Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) caused greater accumulation of carbon (C) and nutrients in both vegetation and O horizons over a 5-yr sampling period in a scrub oak ecosystem in Florida. Elevated CO2 had no effect on any measured soil property except extractable phosphorus (P), which was lower with elevated CO2 […]
The link between lineage and behavior has inspired research across the spectrum of life. For plants and animals, genetically close cousins tend to act in similar ways. Finches, for example, eat seeds, while swallows eat insects. For bacteria, however, the question is up for debate. Does evolutionary history predict how […]
Amidst a network of tunnels and pores, soil organisms recycle carbon and nutrients. They mix plant litter and detritus, causing changes in soil structure that can ultimately influence the amount of water and oxygen available for plant roots. They are also eaten by aboveground predators, providing direct connections between below-and […]
1. Exotic species threaten native species worldwide, but their impacts are difficult to predict. 2.Stable isotope analysis was combined with field competition experiments to predict how an invasive African cichlid fish, Hemichromis guttatus, might affect native fish in the desert springs of Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico. 3.Stable isotope analysis suggested diet overlap between […]
Retail poultry products are known sources of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli, a major human health concern. Consumers have a range of choices for poultry, including conventional, organic, kosher, and raised without antibiotics (RWA) – designations that are perceived to indicate differences in quality and safety. However, whether these categories vary in the frequency of […]
Soil is the largest reservoir of organic carbon (C) in the terrestrial biosphere and soil C has a relatively long mean residence time. Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations generally increase plant growth and C input to soil, suggesting that soil might help mitigate atmospheric CO2 rise and global warming. […]
We determined the response of terrestrial methane (CH4) uptake to 4 years of full-factorial manipulations of precipitation and temperature in four ecosystems along a 50 km warm and dry to cold and wet climatic gradient (desert grassland, pinyon-juniper woodland, ponderosa pine forest, and mixed conifer forest). Our goals were to determine whether […]
The effects of elevated CO2 on ecosystem element stocks are equivocal, in part because cumulative effects of CO2 on element pools are difficult to detect. We conducted a complete above and belowground inventory of non-nitrogen macro- and micronutrient stocks in a subtropical woodland exposed to twice-ambient CO2 concentrations for 11 […]
While short-term plant responses to global change are driven by physiological mechanisms, which are represented relatively well by models, long-term ecosystem responses to global change may be determined by shifts in plant community structure resulting from other ecological phenomena such as interspecific interactions, which are represented poorly by models. In […]
Studies focusing on seasonal dynamics of microbial communities in terrestrial and marine environments are common; however, little is known about seasonal dynamics in high-temperature environments. Thus, our objective was to document the seasonal dynamics of both the physicochemical conditions and the microbial communities inhabiting hot springs in Tengchong County, Yunnan […]