TERRER LAB
In the news
Selected media coverage, interviews and recognition of the lab’s work.
COMIC
The Nature Conservancy turned the study into a comic
TNC illustrated our seed-dispersal findings for a general audience — how animals carry seeds into cleared land, what happens as wildlife disappears, and why natural regrowth stores far less carbon without them.
Published on Instagram by @nature_org. Swipe through the panels in the embed, or open the post →
On Fricke et al., PNAS (2025)
Coverage
From coral reefs to songbirds, the natural world is losing its colour
“Heat and drought raise the atmosphere’s ‘thirst,’ forcing plants to close their stomata. This shuts down photosynthesis, chlorophyll breaks down, canopies thin, and at large scales, forests lose their greenness — often an early warning sign of deeper ecological change.”
BBC Wildlife Magazine
Animals that spread seeds are critical for climate solutions
Mongabay
on Fricke et al., PNAS (2025)
Climate mitigation depends on seed-dispersing wildlife
The Nature Conservancy — Cool Green Science
on Fricke et al., PNAS (2025)
3 Questions: Exploring the limits of carbon sequestration
MIT News
César Terrer receives NSF CAREER Award for climate-mitigation research
MIT Civil & Environmental Engineering
Study finds lands used for grazing can worsen or help climate change
MIT News
on Ren et al., Nature Climate Change (2024)
Study finds lands used for grazing can worsen or help climate change
MIT Civil & Environmental Engineering
on Ren et al., Nature Climate Change (2024)
Lands used for grazing can worsen or help climate change
Phys.org
on Ren et al., Nature Climate Change (2024)
Faculty spotlight: César Terrer
MIT Civil & Environmental Engineering
Greta Thunberg shared the study with her followers
“…people were suggesting planting trees in natural grasslands, savannah, and tundra. I think that would be a terrible mistake because, as our results imply, there is a very large potential to increase soil carbon storage in grasslands.” — quoting César in The Guardian
Greta Thunberg
on Terrer et al., Nature (2021)
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One of Earth’s giant carbon sinks may have been overestimated
The Guardian
on Terrer et al., Nature (2021)
One of Earth’s biggest carbon sinks has been overestimated
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
on Terrer et al., Nature (2021)
La conservación de los bosques y los ecosistemas naturales, la llave para combatir el cambio climático
La Sexta (Spain)
Climate models overestimate how much carbon forests can store
Earth.com
on Terrer et al., Nature (2021)
Nature-based Solutions Initiative
A trade-off between plant and soil carbon storage under elevated CO₂
Nature-based Solutions Initiative
on Terrer et al., Nature (2021)
There’s Something You Must Know About Trees And Their Role in Climate Change
ScienceAlert
on Terrer et al., Nature Climate Change (2019)
How Forests Pay Dividends
“In a new study, we found that by the end of the century, substantial plant growth could help sequester fossil-fuel emissions — if we protect our forests.”
Scientific American
Written by Rob Jackson & César Terrer
on Terrer et al., Nature Climate Change (2019)
La Verdad (Spain)
Más árboles para enfriar el planeta
La Verdad (Spain)
on Terrer et al., Nature Climate Change (2019)
EurekAlert! (AAAS) — Stanford
Stanford-led study gauges trees’ potential to slow global warming in the future
EurekAlert! (AAAS) — Stanford
on Terrer et al., Nature Climate Change (2019)
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Study: Fungus Helps Plants Soak Up Carbon Dioxide
KNAU Arizona Public Radio
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
Plants’ ability to slow climate change depends on their fungi
Imperial College London
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
Microbes, nitrogen and plant responses to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide
Phys.org
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
EurekAlert! (AAAS) — Indiana University
Study finds that plant growth responses to high carbon dioxide depend on symbiotic fungi
EurekAlert! (AAAS) — Indiana University
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
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IIASA
Root fungi affect rate of climate change
IIASA
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
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Can fungi and trees, working together, slow climate change?
Yale Environment Review
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
Atlas of Science
Nitrogen limitation of CO₂ fertilization: relief from fungal partners
Atlas of Science
on Terrer et al., Science (2016)
Writing about our work? Contact César Terrer — we are happy to talk to journalists.