Permafrost soil in high latitude tundra is one of the largest terrestrial carbon (C) stocks and is highly sensitive to climate warming. Understanding microbial responses to warming‐induced environmental changes is critical to evaluating their influences on soil biogeochemical cycles. In this study, a functional gene array (i.e., geochip 4.2) was […]
1. Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These “fertile islands” are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale. 2. We […]
A significant fraction of the terrestrial biosphere comprises biomes containing tree–grass mixtures. Forecasting vegetation dynamics in these environments requires a thorough understanding of how trees and grasses use and compete for key belowground resources. There is disagreement about the extent to which tree–grass vertical root separation occurs in these ecosystems, […]
Functional traits, which usually develop over evolutionary time‐scales to maximize plant survivorship and functional performances in changing environment, are important indices to explore how ecosystems respond and adapt to a changing environment. Many ecologists have argued that identifying regional to global‐scale patterns in functional traits, at organismal to ecosystem scales, […]
The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society and the McAllister Program in Community, Culture, and Environment at Northern Arizona University invite proposals for student projects that enable the arts, cultural, scientific, and environmental institutions of the Colorado Plateau to meet the long term needs of the communities they serve. Full […]
Increasing wildfire activity in Alaska’s boreal forests has led to greater fuel reduction management. Management has been implemented to reduce wildfire spread, but the ecological impacts of these practices are poorly known. We quantified the effects of handthinning and shearblading on above- and belowground stand characteristics, plant species composition, carbon […]
Northern ecosystem processes play out across scales that are rare elsewhere on contemporary earth: large ranging predator–prey systems are still operational, invasive species are rare, and large-scale natural disturbances occur extensively. Disturbances in the far north affect huge areas of land and are difficult to control or manage. Historically, disturbance […]
Increased fire severity in boreal forests of Interior Alaska is shifting forest canopy composition from black spruce (Picea mariana) to deciduous species, including trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and Alaska paper birch (Betula neoalaskana). Because deciduous trees are less flammable than black spruce, the dominant disturbance regime in deciduous forests could […]
Rising global temperatures and CO2 levels are increasing the amount of global-warming methane (the flaming red molecule depicted here) produced by rice farming: with more CO2 in the air to pull in for photosynthesis, rice plants grow faster and supply soil microbes with more sugars seeped from their roots. In […]
Management of forests for carbon uptake is an important tool in the effort to slow the increase in atmospheric CO2 and global warming. However, some current policies governing forest carbon credits actually promote avoidable CO2 release and punish actions that would increase long-term carbon storage. In fire-prone forests, management that […]