Featured
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Editorial |
Limits to protection
Marine protected areas can support ecosystem resilience in the face of environmental stress, but only up to a point.
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News & Views |
Cleaner Chinese lakes
Phosphorus loading can cause eutrophication of lakes. Analyses of lake chemistry in China reveal that policies have led to lower phosphorus levels overall, but increasing trends in some lakes suggest that expanded policies may be needed.
- Jessica Corman
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Editorial |
Beyond forest carbon
The preservation of forests, both on land and in mangrove swamps, has received much attention in the move to protect biological carbon stores. Less conspicuous communities of organisms deserve some scrutiny, too.
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News & Views |
Afforestation cools more or less
Forests affect climate not only by taking up carbon, but also by absorbing solar radiation and enhancing evaporation. In the tropics, the climate benefit of afforestation may be nearly double that expected from carbon budgets alone.
- Richard A. Betts
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Letter |
Small temperature benefits provided by realistic afforestation efforts
Afforestation, the conversion of croplands or marginal lands into forests, is considered one of the key climate-change mitigation strategies available to governments. Model simulations suggest that the temperature benefits of realistic afforestation efforts are marginal.
- Vivek K. Arora
- & Alvaro Montenegro
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News & Views |
Tropical teleconnections
At the end of the twentieth century, tropical deforestation was associated with the growth of rural populations. An assessment of the factors involved in forest loss suggests that today's trees are more likely to be affected by economic pressures from farther afield.
- J. A. Cardille
- & E. M. Bennett
Pyrogenic carbon decomposition critical to resolving fire’s role in the Earth system
The state of the seas