Earth Day, an annual event to show support for the protection of the Earth and what’s living on it, is almost upon us. Under the motto ‘Our power, our planet,’ more than one billion people will come together on 22 April to raise awareness and advocate for the health of the planet, air, oceans, soil, ecosystems, wildlife, and humans.

To celebrate, we’re highlighting five recently published Frontiers articles on energy, ecosystems, and the environment.

Strategic placement of solar panels essential to protect health of ecosystems

Renewable energy is firmly established as one of the surest ways to combat the climate crisis. Many countries have expanded their renewable energy portfolio.

But just because solar power stations can be built everywhere, it doesn’t automatically mean they should be built everywhere. In a recent Frontiers in Plant Science article, researchers in China assessed the impacts of large solar power plants on ecological responses in arid and humid regions.

The results showed that in arid regions, the impact of these stations was negligible, and did not disturb vegetation greenness. Arid ecosystems, characterized by inherently low greenness, may be more adaptable to solar energy development due to resistant vegetation. In contrast, in regions where it rains more, the researchers found that vegetation greenness declined rapidly. This might be because the high vegetation cover is prone to environmental disturbances. The researchers cautioned that future development should consider the delicate balance between ecological conservation and energy transition.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1549519/full

Great white sharks disappeared. The ecosystem was never the same.

Sharks are some of the ocean’s highest-level predators and their presence – or absence – has cascading consequences for all inhabitants of the marine ecosystem.

In a newly published Frontiers in Marine Science article, an international team of researchers described a chain reaction of ecosystem changes after great white sharks disappeared from False Bay in South Africa.

Data covering more than 20 years shows a steady decline in shark observations and their ultimate disappearance at False Bay. The exact reason is unclear, but it could be the result of lethal shark control programs or other top predators hunting white sharks.

After their disappearance other animals flourished or declined. For example, seal observations sky-rocketed, resulting in a 520% increase, while the abundance of Cape horse mackerel, a fish the seals feed on, decreased by 44% during the summer, when they are most abundant in False Bay. Similarly, other species further down in the food chain decreased, leaving behind a forever-changed ecosystem of predators and prey.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1530362/full

Wetlands could act as geo-archives for microplastic pollution

Peatlands are the most widespread type of wetland globally. They form when plants and plant particles decay under water saturation. As they store massive amounts of carbon, they play a vital role in carbon cycling. Like all ecosystems, peatlands have been impacted by microplastics.

Writing in Frontiers in Earth Science, an international team of researchers gathered the existing data on the occurrence, deposition, and distribution of microplastics in peatlands. Collecting this data helped to assess the potential of peatlands to act as natural archives of microplastic pollution.

The results suggest that peatlands could be an ideal choice for documenting accumulation and deposition rates of microplastic particles in different time intervals. Especially peatlands which are supplied by nutrients solely by rainfall could act as efficient atmospheric microplastic deposition collectors. Yet, field studies on the capabilities of peatlands to retain microplastics are limited, and further research is needed, also to determine if using microplastics found in these environments can be used to date peat samples, the researchers wrote.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2025.1514255/full

Green iguanas invaded Florida, a move that might put local animals in danger

Green iguanas are native to South and Central America. Since 1966, however, the lizards which typically grow up to 1.7 meters long, have expanded their range to include Florida. There they occupy both rural and urban environments.

In this new range, they can cause damage to homes, infrastructure, agriculture, and the natural environment. Unlike other invasive species, green iguanas in Florida aren’t thoroughly researched. In a recently published Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Sciences article, scientists in the US compiled information of green iguanas’ potential to cause conflicts with their surroundings.

They found green iguanas’ impact on natural areas to be multifold: they can defoliate trees, including mangroves, that are essential to buffer winds during floods. They also eat plants native insects need for food and to deposit their eggs. Iguanas have also been observed occupying burrows of gopher tortoises and burrowing owls, both endangered species. Further determining the impacts of iguana presence is necessary to improve management, the researchers noted.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/amphibian-and-reptile-science/articles/10.3389/famrs.2025.1529065/full

Dust blown to the Arctic from thousands of kilometers away could shape polar climate

The Earth is full of dust. It can come from particles from its surface, like soil organic matter, pollen, or algae, but also from synthetic sources, such as fertilizers and microplastics. Aeolian dust refers to particles that are light enough to be carried by wind, but heavy enough to be deposited by sedimentation.

Writing in Frontiers in Environmental Science, an international team of researchers reviewed studies that document the changes dust can exert on northern high latitudes and the Arctic environment.

Among the various ways that dust can affect ecosystems, it can modify atmospheric conditions, radiation, clouds, and precipitation, mechanisms that have direct and indirect effects on the Arctic climate. Next to impacting the climate, dust can supply macro- and micronutrients to marine, freshwater, and land ecosystems and alter the acidity of surface water, the reviewers wrote.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1536395/full

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