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.
Viruses in the cold waters of the Arctic are strongly seasonal and are also detected in the Antarctic. This surprising discovery comes from a multi-year time-series study led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research ...
Ecology
Jul 31, 2025
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A study led by the UAB and the CREAF shows that the loss of nitrogen from Arctic soil not only deprives plants of a vital nutrient but also contributes, proportionally and irreversibly, to increased CO2 emissions. The study ...
Environment
Jul 2, 2025
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The largest tract of public land in the United States is a wild expanse of tundra and wetlands stretching across nearly 23 million acres of northern Alaska. It's called the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, but despite ...
Ecology
Jun 30, 2025
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27
A new study investigates the environmental factors affecting the occurrence and state of palsa mires, as well as the degradation of palsas. The study covers the entire Northern Hemisphere. The new results are part of a doctoral ...
Environment
Jun 5, 2025
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17
Warming in the Arctic is intensifying methane emissions, contributing to a vicious feedback loop that could accelerate climate change even more, according to a new study published in Nature.
Earth Sciences
May 15, 2025
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