In a new long-term ecological experiment, researchers showed that elevated levels of carbon dioxide nearly tripled species losses in grasslands attributed to the long-term application of simulated nitrogen pollution.
The University of Michigan is leading research, analyzing new technologies, and convening and expanding programs and partnerships around critical topics pertaining to conservation, preservation, restoration, and resilience.
From managing national estuary research to highlighting human-exacerbated challenges facing threatened species in protected areas, U-M researchers are at the forefront of protecting biological diversity and advancing conservation efforts, across an array of disciplines. Some of our key partnerships and initiatives include the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, Forests & Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, and Engagement, Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative, and the University of Michigan Biological Station. Find U-M experts in sustainability and environmental science, across fields and academic units.
In a new long-term ecological experiment, researchers showed that elevated levels of carbon dioxide nearly tripled species losses in grasslands attributed to the long-term application of simulated nitrogen pollution.
The impacts of climate change can take varying degrees of time to show up in ecosystems but, in grasslands, the response to climate change is apparent almost in real-time, according to new research by the University of Michigan. In other words, forests accumulate climate debt while grasslands are paying as they go, said the study’s lead authors, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Associate Professor Kai Zhu and Yiluan Song, a postdoctoral fellow in the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society affiliated with the Institute for Global Change Biology in SEAS.
Not all of us can afford to wear the latest styles fresh from the world’s maisons, so we often turn to fast-fashion retailers in order to participate in aesthetic trends. But our planet cannot sustain these habits, which cause an enormous amount of textile waste that unfairly burdens communities in the global South and actively harms the environment.
U-M has published a guidebook to help communities navigate the arrival of new battery energy storage systems amid changing energy policies.
This year’s survey will focus on critical topics including carbon neutrality, transportation, waste prevention, climate change, and food sustainability. New questions on climate anxiety will explore respondents' feelings about climate issues and their experiences with direct impacts.
Along M-22 in northwestern Michigan, people with mobility challenges can access breathtaking views of Lake Michigan from a 300-foot-high platform, explore rare birds and plants in a restored marsh or lose themselves in coastal dunes and forests once off-limits.