Understanding when and where trees die in vast tropical forests is a challenging first step toward understanding carbon dynamics and climate change. Researchers explained variations in tree mortality over a five-year period by analyzing drone images of one of the most-studied tropical forests in the world, Barro Colorado Island in Panama.

Researchers have found that nanoparticles resulting from human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels rapidly grow in the atmosphere and influence cloud formation. The discovery will help make meteorological models and climate change simulations more accurate.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School (FMRP-USP) in Brazil studied the effects of sublingual immunotherapy with extract of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, a ubiquitous dust mite, administered to patients in drops for 18 months.

In an unprecedented research project, 30 juvenile green sea turtles of varying ages have been released directly into the waters off Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands, wearing tiny tracking devices that will monitor their movements.The turtles carry prototype micro-satellite tags, weighing less than a penny and safely attached to the turtles’ shells using epoxy and neoprene-silicone mounts.

A study by Brazilian researchers demonstrated its antimicrobial action in vitro, via inhibition of the activity of bacterial plaque biofilm containing several types of cariogenic microorganisms, including Streptococcus mutans, one of the most common bacteria found in the human oral cavity.

Current protected area networks in South and Southeast Asia fail to conserve socio-economically important native tree species and their seed sources, according to a new region-wide threat assessment. The study’s findings highlight priority areas and synergies for coordinating conservation and restoration of critical habitat for these species. This will be vital to ensure continued provision of ecosystem services and support the livelihoods and nutrition security of millions of people that depend on them.

Brazilian researchers demonstrate in field experiments that these large mammals help keep a balance between areas with different levels of productivity in biomes like the Atlantic Rainforest, and regulate the spatial structure of plant communities.