• Stanford researchers create a better way to predict the environmental impacts of agricultural production

    Consumer goods companies often rely on life-cycle assessments (LCA) to figure out the potential consequences of how they design products and source ingredients. This kind of assessment, while sophisticated, often lacks detail about how the products affect natural resources such as land, water and biodiversity.

    A team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Minnesota, in a partnership called the Natural Capital Project, along with researchers from Unilever’s Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, developed a new kind of assessment to integrate these impacts in a more detailed way. They call it Land Use Change Improved Life Cycle Assessment, or LUCI-LCA. It’s designed to help researchers or companies more accurately predict impacts of new designs and sourcing.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Making oil from algae – towards more efficient biofuels

    The mechanism behind oil synthesis within microalgae cells has been revealed by a Japanese research team. This discovery could contribute to the development of biofuels. The findings were published on April 4 in Scientific Reports.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Cover crops may be used to mitigate and adapt to climate change

    Cover crops long have been touted for their ability to reduce erosion, fix atmospheric nitrogen, reduce nitrogen leaching and improve soil health, but they also may play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change on agriculture, according to a Penn State researcher.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Eat, Prey, Move

    It’s a fish-eat-fish world out in the ocean, and prey species usually fear the predators that would make them into a tasty snack.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Termite gut holds a secret to breaking down plant biomass

    In the Microbial Sciences Building at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the incredibly efficient eating habits of a fungus-cultivating termite are surprising even to those well acquainted with the insect’s natural gift for turning wood to dust. - See more at: http://news.wisc.edu/termite-gut-holds-a-secret-to-breaking-down-plant-biomass/#sthash.wNKkjWOk.dpuf

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Prescribed Fires Consume Kansas Landscape

    Most if not all the fires in this image taken by Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on April 11, 2017 are controlled fires set by farmers to manage land.  Farmers in Kansas as allowed to burn grass every year to produce better grass for cattle.  The grass burning typically occurs between March and mid-April on a yearly basis.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Overpumping Reduces California's Groundwater Storage

    Decades of overpumping groundwater have irreversibly altered layers of clay beneath California's Central Valley, permanently reducing the aquifer's ability to store water, finds a new satellite remote sensing study by scientists at Stanford University, Stanford, California; and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Discovered a key mechanism in the plant defense against fungal infections

    Each year, fungal infections destroy at least 125 million tons of the world’s five most important crops -rice, wheat, maize, soybeans and potatoes-, a quantity that could feed 600 million people. Fungi are not only a problem in the field, but also produce large losses in the post-harvest stage: during product storage, transport or in the consumer hands. Also, it should be noted that some fungi produce mycotoxins, substances capable of causing disease and death in both humans and animals. Farmers use fungicides to treat fungal infections, but these are not always 100% effective and, moreover, consumer demands pesticide-free products.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Satellites map carbon sequestered by forests, with accuracy of up to ten metres

    Led by VTT, the EU North State project has developed a new method of using satellite images to evaluate the forest carbon balance. The carbon balance indicates how much carbon is sequestered or released by forests each year. This enables the carbon balance to be displayed on digital maps, with an accuracy of up to ten metres.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • New Map Shows How Groundwater Pumping Could Affect the Malad River

    A new report illustrates how groundwater pumping can affect the amount of water available in streams within the Malad-Lower Bear River Area in Utah. The product was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights.

    >> Read the Full Article