EU sets world’s first voluntary standard for permanent carbon removals

Today, the Commission adopted the first set of methodologies under the carbon removals and carbon farming (CRCF) Regulation to certify activities that permanently remove CO2 from the atmosphere. By adopting these first voluntary certification methodologies, the EU is setting clear rules and creating new opportunities for climate innovation, investments in carbon removal technologies and addressing greenwashing. […]

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How a flexible invader succeeds across northern China |

Kai Shi, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discusses his article: CSR strategy shifts under biotic resistance and grazing drive invasion success of Solanum rostratum in northern China Ecological theory offers two powerful explanations for why invasions should fail. Diverse native communities are expected to resist newcomers through competition, […]

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REALITY CHECK – Commission takes stock of ETS implementation with stationary installations

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) is the EU’s flagship carbon pricing instrument and a central pillar of its climate policy framework. As the ETS expands and is strengthened, stakeholders have shared feedback on practical implementation to ensure its continued effectiveness. This includes experiences with compliance processes, the interaction between different ETS components, such as […]

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Bringing back birds to Mediterranean heathlands one cut and one burn at a time – The Applied Ecologist

For centuries, the heathlands of Tuscany in north-central Italy were used to graze livestock and to harvest heather for making brooms (the old witch-style ones) and other wares. These traditional land-use practices maintained perfect habitat for birds like the woodlark and tawny pipit – specialists of open and shrubby habitats. But here, and throughout Europe, […]

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What happens belowground when invasive species are controlled? – The Applied Ecologist

A better understanding of what happens belowground when restoring coastal vegetation may be useful to better plan restoration. However, little is known about what happens belowground when invasive species are controlled in restoration settings. My students and I used a protected area of sandy coastal vegetation in an island in Southern Brazil as a model […]

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Diverse city lives of Asiatic dayflowers in a Japanese megacity |

Taichi Nakata, Kyushu University in Japan, discusses their article: Adaptive trait divergence of annual plants in response to urban habitat diversity in a megacity As we walk through cities, we often notice flowers blooming in the gaps in pavement, along roadsides, or in parks. Despite the drastic alterations of their natural habitats by human activity, […]

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Commission updates Union Registry rules for Effort Sharing and land-use accounting

The European Commission has amended the Union Registry Regulation (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122), which ensures the  accurate and transparent accounting of Member States’ transactions under the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) and the Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) Regulation. The updated rules align the Union Registry with the revised Effort Sharing and LULUCF […]

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Contrasting the roles of fertile island strength and ecosystem fertility at a global scale |

Victoria Giachetti and Martín Aguiar, University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, discuss their article: Stronger fertile island patterns enhance plant facilitation in drylands, regardless of overall ecosystem fertility Facilitation and fertile island formation: Two key structuring processes in dryland ecosystems At the core of dryland ecosystem functioning, there are two tightly linked processes: fertile island […]

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Six winners of the 2024 Innovation Fund hydrogen auction sign grant agreements, advancing renewable hydrogen rollout in the EU

Six projects selected in the 2024 Innovation Fund Auction for renewable hydrogen production (IF24 Auction) have signed their grant agreements, receiving a total of €270.6 million, sourced from EU Emissions Trading System revenues. Two of these projects were awarded under the dedicated maritime topic, receiving more than €35 million to supply renewable hydrogen to maritime […]

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The dangers of ignoring environmental heterogeneity |

Annie Schiffer, Utah State University, discusses her article: The importance of accounting for spatial heterogeneity in studies of plant competition and coexistence Our paper explores how ignoring spatial environmental heterogeneity produces biases in competition and coexistence models. The original motivation for this study was to explain why interspecific competition was underestimated in observational studies of […]

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