plant communities – envirobites

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Buried Alive: How Plants Bounce Back from Volcanic Debris

July 7, 2022January 30, 2023 Julia Bebout 0 Comments Ecology, forest succession, plant communities, volcano

When a volcano erupts, what happens to plants growing nearby? Some are buried by volcanic tephra, dust and rocks thrown into the air by the volcano. Amazingly, newly published results suggest that this might not kill the plant community under the debris.

Animal behavior Climate Ecosystems

Alpine Plants May Struggle for Pollination as Climate Warms

February 7, 2022January 30, 2023 Julia Bebout 0 Comments alpine, bees, Climate Change, flies, flowers, Global Warming, plant communities, plant-pollinator interactions, pollinators, species interactions

Climate warming is likely to change how plants and pollinators interact in mountain ecosystems, with possible consequences for biodiversity.

Ecosystems Environmental Science Remediation

Leaving a Legacy: Plants leave “memories” in the soil that can affect future generations

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 Sienna Wessel 0 Comments environmental health, fungi, plant communities, plant-microbe association, Restoration, soil microbes

It’s easy to drive by grasslands, forests, and deserts without thinking too deeply about how and why they have developed to be unique from one another. Still, most of us have an intuition of how community drivers work, such as recognizing that sandy soils and very hot climates encourage the growth of cacti instead of oaks. As an ecologist that has done a lot of work with restoration projects, I am particularly interested in thinking about all of the environmental “ingredients” that go into the recipe for each unique plant community. The day that I found out that plants can leave “memories” in soil which change communities long term, I immediately began thinking about how we could harness this knowledge for good and whether or not humans play a role in the development of these legacies.

Ecosystems Environmental Science Human Exposure and Public Health

Could We “Dilute” Disease by Protecting Biodiversity?

April 28, 2020April 29, 2020 Sienna Wessel 0 Comments biodiversity, disease, ecosystem health, ecosystem services, plant communities, plant diversity

So you are a passionate conservation activist distracted in the time of global pandemic- perhaps you haven’t had the mental space to prioritize biodiversity protection in your ever growing laundry list of pressing societal issues. What if I told you that the preservation of biodiversity could have the potential to check off a few items on that list- including disease impact? Read on to hear how science has worked tirelessly to determine if diversity can actually “dilute” disease in a variety of organisms, ending with a new comprehensive study that looks at this effect in plants.

Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science

Where have all the flowers gone? Climate change is driving the loss of forbs and diversity in Californian grasslands

March 7, 2020March 7, 2020 Sienna Wessel 0 Comments biodiversity, Climate Change, drought, Ecology, plant communities

Science predicts that climate change will disrupt many natural processes and cycles and there is ever increasing media coverage regarding expectations for Earth’s future under these pressures. Yet there is little popular discussion about how plant communities will be impacted by these changes despite the fact that they represent the first level of the food web, support entire ecosystems of species, and contain one of the only organisms that can capture free energy to produce life. Understanding the ways that these communities are changing and will change in the future is crucially important to seeing the full picture of how climate change will re-shape life as we know it.