news 2026

Cattle grazing at a nature reserve in the Yorkshire Dales has increased plant diversity by over 40% according to research by the University of Leeds. Allowing native cattle breeds to roam large areas of the landscape at Ingleborough has also led to a five-fold increase in the number of butterflies. Researchers conducted two studies into the relative effects of cattle and sheep grazing on the 1500-hectare landscape restoration project.

When a species lives in two distinct types of habitats, individuals with traits better suited to each habitat will thrive and reproduce, naturally selecting descendants with those traits.

A tool originally designed to monitor the erosion of Scotland's coast has proven its worth on a tropical island the other side of the world. The open-source tool, called VedgeSat, was developed by researchers from the University of Glasgow as a more affordable and accessible alternative to traditional methods of coastal management.

Researchers have found more evidence that microplastics are impacting freshwater wildlife in different countries around the world. A new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in the journal Environmental Research, documents the presence of microplastics in the droppings of freshwater birds nesting in different sites in Europe.

Some Argentinian penguins are experiencing high levels of predation from pumas recolonising their historical territory. A new study involving Oxford researchers, published today in the Journal for Nature Conservation , has quantified the risk on long-term penguin population survival. Should we protect an emblematic species if it may come at the cost of another one - particularly in ecosystems that are still recovering from human impacts? This is the conservation dilemma facing Monte Leon National Park, on the Patagonian coast in Argentina.

Removing sheep and other livestock entirely from upland grasslands - a strategy often promoted as a way to boost carbon storage and tackle climate change - may actually reduce the most stable forms of soil carbon, according to new research. The study, led by The University of Manchester, suggests that while removing livestock from upland grasslands can increase fast-cycling carbon stored in plants and dead vegetation, it can also lead to losses of a more stable form of soil carbon.

New research may have solved an American mystery which has baffled geologists for a century and a half: how did a river carve a path through a mountain in one of the country's most iconic landscapes? Scientists have long sought an answer to the question of how the Green River, the largest tributary of the Colorado River, managed to create a 700-metre-deep canyon through Utah's 4km-high Uinta Mountains instead of simply flowing around them.

Native trees, such as oaks, have long held a special place in our culture and countryside. Now, researchers have shown that these trees are also important to woodland birds and their offspring. A new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in the journal Ecology, shows that common woodland birds, such as blue tits, produce more chicks when surrounded by a greater abundance of native tree foliage.

Tropical forests can recover twice as quickly after deforestation if they have adequate soil nitrogen, according to new research published today. A team of scientists led by the University of Leeds established the world's largest and longest experiment to see how nutrients affect forest regrowth in areas cleared for activities such as logging and agriculture.

Air-polluting microplastics have been found in rural areas in greater quantities than in cities, researchers say. The study, led by the University of Leeds, detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic per square metre per day in an area of woodland during the three-month study - almost twice as much as in a sample collected in a city centre.

An international group of researchers says that biodiversity conservation and scientific research are not benefiting from the vast knowledge about the world's plants held by botanic gardens, because of fragmented data systems and a lack of standardisation. The digital infrastructure needed to manage, share, and safeguard living plant diversity wasn't designed to operate at a global scale.