Ecosystems – Page 2 – envirobites

The total costs of land conservation includes costs of acquisition, maintenance, preservation, logistics, and sometimes litigation. Many time, these costs have been far above what was budgeted for them, partly due to flawed methods of estimating those costs in the first place. New mapping techniques show first, the flaws in these methods, and second, the potential to estimate the actual costs far more accurately. This will allow for more efficient planning, and a lower likelihood of conservation projects encountering unexpected costs.

Ecosystems Environmental Science

From the mountaintops to the streams: Mountaintop removal mining threatens salamander populations

October 26, 2020October 25, 2020 Sarah Shainker 0 Comments amphibians, coal, freshwater, mining, mountaintop removal, salamanders, streams

Primary article: Hutton, J.M et al. Occupancy and abundance of stream salamanders along a specific conductance gradient. Freshwater Science. 2020.

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science

Blue Carbon and Green Kelp: Kelp forests could reduce carbon emissions

October 9, 2020February 9, 2021 Elisabeth Lang 0 Comments blue carbon, Climate Change, kelp forests

Blue carbon is the carbon that is stored within marine ecosystems. It is being used more frequently within global carbon budgets, which are calculated to help us reduce climate change. Historically, only tidal marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds have been used in calculating stored carbon for carbon budgets. A team of researchers from Norway wanted to see if kelp forests could significantly contribute to carbon storage. They studied the kelp forests along Australia’s southern coast and found their storage potential to be similar to that of the other historically used ecosystems. Conserving and restoring kelp forests could therefore increase carbon storage and help reduce climate change.

Ecosystems Environmental Science Remote Environments

Some Soil Microbes Don’t Mind Our Camping Trips

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 Brianne Palmer 0 Comments Arizona, camping, desert, microbial ecology, soil microbes

Have you ever thought about the microorganisms living under your tent while you’re camping? It may seem like setting up the tent and trampling all over the campsite may harm the organisms that live in the soil but new study in the Arizona savanna turns that idea on its head. Read on to learn about camping resistant plants, microbes, and resiliency of this awesome ecosystem.

Cities Ecosystems Environmental Science Remediation

From Food Waste to Roadways: Using Compost to Improve Soil Conditions and Tree Success Along Highways

October 5, 2020December 28, 2020 Jenna Zukswert 0 Comments cities, Compost, food waste, Soil, tree planting

Planting trees along highway roadsides is a good way to increase tree coverage in cities, but getting trees to grow here and maintaining these plantings over time can be difficult. Reducing soil compaction and adding organic material, such as compost, can improve roadside soils and support tree growth in these areas. A 5-year study in Ontario recently found that loosening up the soil and mixing in 10-25% food waste compost relative to soil can help improve tree growth along roadsides, possibly reducing the need to follow up and maintain these trees over time.

Animal behavior Cities Ecosystems

Life in the City – Humans alter city habitats for plants and animals

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 Brandi Pessman 0 Comments adaptation, cities, disturbance, urbanization

Cites are ecosystems, just like a forest, desert, and prairie are ecosystems. As human populations grow and move to urban areas, cities expand into other ecosystems. Plants and animals must adjust to the rapid changes that result. Humans are the biggest threat to organisms, but why are cities challenging environments for plants and animals? Let’s learn more about one of the largest and growing ecosystems on land… cities!

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science

In otter news: Disappearing otters and climate change spell double trouble for reefs

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 Jeannie Wilkening 0 Comments Climate Change, kelp forests, keystone species, sea otters, urchins

As many people know, sea otters are great at being adorable. But do sea otters also play an important role in combating the impacts of climate change? In this study, scientists looked at how the loss of sea otters might be making reefs more susceptible to climate change.

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science Science through time

When Fire and Water Collide: Looking to Lakes to Understand Fire’s Deep Past

September 27, 2020September 27, 2020 Sienna Wessel 0 Comments Climate Change, fire regime, paleolimnology, radiocarbon dating, wildfires

As I woke up this morning, I learned that a wildfire raging in our local forest had grown to nearly 70,000 acres. A mixture of emotions subsequently flooded in, combining thoughts of concern with questions about how climate change is altering wildfire patterns. In order for scientists and land managers to better predict wildfire outbreaks and to understand the role that climate plays in their behavior, they must first examine the fire history of an area over a long period of time—longer than recorded history. Charcoal and pollen deposits in lake sediments may be able to provide answers to the mysteries of fire’s deep past. Read on to hear about this interesting approach and how one study of lake sediments mapped out 1.5 million years of fire history in China.

Animal behavior Ecosystems Environmental Science Remote Environments

Fear the dead: Animal carcasses attract life and death for the wider food web

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Andrew Abraham 0 Comments

On the 26th August 2016, as storm clouds gather above the alpine plateau of Hardangervidda in southcentral Norway, a herd of wild tundra reindeer grouped together for protection. A split second later, in a moment of miserable luck, the herd fell to the ground dead, having been struck by a bolt of lightning. Norwegian ecologists took this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study how the mass die-off of 323 reindeer has since impacted the local ecology and food web.