Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (bGDGTs) are membrane-spanning lipids that likely stabilize membranes of some bacteria. Although bGDGTs have been reported previously in certain geothermal environments, it has been suggested that they may derive from surrounding soils since bGDGTs are known to be produced by soil bacteria. To test the […]
Effects of riparian vegetation on fluvial sediment dynamics depend on morphological traits of the constituent species. Determining the effects of different morphological guilds on sedimentation rates, as influenced by multiple aspects of dam operations, can help identify viable strategies for streamflow and vegetation management to achieve riparian resource goals. Plants […]
Plants store nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs), such as sugars and starch, to use as carbon and energy sources for daily maintenance and growth needs as well as during times of stress. Allocation of NSCs to storage provides an important physiological strategy associated with future growth and survival, and thus understanding the […]
The research team, led by Bradley Butterfield from NAU’s Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss) and including Scott Anderson from the School of Earth and Sustainability, found that a plant’s evolutionary build—its growth form (tree vs. shrub) and how its seeds are dispersed—are strong predictors of how quickly it […]
Organic carbon stored in high-latitude permafrost represents a potential positive feedback to climate warming as well as a valuable store of paleoenvironmental information. The below-freezing conditions have effectively removed permafrost organic material from the modern carbon cycle and preserved its pre-freezing bulk and molecular states. The conditions that lead to […]
Plant functional traits research has revealed many interesting and important patterns among morphological, physiological, and life-history traits and the environment. These are exemplified in trade-offs between groups of traits such as those embodied in the leaf and wood economics spectra. Inferences from empirical studies are often constrained by the correlative […]
Despite the importance of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) for growth and survival in woody plants, we know little about whole-tree NSC storage. The conventional theory suggests that NSC reserves will increase over the growing season and decrease over the dormant season. Here, we compare storage in five temperate tree species to […]
Plant phenology is a sensitive indicator of the effects of global change on terrestrial ecosystems and controls the timing of key ecosystem functions including photosynthesis and transpiration. Aerial drone imagery and photogrammetric techniques promise to advance the study of phenology by enabling the creation of distortion-free orthomosaics of plant canopies […]
A brand new staff member at Northern Arizona University’s Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Leshyk’s charge is to use the power of art to help interpret and communicate science produced by the center’s researchers as well as others at the university. It’s a unique opportunity to highlight fascinating science that […]
Ready to climb a California coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), to sample branches for fungi. In this issue, Harrison et al. delved into a largely unexplored reservoir of fungal diversity—the forest canopy—using a high-throughput sequence-based approach to characterize the composition of the fungal community at different heights within the crowns of […]