Tundra ecosystems are cold-climate terrestrial systems characterized by low temperatures, short growing seasons, and the presence of permafrost that constrains soil development, hydrology, and rooting depth. They exhibit low primary productivity dominated by cold-adapted vegetation such as mosses, lichens, sedges, and dwarf shrubs, with nutrient cycling strongly limited by slow decomposition rates. These ecosystems are important in Earth system science as major carbon reservoirs in frozen soils and peat deposits, and they show high sensitivity to climate warming, which alters vegetation composition, active-layer depth, greenhouse gas fluxes (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O), and biotic interactions, including herbivory and microbial community dynamics.
The wooly mammoth from Taimering (Bavaria, Germany), discovered in 2020, was buried in a former Ice Age pond after its death. Pollen findings and radiocarbon dating confirm that the mammoth lived and died during the harsh ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 3, 2026
0
15
A celebrated scheme for human-wildlife coexistence is now at risk of failing due to lack of long-term government investment, new research has found.
Plants & Animals
Jun 1, 2026
0
8
In the far north regions of Earth, where forests stretch across Alaska and Canada, climate change is unfolding at an accelerated pace. Arctic and boreal regions are warming two to four times faster than the global average, ...
Environment
May 28, 2026
0
13
Today's Arctic may feel remote and desolate, but more than 70 million years ago, it was a surprisingly lively place for some of Earth's ancient mammals.
Ecology
May 18, 2026
0
317
Long-term climate warming is causing a bleaching effect in a key Arctic lichen species, according to new research led by researchers in the School of GeoSciences and British Antarctic Survey. Their study shows how rising ...
Ecology
May 15, 2026
0
18
A University of Alberta study has whittled down climate-related reasons beavers are emerging earlier onto the ice from their lodges in the spring—a shift that helps them store more winter food but could also lead to more ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2026
0
22
A study has provided new evidence of beavers' expansion into the Canadian Arctic by dating the changes they have made to the tundra landscape as they spread northward. Published in the journal Ecosphere, the research combines ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 24, 2026
0
20
A study by researchers at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry indicates that if lichen continues to decline across the Arctic, caribou populations could struggle to survive the winter.
Plants & Animals
Apr 8, 2026
0
9
The structure of the plant communities that grow on the thawing permafrost in the Arctic is changing, with grasses displacing slower-growing shrubs. Although these grasses bind more carbon dioxide than previous plant communities, ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 26, 2026
0
12
Delegates are gathering in Campo Grande, Brazil, for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The meeting aims to address growing threats to migratory ...
Ecology
Mar 24, 2026
0
10
