Biochar, a fine-grained carbon residue of charred plant material, has recently been promoted as a universal amendment to soil to improve moisture and nutrient content with the expectation of higher agricultural yields, fostering the rise of a large global biochar industry. In the original context of “terra preta,” the rich […]
Ecoss research demonstrated that grasslands with more diverse plant species pull down and store more carbon per acre: in this illustration, the same plot of soil from a diverse vs. depauperate grassland shows more belowground investment in deeper roots and denser storage of carbon in a diverse array of plants. […]
In a groundbreaking study, Ecoss research produced a monetary value for biodiversity by demonstrating that having more diverse plant species enables a grassland to draw down and store more carbon. This finding allows calculations of how much carbon storage is lost or gained per species added or lost from a […]
Measuring the growth rates of individual bacteria taxa within a mixed sample gives a powerful view of the moving parts of a living ecosystem, especially when that sample is soil, where so many ecological processes occur. Ecoss research pioneered “qSIP” — a new method for gathering many simultaneous bacterial growth […]
Native soil carbon (C) can be lost in response to fresh C inputs, via the “priming effect,” a phenomenon observed for decades yet still not understood. Using dual-stable isotope probing, Ecoss research showed that priming involves changes in the diversity and composition of two functional bacterial groups: a single-substrate pulse […]
The mass emergence of metamorphosed aquatic insect larvae as airborne adults provides an important seasonal pulse of prey biomass to many aquatic ecosystems. Ecoss research explored whether the type and quality of leaf litter on which these aquatic larvae feed makes a difference in the types and proportions of various […]
Pollution scenarios and anthropogenic warming are familiar examples of human-caused stress on the environment. But human-driven loss of biodiversity itself robs ecosystems of essential players and services, damaging ecosystem function. Ecoss research examined the effects of various environmental stressors on plant growth and decomposition, two crucial processes in any ecosystem. […]
Researchers at Ecoss helped to uncover a potent offset to carbon “drawdown” by plants: with more CO2 available to fuel photosynthesis in the air above, soil microbes consume more sugars oozing from the roots of the faster-growing plants and increase their own greenhouse-gas emissions during respiration. These emissions offset the […]
Albedo, the reflectance of sunlight from earth’s surface, is an important moderator of climate because it determines whether solar energy is locally absorbed or re-radiated to space. Ecoss-associated research characterized the albedo and other energy fluxes of various landscapes to demonstrate that human land-use decisions can alter surface energy fluxes […]
The latest Ecoss artistic product, “The Ascent of Sap Rap”, by George Koch and students from his “Plants and Climate” class. View the full video here. See lyrics below: For plants on terra firma it’s a struggle to stay wet We’ve talked a bit about it, but you may not […]