ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

A groundbreaking study reveals that without birds and bees working together, some traveling thousands of miles, coffee farmers would see a whopping 25% drop in crop yields. Coffee is bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate coffee plants. The study is also the first to show, with real-world experiments, that the contributions of nature -- ie. from bees and birds -- are larger combined than their individual contributions. This suggests researchers may be underestimating how much the environment benefits society.

Scientists have shown for the first time the widespread harm caused in Peru by cutting down the palm tree Mauritia flexuosa in order to harvest its fruit. The scientists examined where and why the trees were felled, producing detailed maps and analysis to reveal the extent of the environmental and economic damage caused by cutting down the palms.