Nematodes thrive in the Atacama Desert, reshaping ideas about life in extreme dryness

A University of Cologne–led study published in Nature Communications finds a diverse nematode community in soils across six sites in the Atacama Desert, the world's driest non-polar desert, with 21 families and 36 genera; higher precipitation correlates with greater biodiversity, and asexual reproduction appears to aid survival in high-altitude areas, though some regions show simplified food webs, offering insights into life’s resilience in extreme aridity amid climate-change context.