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Categories: Energy: Batteries, Environmental: Ecosystems

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Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Climate change will see Australia's soil emit CO2 and add to global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has shown the warming climate will turn Australia's soil into a net emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), unless action is taken. Soil helps to keep the planet cool by absorbing carbon, however as the climate gets warmer its ability to retain carbon decreases -- and in some instances can start to release some carbon back into the air. A global research team has predicted the changes in the amount of carbon in Australia's soil between now and the year 2100.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General
Published

Seeing the forest for the trees: Species diversity is directly correlated with productivity in eastern U.S. forests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When officials make tough calls on which areas to prioritize for conservation, biodiversity is often their top consideration. But there are several types of diversity, and not all of them overlap perfectly. In a new study, researchers analyzed 20-years' worth of U.S. Forest Service data and show that the simplest measure of diversity is the best predictor of healthy forest growth, providing a roadmap for quickly and efficiently protecting ecological resources.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Global study of coastal seas as carbon dioxide reservoirs      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Coastal seas form a complex transition zone between the two largest CO2 sinks in the global carbon cycle: land and ocean. Ocean researchers have now succeeded for the first time in investigating the role of the coastal ocean in a seamless model representation.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Better phosphorus use can ensure its stocks last more than 500 years and boost global food production      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

More efficient use of phosphorus could see limited stocks of the important fertilizer last more than 500 years and boost global food production to feed growing populations. But these benefits will only happen if countries are less wasteful with how they use phosphorus, a study shows. Around 30-40 per cent of farm soils have over-applications of phosphorus, with European and North American countries over-applying the most.

Chemistry: General Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology
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New all-liquid iron flow battery for grid energy storage      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new iron-based aqueous flow battery shows promise for grid energy storage applications.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Unintended consequences of fire suppression      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reveals how fire suppression ensures that wildfires will burn under extreme conditions at high severity, exacerbating the impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science
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Species diversity promotes ecosystem stability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What maintains stability within an ecosystem and prevents a single best competitor from displacing other species from a community? Does ecosystem stability depend upon the presence of a wide variety of species, as early ecologists believed, or does diversity do the exact opposite, and lead to instability, as modern theory predicts? A new study suggests an answer to this question that has been a subject of debate among ecologists for half a century.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography
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Forest, stream habitats keep energy exchanges in balance, global team finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Forests and streams are separate but linked ecosystems, existing side by side, with energy and nutrients crossing their porous borders and flowing back and forth between them. For example, leaves fall from trees, enter streams, decay and feed aquatic insects. Those insects emerge from the waters and are eaten by birds and bats. An international team has now found that these ecosystems appear to keep the energy exchanges in balance -- a finding that the scientists called surprising.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Ecology: Animals Energy: Batteries Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Crawfish could transfer ionic lithium from their environment into food chain      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are showing up in ever more devices, and the increasing use of this technology means more lithium is expected to find its way into the environment as a contaminant. In new research, a team has explored how this ion accumulates in a common Southern crustacean, the crawfish, with implications for the environment and public health.

Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Researchers investigate how freshwater diatoms stay in the light      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers sought to understand how diatoms -- microscopic, photosynthetic algae that make up an estimated 20 percent of global carbon sequestration and oxygen production -- are able to bloom in an ice-covered Lake Erie and how ice decline across the Great Lakes is impacting the algae.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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There are large accumulations of plastics in the ocean, even outside so-called garbage patch      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When plastic ends up in the ocean, it gradually weathers and disintegrates into small particles. If marine animals ingest these particles, their health can be severely affected. Large accumulations of plastic can therefore disrupt the biological balance of marine ecosystems. But which areas are particularly affected?

Biology: Botany Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Fairy circles: Plant water stress causes Namibia's gaps in grass      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Namibia's legendary fairy circles are mysterious, circular, bald patches in the dry grasslands on the edge of the Namib Desert. Their formation has been researched for decades and has recently been the subject of much debate. With extensive fieldwork, researchers investigated how freshly germinated grass dies inside the fairy circle. Their results show that the grass withers due to a lack of water inside the fairy circle. The topsoil, comprised of the top 10 to 12 centimeters of the soil, acts as a kind of 'death zone' in which fresh grass cannot survive for long.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water
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Artificial streams reveal how drought shapes California's alpine ecosystems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have used a series of artificial stream channels to mimic the behavior of headwater creeks under future climate change scenarios. They found that drier conditions shifted the life cycles of the algae and insects that form the base of the alpine food web. However, because species adjusted to the shifts in a variety of ways, the stream ecosystems were generally resilient to the changing conditions.

Chemistry: General Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Fast-charging lithium-sulphur batteries on the horizon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research shows that the next generation of lithium-sulphur (Li||S) batteries may be capable of being charged in less than five minutes, instead of several hours as is currently the case.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Paleontology: Climate
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A wetter world recorded in Australian coral colony      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When climate scientists look to the future to determine what the effects of climate change may be, they use computer models to simulate potential outcomes such as how precipitation will change in a warming world. Some scientists are also looking at something a little more tangible: coral.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Virtual reality better than video for evoking fear, spurring climate action      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Depicting worst-case climate scenarios like expanding deserts and dying coral reefs may better motivate people to support environmental policies when delivered via virtual reality, according to a research team that studied how VR and message framing affect the impact of environmental advocacy communications. The study findings may help advocacy groups decide how best to frame and deliver their messages.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
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Even inactive smokers are densely colonized by microbial communities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Everything is everywhere -- under certain conditions microbial communities can grow and thrive, even in places that are seemingly uninhabitable. This is the case at inactive hydrothermal vents on the sea floor. An international team is presently working to accurately quantify how much inorganic carbon can be bound in these environments.