty brushes and hard, dry soil makes it hard to imagine anyone could farm and eke a living out here. As Kenya and the Horn of Africa are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This interview was produced with the funding support of the Pulitzer Center. WESTERN TURKANA, Kenya—Driving across Northern Kenya’s Turkana County, the seemingly boundless terrain of sand dunes, dusty brushes and hard, dry soil makes it hard to imagine anyone could farm and eke a living out here. As Kenya and the Horn of Africa are confronted by the fifth consecutive failed rainy season since September 2020—the region’s worst drought in four decades—around 22 million people (roughly the population of Taiwan or Sri Lanka) are food insecure, says a U.N. World Food Programme report released last month. In Kenya, the number stands at 4.4 million as of December 2022, with children needing acute treatment for malnutrition on the rise. The numbers and immense toll on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, who rely on both crops and livestock, grow starker still: their animals have been dying en masse with, 2.5 million livestock deaths recorded by the Government of Kenya, and entire communities pushed to pursue different livelihoods as traditional means and resources fail. Patricia Nying’uro, a climate scientist at the Kenya Meteorological Department, says that although there are several causes of the ongoing drought, negative La Niña conditions are a significant contributing factor. This periodic cooling of sea-surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean, the meteorologist tells Mongabay, leads to certain negative indices, such as prolonged drought. A Turkana man walking through the sand dunes at Eliye Springs, on the western shores of Lake Turkana. Image by Kang-Chun Cheng. A U.N. report has confirmed that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/during-droughts-pivot-to-agroecology-qa-with-soil-expert-at-the-world-agroforestry-centre/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266030</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, conservationists suspect link between canine distemper and human-leopard conflict</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/study-suggests-canine-distemper-may-be-fueling-human-leopard-conflicts-in-nepal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/study-suggests-canine-distemper-may-be-fueling-human-leopard-conflicts-in-nepal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2023 11:11:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/13131053/9-leopard-e1676027483508-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Canids, Cats, Conflict, Conservation, Diseases, Extinction, Leopards, Microorganisms, Tigers, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — On Nov. 1 last year, a leopard dragged off an 8-year-old boy as he was playing just steps away from the cowshed where his grandmother was milking the family&#8217;s cow. The boy was later discovered dead. Following the incident in Tanahun district, in central Nepal, the local administration authorized security forces to shoot [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — On Nov. 1 last year, a leopard dragged off an 8-year-old boy as he was playing just steps away from the cowshed where his grandmother was milking the family&#8217;s cow. The boy was later discovered dead. Following the incident in Tanahun district, in central Nepal, the local administration authorized security forces to shoot the leopard, believing it was to blame for the deaths of five of the 14 children killed by leopards in the past five years. On Dec. 5, security personnel gunned down a 50-kilogram (110-pound) leopard in Tanahun, and said it was the animal they’d been looking for. Nepal’s central foothills have long been a hotspot of human-leopard conflict, which experts attribute to a lack of wild prey, water and habitat for leopards (Panthera pardus). However, as a new study suggests that there maybe a high prevalence of a disease in the leopard population in the area that can affect their nervous system, conservationists suspect that this could have a role to play in increased human-leopard conflict. “We found that most of the leopards from Tanahun we tested during the course of our study showed signs of antibodies against the canine distemper virus,” or CDV, said Dr. Amir Sadaula, a wildlife veterinarian and co-author of the study published in the journal Pathogens. “This means that they were exposed to the virus, which is known to make leopards weak and search for easy prey.” A leopard trapped in a village in Nepal being taken away by authorities.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/study-suggests-canine-distemper-may-be-fueling-human-leopard-conflicts-in-nepal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/study-suggests-canine-distemper-may-be-fueling-human-leopard-conflicts-in-nepal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Restore linked habitat to protect tropical amphibians from disease: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/restore-linked-habitat-to-protect-tropical-amphibians-from-disease-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/restore-linked-habitat-to-protect-tropical-amphibians-from-disease-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2023 17:07:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/08151410/1-Aplastodiscus-leucopygius-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265354</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Global, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Diseases, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Freshwater, Frogs, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herps, Microorganisms, Research, Restoration, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New research suggests travel between increasingly separated terrestrial and aquatic habitats may impact tropical amphibian microbiomes and immunity, leading to more disease, though more research is needed.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As a precipitous global biodiversity decline escalates, forests across the tropics are increasingly becoming fragmented. This fragmentation can lead to multiple problems, including a process known as “habitat split” that could have consequences for disease among amphibians, according to a recently published study in the journal Biological Reviews. Habitat split occurs when multiple “classes” of habitat — such as forests, streams and ponds — that are important to some amphibian species’ life cycles are separated, Gui Becker, first author on the paper and a biologist with Pennsylvania State University, told Mongabay in an interview. In earlier work, Becker and colleagues concluded that habitat split was a driving force behind local extinctions of amphibians in South America’s highly fragmented Atlantic Forest. However, a link between habitat split and the role of disease, had not then been considered. Of particular concern when it comes to amphibian disease is the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which is linked to population declines in Brazil and to amphibian species losses across the globe. Also known as Bd, this fungus can cause the potentially fatal disease chytridiomycosis, with scientists already knowing prior to this research that habitat fragmentation can increase the risk of Bd infections among amphibians. A forest fragment in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Habitat split can occur when different “classes” of habitat, such as terrestrial and freshwater areas, are separated. In such cases, amphibian species that require water habitat as part of their life cycle must traverse altered habitat. In doing so, it is believed they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/restore-linked-habitat-to-protect-tropical-amphibians-from-disease-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/restore-linked-habitat-to-protect-tropical-amphibians-from-disease-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265354</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pollution and climate change set stage for rise in antimicrobial resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2023 10:31:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/08102833/Antimicrobial_resistance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265292</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Chemicals, Climate Change, Diseases, Environment, Food, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Medicine, Microorganisms, Nutrient Pollution, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Research, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pollution from a variety of sources is driving up the incidence of resistance to the compounds used to treat infections, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme. The authors also note that climate change and biodiversity loss help foster the development of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. They call for systemic societal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pollution from a variety of sources is driving up the incidence of resistance to the compounds used to treat infections, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme. The authors also note that climate change and biodiversity loss help foster the development of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. They call for systemic societal changes to avoid rendering more of these disease-fighting tools ineffective. Our reliance on antibiotics and other antimicrobial compounds has created something of a paradox. These chemicals treat bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections, saving countless lives around the world and boosting the production of food crops and livestock. But the use — and overuse in many cases — of these antimicrobials has also come at a cost, nudging along the evolution of potentially dangerous microbes into forms that are more resistant to the medications we throw at them. “We’re selecting for stronger and more powerful microorganisms,” David Graham, a professor of ecosystems engineering at the U.K.’s Newcastle University and one of the lead authors of the report, said at a press conference ahead of the report’s launch Feb. 7 at a meeting of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance in Barbados. Studies show bacterial infections resistant to antimicrobials played a role in the deaths of nearly 5 million people in 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers antimicrobial resistance one of the top 10 threats to global health. The report’s authors sought to tease apart the complex dynamics by which this resistance develops and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollution-and-climate-change-set-stage-for-rise-in-antimicrobial-resistance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265292</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For restoration, microbes below ground are just as crucial as the plants above</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-restoration-microbes-below-ground-are-just-as-crucial-as-the-plants-above/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-restoration-microbes-below-ground-are-just-as-crucial-as-the-plants-above/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jan 2023 15:51:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/09191112/20171105-091413-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264363</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Microorganisms, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — How do you supercharge vegetation growth for a reforestation project? Bring in the microorganisms. That’s the finding from a new study, which shows that incorporating a microbial community of fungi, bacteria, algae and archaea into ecosystem restoration can accelerate plant biomass production by 64% on average. Researchers say this application holds plenty of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — How do you supercharge vegetation growth for a reforestation project? Bring in the microorganisms. That’s the finding from a new study, which shows that incorporating a microbial community of fungi, bacteria, algae and archaea into ecosystem restoration can accelerate plant biomass production by 64% on average. Researchers say this application holds plenty of promise for restoration work in Southeast Asia, where large swaths of once-forested landscapes have been degraded for large-scale agriculture. Soil microbiome like fungi carry out a critical task known as soil transplant, moving soil and associated microbial communities from one location to another. But they’re often overlooked in conservation and restoration efforts, said study lead author Colin Averill, a senior microbial and ecosystem scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, or ETH Zürich. “When we think to plant a tree, we never think to ‘plant’ the microbiome, right? But what if we did?” Averill told Mongabay. To find out how big a role the microbiome plays in ecosystem restoration, Averill and colleagues from ETH Zürich, the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague and Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands pored over the date from 27 restoration projects that incorporated microbial restoration. Their study, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, found that across all the restoration works, there was an average of 64% increase of plant growth. In one case, plant growth was stimulated by 700%. The study shows that incorporating the microbiome in managed landscapes like farmland and forestry concessions has the greatest potential. This&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-restoration-microbes-below-ground-are-just-as-crucial-as-the-plants-above/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264363</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biofertilizers cut costs and GHG emissions for Brazilian soybean producers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/biofertilizers-cut-costs-and-ghg-emissions-for-brazilian-soybean-producers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/biofertilizers-cut-costs-and-ghg-emissions-for-brazilian-soybean-producers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Oct 2022 18:02:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliana Ennes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/26174949/Soybean_plantation2-e1666808781611-768x358.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=261885</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Chemicals, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Environment, Fertilizers, Genetics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Microorganisms, Pesticides, Soy, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian soybean producers have been highly successful in using genome technology to benefit their crops, with huge economic and environmental gains, a new paper highlights. Currently, the growers are using biofertilizer on 80% of their crops and their benefits are pushing scientists to develop new bioproducts for other crops as well. Scientists in Brazil have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian soybean producers have been highly successful in using genome technology to benefit their crops, with huge economic and environmental gains, a new paper highlights. Currently, the growers are using biofertilizer on 80% of their crops and their benefits are pushing scientists to develop new bioproducts for other crops as well. Scientists in Brazil have developed a sort of “biological yogurt,” as the researcher Rafael de Souza calls it, a biological fertilizer that uses microorganisms instead of chemicals to help soybean crops grow stronger and healthier, in a cheaper and more sustainable way. De Souza, a researcher from the State University of Campinas at the Genomics for Climate Change Research Center, has co-authored a recent study selecting 14 success stories that demonstrate the crucial role of microbiome research in agrifood systems. Despite the stories featured, the study of microbiomes — the community of fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms that live in any given habitat — is fairly new and its benefits are still mostly unknown today, emphasizes de Souza, who is also the co-founder and CEO of Symbiomics, a startup that focuses on enabling sustainable agricultural production through biological products. In Brazil, where soybean farming began, microbiome research has long been under way, but recent advancements in genetic sequencing and easier accessibility to genetic tools have revolutionized the field. The successful case of Brazilian soybeans is one of the most relevant in the world, de Souza says. “But it is important to know that there is a sea of microorganisms&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/biofertilizers-cut-costs-and-ghg-emissions-for-brazilian-soybean-producers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-261885</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sea life may downsize with ocean warming — bringing challenging impacts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/sea-life-may-downsize-with-ocean-warming-bringing-challenging-impacts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/sea-life-may-downsize-with-ocean-warming-bringing-challenging-impacts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2022 14:25:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Devitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/03132205/1-Bluefins-sizing-up-a-school-of-anchovies-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258840</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Microorganisms, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Research, Science, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new model that links climate change-reduced oceanic oxygen levels to smaller ectotherms predicts marine microorganisms could shrink as the world gets warmer, with impacts up the food chain, impacting fisheries.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The future may be smaller for sea life, according to a new scientific model. Influenced by warming oceanic conditions, microbes and megafauna may not grow as large as they do now. This shrinking effect, should it occur, could have wide repercussions: reduced food mass at the bottom of the food chain would affect fisheries, leaving less food for people, as well as mean less carbon sequestered in the sea, potentially making climate change worse. Scientists say the ability to accurately predict these impacts could improve management of ocean resources. But researchers don’t agree on exactly why this sea life shrinkage is happening, and say a variety of factors may need to be considered to make accurate forecasts. A school of jacks. As climate change warms marine habitats, microorganisms and some fish could get downsized. Image by Gordon Firestein via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). In the new study, researchers present a mathematical model that explains these size reductions as a response to lower oxygen levels in the ocean. Looking at rising temperature and reduced oxygen level forecasts for the next decades, researchers found that zooplankton and other microscopic species could be up to 30% smaller, with impacts reverberating higher up the food chain. There is a “temperature-size rule,” that describes the tendency for ectotherms (animals whose body temperature regulation depends on external sources) to reach smaller adult sizes under warmer conditions. With climate change escalating, the implications for marine life — and humanity — could be dire. But so far,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/sea-life-may-downsize-with-ocean-warming-bringing-challenging-impacts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Unseen crisis: Threatened gut microbiome also offers hope for world</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/unseen-crisis-threatened-gut-microbiome-also-offers-hope-for-world/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/unseen-crisis-threatened-gut-microbiome-also-offers-hope-for-world/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2022 18:10:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/25150411/1a-The-interaction-between-the-gut-microbiome-and-health-is-well-established-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255121</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biology, Cities, Climate Change, Climate Science, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Land Use Change, Microorganisms, Planetary Health, Pollution, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Human transgressions of the biodiversity, land-use, pollution and climate planetary boundaries are altering gut microbiomes across species, impacting human health and ecosystems. But there’s hope.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists, policymakers and the public are becoming increasingly aware that biodiversity loss, climate change, deforestation and pollution are causing profound disruptions to Earth’s ecosystems. But every animal and plant that makes up these ecosystems could also be considered a diverse ecosystem in their own right, with each providing a home to a little-explored, invisible community of microbes — living both on, and inside every individual — known as the microbiome. Today, as microbiome research extends beyond biomedical applications into conservation and ecology, scientists are finding unseen wonders, but also something disturbing: This microscopic world is gravely threatened by human activities. Scientists are beginning to map a micro-biodiversity crisis unfolding in the guts of humans and animals that only biodiversity-enhancing solutions can solve. They’re also finding that these microorganisms are having an outsized influence on us as well, and that macro and micro worlds depend on each other for health. A microbial community on the human tongue. Each color represents a different type of microbe. The white material in the core represents the remnants of human tongue cells about which the microbes grow. Microbes found in the environment can enter the human body via the mouth and nasal passages as we eat and breathe. Those microbes then may take up residence in the gut microbiome, altering and adding to its diversity. Image courtesy of Steven Wilbert, Gary Borisy, Forsyth Institute; Jessica Mark Welch, Marine Biological Laboratory. The invisible ecosystem inside you The term microbiome refers to the diverse community of bacteria,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/unseen-crisis-threatened-gut-microbiome-also-offers-hope-for-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/unseen-crisis-threatened-gut-microbiome-also-offers-hope-for-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255121</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fighting climate change is a dirty job, but soils can do it &#124; Problem Solved</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/fighting-climate-change-is-a-dirty-job-but-soils-can-do-it-problem-solved/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/fighting-climate-change-is-a-dirty-job-but-soils-can-do-it-problem-solved/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Nov 2021 11:44:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/23214343/Screen-Shot-2021-11-23-at-12.15.26-PM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249835</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Problem Solved]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Microorganisms, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Research, Soil Carbon, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While it’s clear that soil can help limit the impacts of climate change, leveraging its power requires a menu of solutions at many scales. Most of them require big policy shifts, overhauling not just how we protect our forests, but also our entire energy and food production systems. Watch the video below for the full [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While it’s clear that soil can help limit the impacts of climate change, leveraging its power requires a menu of solutions at many scales. Most of them require big policy shifts, overhauling not just how we protect our forests, but also our entire energy and food production systems. Watch the video below for the full story: “Problem Solved” is a video series that Mongabay will release roughly once a month examining big, systemic, environmental issues and building potential pathways to addressing them. The first video in this series breaks down exactly how soil works, how it can be used as a climate solution, and the challenges that need to be overcome to harness its power. Based on the popular article “Soil and its promise as a climate solution: A primer” in which contributor Mareli Sanchez-Julia explained how soil forms over time, and the many solutions before us to protecting and utilizing soil, the video covers four key solution pathways: reforestation, conservation, reducing emissions, and agriculture changes. Because the Earth has many different climates, topographies and living beings, different regions will have vastly different soils, and therefore varying capacities for storing carbon. The most carbon-rich areas occur in the tropics (which can store carbon for millions of years), and the subarctic permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere (which has been storing undecayed plant and animal matter for hundreds of thousands of years). But protecting these crucial carbon reservoirs is easier said than done. Banner Image: Representative still from an animation of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/fighting-climate-change-is-a-dirty-job-but-soils-can-do-it-problem-solved/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/fighting-climate-change-is-a-dirty-job-but-soils-can-do-it-problem-solved/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249835</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Young forests can help heal tropical aquatic ecosystems: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/young-forests-can-help-heal-tropical-aquatic-ecosystems-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/young-forests-can-help-heal-tropical-aquatic-ecosystems-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Nov 2021 00:08:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/18231032/sabah_aerial_3058-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249643</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, Panama, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Cattle, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Green, Habitat, Landscape Restoration, Microorganisms, Old Growth Forests, Pasture, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Rivers, Secondary Forests, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Tropics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have long identified a link between livestock production and deforestation, with reams of research showing the detrimental effect of agricultural activities on natural resources. Little is known, however, about how much these practices impact water microbial communities — the tiny organisms that maintain water quality by cycling nutrients and energy. A new study published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have long identified a link between livestock production and deforestation, with reams of research showing the detrimental effect of agricultural activities on natural resources. Little is known, however, about how much these practices impact water microbial communities — the tiny organisms that maintain water quality by cycling nutrients and energy. A new study published in Scientific Reports by researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) focused on just that: the specific impact of different land uses, such as cattle pastures and secondary forests, on bacterial communities in the water column of four streams in central Panama. The findings reveal key insights into nature’s ability to recover from harsh environmental changes, such as land degradation and deforestation, which are largely a consequence of human-related agricultural practices. Reforesting the land, the researchers say, can restore many aspects of water quality, allowing bacterial communities to thrive again, which directly benefits both human health and the environment. Cattle graze along a stream in Colombia. Image by Rhett Butler/Mongabay. “Microbes are the biological engines that transform the world,” Bob Hilderbrand, associate professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who was not involved in the study, told Mongabay. “They can be particularly important for removing excess nutrients, such as pollutants, and even for breaking down toxic pollutants.” Assessing the ecological conditions of freshwater streams, specifically by identifying microbe distribution and diversity, helps researchers identify the impact of human-related activities on the environment, and can therefore aid governments and policymakers by informing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/young-forests-can-help-heal-tropical-aquatic-ecosystems-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/young-forests-can-help-heal-tropical-aquatic-ecosystems-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249643</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Soil and its promise as a climate solution: A primer</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/soil-and-its-promise-as-a-climate-solution-a-primer/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/soil-and-its-promise-as-a-climate-solution-a-primer/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2021 17:16:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mareli Sanchez-Julia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/10050907/soilcoverseedling-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=245720</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Industrial Agriculture, Microorganisms, Nature-based climate solutions, Plantations, Plants, Research, Soil Carbon, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Is harnessing the storage power of soils the global carbon solution we have been searching for? Understanding soil-formation and function is a first step to finding out.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[We know soils feed plants, and plants feed us, but the world’s soils do more than help put food on the table. Soils recycle nutrients, regulate our water supply and, importantly for this moment in history: they store more carbon than plants, animals and the atmosphere combined. So, focusing humanity’s restoration efforts belowground could turn out to be an essential piece of the climate change solution puzzle. “Most signs point to ongoing climate change leading to losses of ecosystem carbon stocks,” said Daniela Cusack, an assistant professor at Colorado State University and expert in tropical soil biochemistry. It&#8217;s really important that “we restore that natural pathway of carbon into the soil.” But, do we really know what soils are, how they form, how they get degraded and then repaired, and what they can do to support ecosystems and humanity? A dive below ground can help explain how a soil-focused solution to our climate change problems might work. Plant roots displayed within agriculturally-managed soil. The better we understand what is happening underground the better we can utilize soils to combat escalating carbon emissions and climate change. Image by USDA National Resources Conservation Service via Wikipedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The basics: Getting to know the dirt on dirt First off, soil is made via the interaction of five soil-forming ingredients: parent material, climate, living beings, the unique topography of a place, and a “cooking” time that occurs on a geologic scale. Soil begins to form when rocks are broken apart by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/soil-and-its-promise-as-a-climate-solution-a-primer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/soil-and-its-promise-as-a-climate-solution-a-primer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-245720</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The key to averting environmental catastrophe is right beneath our feet</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/the-key-to-averting-environmental-catastrophe-is-right-beneath-our-feet/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/the-key-to-averting-environmental-catastrophe-is-right-beneath-our-feet/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2021 13:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/01082436/banner2-Harvesting-peanuts-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243135</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, agribusiness, Agriculture, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Farming, Food, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Industrial Agriculture, Microorganisms, Plantations, Plants, Politics, Research, Soil Carbon, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To stay within planetary boundary safe limits, we must protect soils by conserving global habitat and revamping industrial agribusiness — and do it fast.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When we talk about solutions to the current climate and global environmental crisis, one vital component is often overlooked: soils. Billions of years ago, the first soils paved the way for life on land. Now, this unassuming terrain beneath our feet underpins a multitrillion-dollar, global agricultural industry and provides food for billions of humans, as well as countless wild and domestic species. Soil is central to our relationship with the land and plays a vital role in nearly every key Earth system process responsible for keeping conditions on our planet stable. Civilization, humanity, and other terrestrial life are all dependent on good, ongoing soil health for their survival. Soil forms the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems, wild and cultivated. The growth of crops like lettuce, pictured here, depends on the geology, climate and biology of the soil. Image by Julie via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Healthy soils are biodiversity hotspots, providing a home to diverse communities of bacteria, fungi and invertebrates, many of which are beneficial, and even vital, to plants. Soils hold 80% of all the carbon stored on land, making them key to meeting global greenhouse gas emissions targets. And they are important to the freshwater cycle, storing water and filtering out pollutants. But soils are in global crisis. An estimated 75 billion metric tons of soil is lost each year due to erosion from arable land, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In the process, large amounts of greenhouse gases are released, and vital&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/the-key-to-averting-environmental-catastrophe-is-right-beneath-our-feet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/the-key-to-averting-environmental-catastrophe-is-right-beneath-our-feet/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-243135</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Arctic biodiversity at risk as world overshoots climate planetary boundary</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/arctic-biodiversity-at-risk-as-world-overshoots-climate-planetary-boundary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/arctic-biodiversity-at-risk-as-world-overshoots-climate-planetary-boundary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2021 20:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Dickie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/29194152/banner-image-7-768x455.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=242147</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Russia, siberia, Tropics, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Biology, Birds, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Fish, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Marine, Marine Animals, Microorganisms, Polar Bears, Research, Species Discovery, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Polar phytoplankton, fish, seabirds and mammals are increasingly threatened by global warming, which is destabilizing Arctic ecosystems, even as southern species move northward — will the imbalanced biome collapse?]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Today, bowhead whales still transit the fringes of Arctic waters. Polar bears hunt blubbery ringed seals from rafts of ice. And ivory gulls ride gale force winds, plucking juvenile polar cod from the roiling sea. But for how much longer? Despite more than a century of scientific observation, the Central Arctic Ocean remains one of the least studied bodies of water in the world. Hostile weather, multiyear sea ice, total darkness part of the year, and remoteness hinder researchers endeavoring to better understand this region, its unique biodiversity, and dramatic shifts underway. What we do know is this: The Arctic is changing quickly as the poles warm. Sea ice cover, which has endured for millennia, is quickly disappearing, thinning and shrinking as the biome heats up at twice the rate of the rest of the world. In the absence of ice, southern species are moving north, sometimes making refugees and relics of long-term residents. We also know we can no longer afford for the Central Arctic Ocean to be a mystery. As the region heats up, the web of life that once tied together cold-loving species living in and near its enigmatic waters has begun to unravel, and may soon verge on collapse as the old guard fails to compete with, and gives way to, a new regime with largely unforeseeable consequences. Arctic sea ice breakup. The more the Arctic warms, the thinner the ice, and the more habitat changes. Image by Patrick Kelley / US Coast Guard. All of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/arctic-biodiversity-at-risk-as-world-overshoots-climate-planetary-boundary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-242147</doi>				</item>
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