Clouds and aerosols increase the fraction of global solar irradiance that is diffuse light. This phenomenon is known to increase the photosynthetic light use efficiency (LUE) of closed-canopy vegetation by redistributing photosynthetic photon flux density (400–700 nm) from saturated, sunlit leaves at the top of the canopy, to shaded leaves […]
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 […]
Over the last two decades, satellite-derived estimates of biophysical variables have been increasingly used in operational services, requiring quantification of their accuracy and uncertainty. Evaluating satellite-derived vegetation products is challenging due to their moderate spatial resolution, the heterogeneity of the terrestrial landscape, and difficulties in adequately characterising spatial and temporal […]
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 […]
Uptake of anthropogenically emitted carbon (C) dioxide by terrestrial ecosystem is critical for determining future climate. However, Earth system models project large uncertainties in future C storage. To help identify sources of uncertainties in model predictions, this study develops a transient traceability framework to trace components of C storage dynamics. […]
Antibiotic‐resistant pathogens increasingly threaten human health. Widespread application of antibiotics to animal populations raised for food, including chickens, cattle, and pigs, selects for resistance and contributes to the evolution of those pathogens. Despite a half century of research establishing the mechanisms and pathways by which antibiotic‐resistant bacteria spread from food […]
At the global scale, the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by terrestrial ecosystems through photosynthesis is commonly estimated through vegetation indices or biophysical properties derived from optical remote sensing data. Microwave observations of vegetated areas are sensitive to different components of the vegetation layer than observations in the optical domain […]
As leaves are the basic elements of plants that conduct photosynthesis and transpiration, vegetation leaf dynamics controls canopy physical and biogeochemical processes and hence largely influences the interactive exchanges of energy and materials between the land surface and the atmosphere. Given that the processes of plant leaf allocation is highly […]
Findings of a new study organized by the Permafrost Carbon Network suggest that putting more effective greenhouse gas controls in place for the rest of this century could help mitigate the effects of climate change on the release of carbon from thawing soils of the northern permafrost region. Ecoss’ Research […]
A new paper by Northern Arizona University professor Andrew Richardson published in the journal Scientific Data describes a vast network of digital cameras designed to capture millions of images documenting seasonal changes of vegetation across North America. The network, dubbed PhenoCam, is the result of a 10-year collaboration between Richardson, who […]