Ecology

Download the Nature Podcast 07 May 2025In this episode:00:46 How fishing activity altered the migration pattern of HerringSelective fishing of older herring has resulted in a large shift in the migration pattern of these fish, according to new research. For years, herring have visited sites on the south coast of Norway to spawn, but in 2020 a rapid shift was seen, with the fish instead visiting areas hundreds of kilometres to the north. Researchers have concluded that too many older fish have been removed from these waters, preventing the knowledge of the best spawning grounds being passed to younger, less experienced fish. This finding shows how human activity can affect animal migration, which could have serious consequences for the delicately balanced ecosystems built around them.Research article: Slotte et al.10:37 Research HighlightsArchaeologists have identified tools that the ancient Maya may have used for tattooing, and the self-assembling stable structures that may help ‘forever chemicals’ persist in nature.Research Highlight: Tattoo-making tools used by ancient Maya revealedResearch Highlight: ‘Forever’ molecules arrange themselves into cell-like structures 13:02 How might AI companions affect users’ mental health?AI companions — apps where humans build relationships with computers — are hugely popular, with millions of people around the world using them. But despite increased social and political attention, research investigating how these systems can affect users has been lacking. We find out about the latest research in this space.News Feature: Supportive? Addictive? Abusive? How AI companions affect our mental health24:52 Briefing ChatA technique that lets researchers directly edits proteins within living cells, and how a fibre-rich, low-fat diet could help replenish populations of gut microbes ravaged by antibiotics.Nature: Powerful protein editors offer new ways of probing living cellsNature: How to fix a gut microbiome ravaged by antibioticsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or your favourite podcast app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too. More

Climate change is driving more frequent bouts of extreme weather that lead to floods and other damage.Credit: Scott Olson/GettyEvery four years, the US government is supposed to release a report on how climate change is affecting the nation, to guide communities and companies on how to address and adapt to a warming planet. But the sixth edition of the National Climate Assessment — already in the works for months — was gutted earlier this week, when US President Donald Trump’s administration dismissed hundreds of scientists helping with it.‘Totally broken’: how Trump 2.0 has paralysed work at US science agencies Some researchers aren’t giving up, however. They are wondering whether they could publish it anyway, through independent channels. One of their inspirations is the National Nature Assessment, a report that Trump cancelled on his first day back in office. Last month, researchers involved with that report announced a campaign to publish it outside the governmental framework, using private funding. The report is meant to detail the importance of nature — ecosystems, biodiversity and more — on the US economy and on US health.Both reports address “the condition of the planet writ large”, says Gillian Bowser, an ecologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and a lead author of the nature assessment. Efforts to revive them reflect the ways in which US researchers are trying to cope with Trump’s assault on federal science. “I volunteered for this effort, and I’m ready to continue it,” says Costa Samaras, a systems engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and lead author of a chapter of the climate assessment. “This is important work for the country,” adds Samaras, who worked on US energy policy under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden. Up-to-date knowledgeBoth projects were coordinated by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), a network of 15 federal agencies that deal with environmental issues across the US government. The reports were meant to be comprehensive syntheses of the most up-to-date scientific knowledge in the fields of climate science and ecology.Will US science survive Trump 2.0?The first National Climate Assessment was published in 2000; since then, this report, mandated by the US Congress, has come out fairly regularly. It is “the de facto understanding of what climate change means for the country”, says Nícola Ulibarrí, an environmental policy specialist at the University of California, Irvine, who contributed to the fifth edition and was slated to contribute to the sixth.Trump has called climate change a “hoax”, but during his first term as president, he approved the 2018 release of the fourth climate assessment. His team also began the process of setting up the fifth assessment, although the president’s controversial pick to lead the USGCRP — a climate-change denier — was later replaced. By contrast, Trump’s current administration moved swiftly to gut the sixth report, dubbed the NCA6. In early April, the president’s team terminated contracts with the company that provided internal staff members to coordinate the report’s production. This week, administration officials dismissed nearly 400 university and other external scientists who were working on it. Nature asked the White House the reason for the terminations, and received the same line that appeared in the scientists’ dismissal e-mail: “At this time, the scope of the NCA6 is currently being reevaluated in accordance with the Global Change Research Act of 1990.”

Enjoying our latest content?
Login or create an account to continue

Access the most recent journalism from Nature’s award-winning team
Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research

Access through your institution

or

Sign in or create an account

Continue with Google

Continue with ORCiD More

ARTS REVIEW
01 May 2025

The Natural History Museum’s new gallery, Fixing our Broken Planet, examines Earth’s changing ecosystems and how to protect them. More

CORRESPONDENCE
29 April 2025

By

Kristal K. Ambrose

Bahamas Plastic Movement, Eleuthera, The Bahamas.

Tony R. Walker

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

Satellites pose a growing threat to Earth’s ecosystems (R. O. Ocaya and T. D. Malevu Nature 639, 571–573; 2025). Your News Feature noted that around 11,000 satellites are now orbiting Earth, with more than 7,000 belonging to SpaceX in Hawthorne, California (Nature 639, 564–566; 2025).

Access options

/* style specs start */

/* style specs end */

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

$29.99 / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue

Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
/* style specs start */
style {
display: none !important;
}
.LiveAreaSection * {
align-content: stretch;
align-items: stretch;
align-self: auto;
animation-delay: 0s;
animation-direction: normal;
animation-duration: 0s;
animation-fill-mode: none;
animation-iteration-count: 1;
animation-name: none;
animation-play-state: running;
animation-timing-function: ease;
azimuth: center;
backface-visibility: visible;
background-attachment: scroll;
background-blend-mode: normal;
background-clip: borderBox;
background-color: transparent;
background-image: none;
background-origin: paddingBox;
background-position: 0 0;
background-repeat: repeat;
background-size: auto auto;
block-size: auto;
border-block-end-color: currentcolor;
border-block-end-style: none;
border-block-end-width: medium;
border-block-start-color: currentcolor;
border-block-start-style: none;
border-block-start-width: medium;
border-bottom-color: currentcolor;
border-bottom-left-radius: 0;
border-bottom-right-radius: 0;
border-bottom-style: none;
border-bottom-width: medium;
border-collapse: separate;
border-image-outset: 0s;
border-image-repeat: stretch;
border-image-slice: 100%;
border-image-source: none;
border-image-width: 1;
border-inline-end-color: currentcolor;
border-inline-end-style: none;
border-inline-end-width: medium;
border-inline-start-color: currentcolor;
border-inline-start-style: none;
border-inline-start-width: medium;
border-left-color: currentcolor;
border-left-style: none;
border-left-width: medium;
border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-right-style: none;
border-right-width: medium;
border-spacing: 0;
border-top-color: currentcolor;
border-top-left-radius: 0;
border-top-right-radius: 0;
border-top-style: none;
border-top-width: medium;
bottom: auto;
box-decoration-break: slice;
box-shadow: none;
box-sizing: border-box;
break-after: auto;
break-before: auto;
break-inside: auto;
caption-side: top;
caret-color: auto;
clear: none;
clip: auto;
clip-path: none;
color: initial;
column-count: auto;
column-fill: balance;
column-gap: normal;
column-rule-color: currentcolor;
column-rule-style: none;
column-rule-width: medium;
column-span: none;
column-width: auto;
content: normal;
counter-increment: none;
counter-reset: none;
cursor: auto;
display: inline;
empty-cells: show;
filter: none;
flex-basis: auto;
flex-direction: row;
flex-grow: 0;
flex-shrink: 1;
flex-wrap: nowrap;
float: none;
font-family: initial;
font-feature-settings: normal;
font-kerning: auto;
font-language-override: normal;
font-size: medium;
font-size-adjust: none;
font-stretch: normal;
font-style: normal;
font-synthesis: weight style;
font-variant: normal;
font-variant-alternates: normal;
font-variant-caps: normal;
font-variant-east-asian: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal;
font-variant-numeric: normal;
font-variant-position: normal;
font-weight: 400;
grid-auto-columns: auto;
grid-auto-flow: row;
grid-auto-rows: auto;
grid-column-end: auto;
grid-column-gap: 0;
grid-column-start: auto;
grid-row-end: auto;
grid-row-gap: 0;
grid-row-start: auto;
grid-template-areas: none;
grid-template-columns: none;
grid-template-rows: none;
height: auto;
hyphens: manual;
image-orientation: 0deg;
image-rendering: auto;
image-resolution: 1dppx;
ime-mode: auto;
inline-size: auto;
isolation: auto;
justify-content: flexStart;
left: auto;
letter-spacing: normal;
line-break: auto;
line-height: normal;
list-style-image: none;
list-style-position: outside;
list-style-type: disc;
margin-block-end: 0;
margin-block-start: 0;
margin-bottom: 0;
margin-inline-end: 0;
margin-inline-start: 0;
margin-left: 0;
margin-right: 0;
margin-top: 0;
mask-clip: borderBox;
mask-composite: add;
mask-image: none;
mask-mode: matchSource;
mask-origin: borderBox;
mask-position: 0 0;
mask-repeat: repeat;
mask-size: auto;
mask-type: luminance;
max-height: none;
max-width: none;
min-block-size: 0;
min-height: 0;
min-inline-size: 0;
min-width: 0;
mix-blend-mode: normal;
object-fit: fill;
object-position: 50% 50%;
offset-block-end: auto;
offset-block-start: auto;
offset-inline-end: auto;
offset-inline-start: auto;
opacity: 1;
order: 0;
orphans: 2;
outline-color: initial;
outline-offset: 0;
outline-style: none;
outline-width: medium;
overflow: visible;
overflow-wrap: normal;
overflow-x: visible;
overflow-y: visible;
padding-block-end: 0;
padding-block-start: 0;
padding-bottom: 0;
padding-inline-end: 0;
padding-inline-start: 0;
padding-left: 0;
padding-right: 0;
padding-top: 0;
page-break-after: auto;
page-break-before: auto;
page-break-inside: auto;
perspective: none;
perspective-origin: 50% 50%;
pointer-events: auto;
position: static;
quotes: initial;
resize: none;
right: auto;
ruby-align: spaceAround;
ruby-merge: separate;
ruby-position: over;
scroll-behavior: auto;
scroll-snap-coordinate: none;
scroll-snap-destination: 0 0;
scroll-snap-points-x: none;
scroll-snap-points-y: none;
scroll-snap-type: none;
shape-image-threshold: 0;
shape-margin: 0;
shape-outside: none;
tab-size: 8;
table-layout: auto;
text-align: initial;
text-align-last: auto;
text-combine-upright: none;
text-decoration-color: currentcolor;
text-decoration-line: none;
text-decoration-style: solid;
text-emphasis-color: currentcolor;
text-emphasis-position: over right;
text-emphasis-style: none;
text-indent: 0;
text-justify: auto;
text-orientation: mixed;
text-overflow: clip;
text-rendering: auto;
text-shadow: none;
text-transform: none;
text-underline-position: auto;
top: auto;
touch-action: auto;
transform: none;
transform-box: borderBox;
transform-origin: 50% 50%0;
transform-style: flat;
transition-delay: 0s;
transition-duration: 0s;
transition-property: all;
transition-timing-function: ease;
vertical-align: baseline;
visibility: visible;
white-space: normal;
widows: 2;
width: auto;
will-change: auto;
word-break: normal;
word-spacing: normal;
word-wrap: normal;
writing-mode: horizontalTb;
z-index: auto;
-webkit-appearance: none;
-moz-appearance: none;
-ms-appearance: none;
appearance: none;
margin: 0;
}
.LiveAreaSection {
width: 100%;
}
.LiveAreaSection .login-option-buybox {
display: block;
width: 100%;
font-size: 17px;
line-height: 30px;
color: #222;
padding-top: 30px;
font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif;
}
.LiveAreaSection .additional-access-options {
display: block;
font-weight: 700;
font-size: 17px;
line-height: 30px;
color: #222;
font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif;
}
.LiveAreaSection .additional-login > li:not(:first-child)::before {
transform: translateY(-50%);
content: “”;
height: 1rem;
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 0;
border-left: 2px solid #999;
}
.LiveAreaSection .additional-login > li:not(:first-child) {
padding-left: 10px;
}
.LiveAreaSection .additional-login > li {
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
vertical-align: middle;
padding-right: 10px;
}
.BuyBoxSection {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
flex: 1;
flex-direction: row-reverse;
margin: -30px -15px 0;
}
.BuyBoxSection .box-inner {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
padding: 30px 5px;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
justify-content: space-between;
}
.BuyBoxSection p {
margin: 0;
}
.BuyBoxSection .readcube-buybox {
background-color: #f3f3f3;
flex-shrink: 1;
flex-grow: 1;
flex-basis: 255px;
background-clip: content-box;
padding: 0 15px;
margin-top: 30px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .subscribe-buybox {
background-color: #f3f3f3;
flex-shrink: 1;
flex-grow: 4;
flex-basis: 300px;
background-clip: content-box;
padding: 0 15px;
margin-top: 30px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .subscribe-buybox-nature-plus {
background-color: #f3f3f3;
flex-shrink: 1;
flex-grow: 4;
flex-basis: 100%;
background-clip: content-box;
padding: 0 15px;
margin-top: 30px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .title-readcube,
.BuyBoxSection .title-buybox {
display: block;
margin: 0;
margin-right: 10%;
margin-left: 10%;
font-size: 24px;
line-height: 32px;
color: #222;
text-align: center;
font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif;
}
.BuyBoxSection .title-asia-buybox {
display: block;
margin: 0;
margin-right: 5%;
margin-left: 5%;
font-size: 24px;
line-height: 32px;
color: #222;
text-align: center;
font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif;
}
.BuyBoxSection .asia-link,
.Link-328123652,
.Link-2926870917,
.Link-2291679238,
.Link-595459207 {
color: #069;
cursor: pointer;
text-decoration: none;
font-size: 1.05em;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 1.05em6;
}
.BuyBoxSection .access-readcube {
display: block;
margin: 0;
margin-right: 10%;
margin-left: 10%;
font-size: 14px;
color: #222;
padding-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 20px;
}
.BuyBoxSection ul {
margin: 0;
}
.BuyBoxSection .link-usp {
display: list-item;
margin: 0;
margin-left: 20px;
padding-top: 6px;
list-style-position: inside;
}
.BuyBoxSection .link-usp span {
font-size: 14px;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 20px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .access-asia-buybox {
display: block;
margin: 0;
margin-right: 5%;
margin-left: 5%;
font-size: 14px;
color: #222;
padding-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 20px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .access-buybox {
display: block;
margin: 0;
margin-right: 10%;
margin-left: 10%;
font-size: 14px;
color: #222;
opacity: 0.8px;
padding-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 20px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .price-buybox {
display: block;
font-size: 30px;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
padding-top: 30px;
text-align: center;
}
.BuyBoxSection .price-buybox-to {
display: block;
font-size: 30px;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
text-align: center;
}
.BuyBoxSection .price-info-text {
font-size: 16px;
padding-right: 10px;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
}
.BuyBoxSection .price-value {
font-size: 30px;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
}
.BuyBoxSection .price-per-period {
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
}
.BuyBoxSection .price-from {
font-size: 14px;
padding-right: 10px;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 20px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .issue-buybox {
display: block;
font-size: 13px;
text-align: center;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 19px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .no-price-buybox {
display: block;
font-size: 13px;
line-height: 18px;
text-align: center;
padding-right: 10%;
padding-left: 10%;
padding-bottom: 20px;
padding-top: 30px;
color: #222;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
}
.BuyBoxSection .vat-buybox {
display: block;
margin-top: 5px;
margin-right: 20%;
margin-left: 20%;
font-size: 11px;
color: #222;
padding-top: 10px;
padding-bottom: 15px;
text-align: center;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: 17px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .tax-buybox {
display: block;
width: 100%;
color: #222;
padding: 20px 16px;
text-align: center;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
line-height: NaNpx;
}
.BuyBoxSection .button-container {
display: flex;
padding-right: 20px;
padding-left: 20px;
justify-content: center;
}
.BuyBoxSection .button-container > * {
flex: 1px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .button-container > a:hover,
.Button-505204839:hover,
.Button-1078489254:hover,
.Button-2737859108:hover {
text-decoration: none;
}
.BuyBoxSection .btn-secondary {
background: #fff;
}
.BuyBoxSection .button-asia {
background: #069;
border: 1px solid #069;
border-radius: 0;
cursor: pointer;
display: block;
padding: 9px;
outline: 0;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
min-width: 80px;
margin-top: 75px;
}
.BuyBoxSection .button-label-asia,
.ButtonLabel-3869432492,
.ButtonLabel-3296148077,
.ButtonLabel-1636778223 {
display: block;
color: #fff;
font-size: 17px;
line-height: 20px;
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto,
Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, “Helvetica Neue”, sans-serif;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
cursor: pointer;
}
.Button-505204839,
.Button-1078489254,
.Button-2737859108 {
background: #069;
border: 1px solid #069;
border-radius: 0;
cursor: pointer;
display: block;
padding: 9px;
outline: 0;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
min-width: 80px;
max-width: 320px;
margin-top: 20px;
}
.Button-505204839 .btn-secondary-label,
.Button-1078489254 .btn-secondary-label,
.Button-2737859108 .btn-secondary-label {
color: #069;
}
.uList-2102244549 {
list-style: none;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
}
/* style specs end */

Additional access options:

Nature 641, 39 (2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01330-6

Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.

Related Articles

Subjects

Planetary science

Conservation biology

Latest on:

Planetary science More

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript. More

Trade tariffs imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump, along with retaliatory tariffs, could divert demand for soya-bean exports from the United States to South America. This could exacerbate deforestation in threatened biomes such as the Amazon and the Cerrado savannah.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests. More

Half a century of caddisfly casings (Trichoptera) with microplastic from natural history collectionsTiny particles of plastic are everywhere today, but a discovery in a museum collection proves that this isn’t a new phenomenon. While combing through drawers of caddisfly specimens, researchers found evidence of microplastic particles being used as a building material by caddisfly larvae as far back as the 1970s and 1980s. This shows that microplastics were present in rural freshwater streams long before scientists started studying them in earnest.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. More

Finspan Designers: David Gordon & Michael O’Connell; Artists: Ana María Martínez, Catalina Martínez & Mesa Schumacher Stonemaier Games (2025)
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests. More