Environmental research in the tropics is heavily skewed, according to a comprehensive study led from Umeå University. Humid lowland forest ecosystems receive a disproportionate amount of attention, while colder and drier regions that are more affected by climate change are severely underrepresented.

Soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined, with soil microorganisms playing the main role. As a result, the global soil carbon cycle—by which carbon enters, moves through, and leaves soils worldwide—exerts a significant impact on climate change feedback. Now an important study led by researchers from the Institute of Earth Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sheds new light on this cycle by overturning assumptions about the relationship between microbial respiration and carbon storage.

A six-year study, led by PhD researcher Sarah Watts of the University’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, looked at the impact of deer management on mountain woodland.

Curtin University researchers have demonstrated a new way to uncover the ancient history of Australia’s landscapes, which could offer crucial insights into how our environment responds to geological processes and climate change and even where deposits of valuable minerals may be found.