Tree domination of the world's savannas may slow down

Savannas are becoming increasingly woodier as trees gain the upper hand over grasses in these ecosystems, but this encroachment may proceed more slowly than previously thought, new University of Otago-led research suggests.

Early Titan was a cold, hostile place for life

Titan is a mysterious orange-socked moon of Saturn that is exciting to astrobiologists because it has some of the same kinds of chemicals that were precursors to life on Earth. It also has a hydrological cycle that allows ...

Uncovering diversity in an invisible ocean world

Plankton are vital to life on Earth—they absorb carbon dioxide, generate nearly half of the oxygen we breathe, break down waste, and are a cornerstone of the marine food chain. Now, new research indicates the diminutive ...

Algae blooms create their own favorable conditions, study finds

Fertilizers are known to promote the growth of toxic cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater and oceans worldwide, but a new multi-institution study shows the aquatic microbes themselves can drive nitrogen and phosphorus cycling ...

Hydrogen powers important nitrogen-transforming bacteria

Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria are key players in the natural nitrogen cycle on Earth and in biological wastewater treatment plants. For decades, these specialist bacteria were thought to depend on nitrite as their source of ...

Study reveals dynamics of microbes and nitrate

Human tampering with global carbon balances has received massive public attention because of its effects on global warming, but we pay less attention to another set of chemical processes we are similarly disrupting: human ...

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