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.
Permafrost in the Arctic stores large quantities of organic carbon. When frozen ground thaws or coastal sections erode, this carbon can enter the sea, where microorganisms can break it down and convert it into climate-damaging ...
Earth Sciences
7 hours ago
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After several quieter years, wildfires have returned to western Greenland.
Environment
Jul 4, 2026
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50
Amid the peatlands of northern Sweden, billions of microbes are quietly rewriting their genetic playbooks—and doing so far more often than scientists realized.
Ecology
Jun 29, 2026
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Greenland has recently been hit by localized wildfires, a rarity at this time of year that could be explained by global warming, a researcher at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources said Thursday.
Environment
Jun 18, 2026
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8
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
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18
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
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9
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
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14
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
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321
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
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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
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