Field tests by University of California – Davis scientists have shown conclusively that rising levels of carbon dioxide inhibit plants’ ability to assimilate nitrates into proteins. The findings, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, indicate that the nutritional quality of food crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and potatoes is at risk as climate […]
A Canadian-U.S. study, published in Nature Geoscience, has found that commercial fisheries play an unexpected role in the decline of water quality in coastal waters. Researchers Roxane Maranger and Nina Caraco suggest that the collapse of the fisheries from decades of over fishing has played a significant role in disturbing the balance between nitrogen entering […]
How much excess nitrogen – from fertilizers, animal waste, sewer lines, and highways – reaches waterways appears to be heavily influenced by the width of the vegetated borders around the stream. A new study from the EPA has found that borders of at least 50 meters are required for optimal removal of the human-produced nitrogen […]
Somewhat counter-intuitively, experiments conducted by University of Minnesota (UM) researchers have shown that a plentiful supply of water and nutrients actually restrictsecosystem biodiversity. Carried out on grassland plots, the experiments revealed that too much of a good thing (nutrients or water) was shown to decrease the diversity of most species, while increasing the productivity of […]
