Harvard botanist Dr. Peter Del Tredici discusses how northeastern forests are being shaped by urbanization, invasive species, acid rain, and climate change.
Most of us are familiar with the idea that we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to prevent global warming. Methane is also a problem, and we hear about it much less frequently. But compared to carbon dioxide, methane's impact on climate change is some twenty times more powerful.
Research has found that when humans modify the environment, fragmenting habitat and reducing species diversity, we are more likely to contract diseases normally confined to wildlife.
As part of her ongoing work to assess how human activity affects freshwater resources, aquatic ecologist Emma Rosi-Marshall spent this past summer studying nutrient cycling in large western rivers.
A result of urban land use change is homogenization across cities, where neighborhoods in very different parts of the country have similar patterns of roads and other features. Understanding urban homogenization will provide the basis for understanding the impacts of urban land use change from local to continental scales.
