Leaf Senescence: More Than a Color Show
Leaves change colors during the fall as part of a process called leaf senescence. Why is this process important, and what causes it?
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forests
Is the Bark Stronger Than the Bite? The Use of Models to Predict Bark Beetle-Induced Tree Mortality
Bark beetles can cause widespread tree mortality by disrupting the flow of water and nutrients. These trees are critical in sequestering carbon from greenhouse gas emissions. By accounting for beetle phenology as well as tree physiology, modeling can help predict bark-beetle induced tree mortality that can result from climate change.
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The Forest of Drunken Trees
Black spruce forests in northern regions are tipping over. A new study seeks to understand why, and uncovers the role climate change plays in tilting trees.
Read moreDead and Gone? – The loss of decaying wood communities in urban forests
Forests are beautiful. From flourishing plants to tranquil wildlife to decaying logs, all parts are beautiful, vital, and connected. Dead logs are responsible for maintaining a healthy forest thanks to teams of fungi and wood-dependent insects inside. These organisms break down plant material to add nutrients back to the ecosystem. Forests are essential for human health and well-being, but human disturbance could threaten these ecosystems. To keep our forests healthy and beautiful, we depend on these decomposers, but can they rely on us?
Read moreIf a Forest Burns in a Fire, Does it Return to Normal?
“When a forest burns in a wildfire, should we expect it to return as it was before?” Research scientist, Jonathan
Read moreThe Forest-Fungi Loop
The ground under our feet might have more say in the landscape than we realize– researchers are studying the feedback loops between fungi and trees.
Read moreIndigenous Fire Practices Work
“Fire exclusion policies forced California Indian communities and forest managers to curtail their routine cultural and prescribed burning practices. Despite these policies, Karuk and Yurok basketweavers retained their knowledge, maintained their practices and, most importantly, developed several innovative techniques to replicate fire’s effects on hazelnut to produce essential basketry materials.” (Marks-Block 2019)
Read moreFriend or foe? Invasive earthworms can benefit agriculture but harm forests
Earthworms are welcome guests in the garden, but it’s a different story in the forest. By consuming and removing leaf litter too fast they set in motion complex cascades of ecological changes, with long-term negative effects on soil fertility and biodiversity.
Read moreAvoiding A Problem: Spineless Critters Signalling Trouble For Plants?
Spineless creatures are fleeing, alerting scientists to an unseen problem. The avoidance behavior of soil worms and insects could provide a fast and easy method for scientists to screen chemicals for plant toxicity.
Read moreSeeking Ferns, Finding Worms
In the midst of an earthworm invasion, researchers created models to find a rare fern. This helps us to better understand how to protect threatened, endangered, and sensitive plants in a changing world.
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