By air, rain and land: How microbes return after a wildfire

The disruption brought by wildfires reaches everything that lives in or near a burning field or forest—including microbes. A better understanding of how microbial communities change and grow after a fire could help researchers ...

When the river runs high

A massive world-wide study of dry riverbeds has found they're contributing more carbon emissions than previously thought, and this could help scientists better understand how to fight climate change.

Litter bugs may protect chocolate supply

Those who crave brownies or hot cocoa may be happy to hear that heroes too small to be seen may help to protect the world's chocolate supply. Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama found ...

Largest recorded tundra fire yields scientific surprises

In 2007 the largest recorded tundra fire in the circumpolar arctic released approximately as much carbon into the atmosphere as the tundra has stored in the previous 50 years, say scientists in the July 28 issue of the journal ...

World's forests' role in carbon storage immense, profound

Until now, scientists were uncertain about how much and where in the world terrestrial carbon is being stored. In the July 14 issue of Science Express, scientists report that, between 1990 and 2007, the world's forests stored ...

Breaking biomass better

One of the challenges in making cellulosic biofuels commercially viable is to cost-effectively deconstruct plant material to liberate fermentable energy-rich sugars. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding several ...

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