River flow is reduced in areas where forests have been planted and does not recover over time, a new study has shown. Rivers in some regions can completely disappear within a decade. This highlights the need to consider the impact on regional water availability, as well as the wider climate benefit, of tree-planting plans.
Continually logging and re-growing tropical forests to supply timber is reducing the levels of vital nutrients in the soil, which may limit future forest growth and recovery, a new study suggests. This raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of logging in the tropics.
"Giant trees like the ones we found are simply awe-inspiring, they remind us how amazing the Amazon rainforest is, and how important it is to preserve it."
Sophia Cooke is a PhD candidate in the Department of Zoology, and a member of King's College. Here, she tells us about splitting her time between Cambridge and Galápagos, why working in the David Attenborough Building is so special, and how a little room in Norfolk with no wifi helped build her confidence as a researcher.
We are laying waste to the biosphere. If we're serious about saving millions of species, then it's our own that must change how it thinks about, lives off and values the planet it inhabits.
Plans to save biodiversity must take into account the social impacts of conservation if they are to succeed, say University of Cambridge researchers.
Largest study yet to compare protected with “matched” unprotected land finds significantly higher increases in human pressure – primarily through agriculture – in protected areas across the tropics.
First major study on “nudging” people towards sustainable diets shows replacing a meat or fish dish with another veggie option in college cafeterias dramatically increases herbivorous dining.
Conservation initiatives led by local and indigenous groups can be just as effective as schemes led by government, according to new research. In some cases in the Amazon rainforest, grassroots initiatives can be even more effective at protecting this vital ecosystem. This is particularly important due to widespread political resistance to hand over control over forests and other natural resources to local communities.
Despite the value that humans get from nature, it is not included in measurements of poverty and well-being. Cambridge's Judith Schleicher and Bhaskar Vira say it's about time this changed.
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