September starts strong with publications in two leading Nature Portfolio journals
We have entered September with an article and a comment published in two highly prestigious Nature Portfolio journals.
A full research article led by João Serra has been published in Nature Sustainability, one of the leading international journals focusing on sustainability science. The study, Global analysis of nitrogen inputs from irrigation water to cropland, provides a data-driven assessment of nitrogen supplied unintentionally through irrigation water. Based on more than 1,300 field observations and global machine-learning upscaling, the researchers estimate that irrigation contributes around 14 Tg of nitrogen per year to croplands globally – equivalent to about 13% of synthetic fertiliser use. The findings highlight irrigation water as an overlooked component of agricultural nitrogen budgets, with implications for nitrogen-use efficiency and more integrated management of water and nutrients.
At the same time, Fabian D. Schneider has published a Comment in Nature Geoscience, a leading journal in Earth and environmental sciences. In The satellite revolution for monitoring forest ecosystems needs knowledge integration, Schneider discusses how the rapidly expanding use of satellite observations can transform the monitoring of forest ecosystems. The comment highlights that the key challenge is increasingly not a lack of observations, but integrating satellite data with field observations, experiments and models to better understand ecosystem resilience, guide recovery and address interconnected biodiversity and climate challenges.
Together, these publications showcase the scientific excellence of the researchers at Land-CRAFT and underline the centre’s contribution to international research discussions on sustainable land-use futures.