Phenology is the study of recurring events in nature and their relationships with climate. The word derives from the Greek phaínō ‘appear’ and logos ‘reason’, emphasizing the focus on observing events and understanding why they occur (Demarée and Rutishauser 2009). Phenological recording has a history that dates back many centuries […]
Boreal forests are facing profound changes in their growth environment, including warming-induced water deficits, extended growing seasons, accelerated snowmelt, and permafrost thaw. The influence of warming on trees varies regionally, but in most boreal forests studied to date, tree growth has been found to be negatively affected by increasing temperatures. […]
Climate change is impacting forested ecosystems worldwide, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere where warming has increased at a faster rate than the rest of the globe. As climate warms, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is expected to become more successful in northern boreal forests because of its current presence in drier […]
Hydraulic limitations to tree height can be mitigated by widening the conducting elements toward a tree’s base. However, size limits of tracheid and vessel dimensions may constrain this compensation mechanism as the water transport pathway elongates. Moreover, variation in conduit size is poorly described in tall trees even though their […]
Wildfire is the dominant disturbance in boreal forests and fire activity is increasing in these regions. Soil fungal communities are important for plant growth and nutrient cycling postfire but there is little understanding of how fires impact fungal communities across landscapes, fire severity gradients, and stand types in boreal forests. […]
“Today I am taking the flux puppy for a walk at @HarvardForest to measure stem respiration,” NAU postdoctoral researcher Tim Rademacher recently tweeted. With it, a photo of a small white chamber fastened to a tree trunk (think half Dixie cup, half electrode) and hooked at the other end to […]
Congratulations to Lissy Enright (MS, Biology) for winning 3rd place overall at the 3 Minute Research Presentation Southwest regionals this past weekend at the University of Nevada, Reno! Lissy advanced to the regionals by taking 3rd and Best Slide (in collaboration with Victor Leshyk) at the NAU 3MRP competition in […]
Mulching techniques have been widely used in dryland regions in northern China. It is necessary to develop water-saving cultivation techniques in irrigation regions in northern China to relieve water scarcity. Planting and mulching on separate rows has been widely used to improve wheat yield and involves a pattern of a […]
Ecoss graduate student Ali Martinez and a team of ecologists including her advisor Marks, Ecoss researchers Ben Koch and Zasha Welsh, Alex Flecker (Cornell University) and Steve Thomas (University of Nebraska) constructed a system of miniature streams whose temperatures Martinez can manipulate. The team studies how nutrients will move in […]
The continuously increasing concentration of atmospheric CO2 has considerably altered ecosystem functioning. However, few studies have examined the long-term (i.e. over a decade) effect of elevated CO2 on soil microbial communities. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicons and a GeoChip microarray, we investigated soil microbial communities from a Californian annual grassland […]