Peatlands store vast amounts of carbon, but when they are drained for agriculture, they can become major sources of greenhouse gases. Restoring water levels can slow carbon dioxide emissions, yet overly wet peat can produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. This creates a difficult climate dilemma: how can peatlands be managed to protect soil carbon without triggering high methane release?

Soils that are exposed to prolonged drought often develop desiccation cracks, which impact soil properties and exacerbate moisture loss through evapotranspiration. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines the evolution of soil cracking and how cracks interact with storage and movement of water in the soil. The findings can help improve hydrological models essential for water management. 

A research team led by Iowa State University botanists confirmed cotton was domesticated from a diverse population native to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a potentially fruitful target for finding genetic traits that could strengthen the world’s most important fiber crop.

Biochar is often promoted as a long-lasting solution for improving soil fertility, raising soil pH, storing carbon, and helping crops access nutrients. But a new 8-year field study published in Biochar suggests that its benefits may be more temporary than many farmers and land managers expect.

Insect-eating bats may be helpful consumers of pests of crops including grapevines, orchard fruits, and vegetables, per study following six horseshoe bat colonies in northern Spain

Traditionally farmed landscapes can help produce food while also protecting nature and keeping cultural traditions alive. A research team led by the University of Göttingen examined “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)” as defined and recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The researchers found that these landscapes can offer practical lessons for sustainable land use worldwide — but only if strategies are adapted to local people, environments and farming traditions. The results were published in Ecology & Society.

SAN ANTONIO —June 17, 2026— SwRI is developing electronics and flight software for the NASA/U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat 10 satellite that is set to launch in 2031 to collect new and improved Earth observation data. The mission is a continuation of NASA’s and USGS’ partnership on the ongoing Landsat program, which has launched nine satellites since 1972 and provided over 10 million images of the Earth’s surface.

A major milestone for marine conservation has arrived in The Bahamas. FAU Harbor Branch, in partnership with The Island School’s Cape Eleuthera Institute and supported by Chef José Andrés’ Longer Tables Fund, has successfully launched the Queen Conch Mobile Lab following its first egg masses and hatch. Designed to produce up to 2,000 juvenile queen conch each year, the innovative mobile hatchery is helping restore one of the Caribbean’s most iconic and threatened marine species while advancing long-term ocean conservation across the region.

A new study identifies four critical systemic flaws undermining forest carbon credit integrity and proposes a four-pillar reform framework to restore trust and align forest carbon projects with real climate and ecological benefits.