The variation and control of soil organic carbon (SOC) and other nutrients in permafrost regions are critical for studying the carbon cycle and its potential feedbacks to climate change; however, they are poorly understood. Soil nutrients samples at depths of 0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–40 cm, were sampled eight times in 2009 in alpine swamp meadow, alpine meadow and alpine steppe in permafrost regions of the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Ganga River Basin (GRB) is the second most populous river basin in the world, which has been undergoing rapid land-use change during the last few decades. Here, the researchers analyse the landscape dynamics in Indian GRB (IGRB) using three indices, i.e. class area, mean patch size and number of patches for 14 land use and land cover classes using multi-temporal Landsat satellite datasets of 1975 and 2010.

Contrary to popular expectations, the effects of forest cover on regional climate might be limited and the influence of forestation on water resources might be negative says this new study by Csaba Mátyás, Ge Sun published in Environmental Research Letters.

We often hear that planting trees can help cool the environment. This may work not only at a household level, but also on the planetary scale-large scale afforestation has been advanced by the United Nations as a means of mitigating global climate change. At the garden level, trees provide shade and relief from the summer heat. On the planetary scale, how do trees help cool the earth? (Guest Editorial)