Research articles

Climate change will affect Himalayan water resources. This study quantifies the importance of snow and glacier melt for agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic plain, finding that 129 million farmers depend on it, especially for rice and cotton, and that meltwater supports crops feeding 38 million people.

A comprehensive analysis of indigenous and local knowledge on plant uses in New Guinea shows important documentation gaps that limit biodiversity assessments. Also, many services are rare, so less likely to be documented.

Predators, including prawns, can suppress schistosomiasis by eating snail hosts. This modelling study finds that two prawn species in sub-Saharan Africa can reduce snail hosts and help control schistosomiasis at densities that maximize profits of associated aquaculture—a potential win–win.

Wild plants anchor ecosystems and local economies. The iconic resin frankincense comes from Boswellia trees. This study documents the population collapse of B. papyrifera, the main frankincense source, throughout its range, suggesting conservation and restoration is vital.

To understand transitions to more sustainable diets, an analysis of over 240,000 online recipes, their user ratings and interviews finds an increase in vegan and vegetarian recipes, and in users switching to and keeping these diets.

Mountain water resources are increasingly threatened. This study finds that a 1,400-year-old system for diverting headwater streams onto Andean slopes enhances the later water yield in downslope springs and estimates that upscaling this for Lima, Peru, could increase dry-season flows by 7.5%.

Agricultural expansion removes habitat vital for biodiversity. This modelling study finds that 4.6–11.2% of global ice-free land can be devoted to crops and 7.9–15.7% to pasture to support commonly suggested levels of local biodiversity—less than suggested in previous studies.

A large multinational survey of perceived energy affordability shows that it concerns individuals regardless of the countries’ level of income, although some patterns also related to regional, economic and cultural factors.

Thebaine, a naturally occurring opiate, is used to produce drugs that treat opiate addiction, but it must be processed using toxic reactants that produce harmful waste. In this study, the authors probed an opium-processing waste stream and identified a versatile enzyme that can be used instead.

Urgent action is needed to ensure food security and mitigate climate change. Through a multi-model comparison exercise, this study shows the potential negative trade-offs between food security and climate change mitigation if mitigation policies are carelessly designed.

The challenges of meeting food, water and energy needs are interconnected, requiring integrated assessments of land use, socioeconomic policies and climate change. This study assesses the required increases in water, trade and agricultural land needed to double food production by 2050.

Groundwater influences biophysical processes behind key ecosystem services. This study finds that many ecosystem service indicators respond nonlinearly when the water table is within a critical depth, with the potential for large effects in areas with shallow groundwater.

Although climate warming after the 1950s is clear in many studies, records suggest an earlier onset to industrial impacts. This study combines observational data with simulations and finds a weakening of temperature seasonality, attributable to human influence, over the Northern Hemisphere since the late nineteenth century.

Modelling the network of power plants that supply a given city, and the amount of energy drawn from each plant, shows a city’s energy mix and demonstrates which other cities it shares most energy suppliers with.

Protected areas are vital for conserving biodiversity, but limited funds must be allocated between acquiring new areas and managing existing ones. Using a landscape model, this study finds that management is often the better first investment and is always a necessary complement to acquisition.

While regional and planetary biodiversity is suffering from numerous crises, conservation movements have struggled with how to respond. At this inflection point for conservation, over 9,000 conservationists are surveyed to analyse their views and how these are predicted by their characteristics.

An environmentally friendly behaviour is more likely to motivate a second such behaviour when both actions are similar and when the first behaviour is intrinsically motivated, according to a review of the literature.

Machine learning and satellite images are used to identify intensive animal agricultural facilities in the United States, which are otherwise difficult to track. This can facilitate monitoring their compliance with environmental law.

Agriculture sustains a large and growing human population, but generates widespread impacts. This study assesses the health effects of air pollution caused by maize production. Reduced air quality leads to 4,300 premature deaths annually in the United States, akin to US$39 billion in damages, and climate change damages of US$4.9 billion.

The movement of goods links consumers and producers of natural resources in a web of interactions. This study finds that the resilience of a food trade network depends on interconnectedness and that the increasing connectivity of global food trade is making it less resilient, including to supply shocks.