Conserving native ecosystems helps sequester carbon and mitigate climate change, but new statistical modeling questions the permanence of California’s carbon-rich forests with climate change.
Plant ecology
Posted inResearch Spotlights
In Vegetation Growth Studies, What You Measure Matters
Different satellite-based metrics for global vegetation coverage tell complementary, but not identical, stories.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Hardwood Forest Soils Are Sinks for Plant-Produced Volatiles
New research identifies temperature, moisture, and soil fungi as important factors in influencing how biogenic volatile organic compounds cycle between plants and the atmosphere.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Reforestation as a Local Cooling Mechanism
Reforestation has been shown to cool surface temperatures, and a novel study suggests it may also reduce air temperature up to several stories above the ground.
Posted inNews
Climate Change Will Reduce Spanish Olive Oil Production
Increased droughts will reduce southern Spain’s olive oil output by 30% before the end of the century.
Posted inNews
Early Sprouting of Leaves Enhances Northern Hemisphere Warming
As leaf out has been advancing 4–5 days per decade, scientists say the effect of vegetation on climate remains poorly understood.
Posted inNews
New England Forests Were Historically Shaped by Climate, Not People
A first-of-its-kind study combining paleoecology and archeology indicates that the New England landscape was not actively managed with fire prior to European arrival.
Posted inNews
Iconic Palms Add to Fire Danger in Southern California
As fires burn across Southern California, researchers examine what role nonnative vegetation plays.
Posted inNews
The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall
New research tracking 1.8 million trees found that tall trees died at more than twice the rate of smaller ones toward the end of extreme and persistent drought.
Posted inNews
Foretelling Forest Death from Above
A satellite-based early-warning signal may spot the start of a forest’s decline and give forest managers more time to save its life.