Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Excess nutrients lead to dramatic ecosystem changes in Cape Cod's Waquoit Bay; the bay is a harbinger for estuaries worldwide, say researchers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 with associated travel restrictions, a research group shifted their overseas research projects to instead study the seagrass meadow ecosystem in Waquoit Bay, USA. It's a shallow, micro-tidal estuary on the south side of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Researcher discovers threshold that triggers drought response in forests      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Missouri is home to an array of natural resources, with forests among the state's most valuable ecosystems. As warmer temperatures fueled by climate change affect ecosystems globally, forests are under stress to adapt to these changes and ensure their survival in a warmer world. Researchers now introduce the 'ecosystem wilting point' concept, which explains how whole forests respond to drought.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Sinking tundra surface unlikely to trigger runaway permafrost thaw      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists set out to address one of the biggest uncertainties about how carbon-rich permafrost will respond to gradual sinking of the land surface as temperatures rise. Using a high-performance computer simulation, the research team found that soil subsidence is unlikely to cause rampant thawing in the future.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Biochar offers new promise for climate-smart agriculture      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researcher see the interconnections between the systems in nature and how each component impacts the others. In Connecticut, rich in forests and farmland, experts see the potential that could position the state at the forefront of a climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach using an emerging sustainable practice called biochar.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Detecting the impact of drought on plants with user-friendly and inexpensive techniques      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Climate change is aggravating the impact of droughts -- one of the factors that only affect plant physiology -- on all plant ecosystems worldwide. Although new tools have been developed to detect and assess drought stress in plants -- transcriptomic or metabolomic technologies, etc. -- they are still difficult to apply in natural ecosystems, especially in remote areas and developing countries.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Food quality matters for southern resident killer whales      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Not all Chinook salmon are created equal, and this has a major impact on the energetics for southern resident killer whales. A recent study quantified the lipid content in Fraser River Chinook salmon -- the southern resident's preferred meal -- and found that spring-run Chinook salmon, the earliest to arrive to the Salish Sea are lipid-rich and energy dense; a critical factor for the killer whales who prey on them. Fraser River Chinook salmon that come later in the season have lower energy density.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Feedback loops make climate action even more urgent, scientists say      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have identified 26 global warming accelerators known as amplifying feedback loops that the researchers say aren't being properly included in climate models. They note that the findings add urgency to the need to respond to the climate crisis and provide a roadmap for policymakers aiming to avert the most severe consequences of a warming planet.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

How to pull carbon dioxide out of seawater      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers may have found the key to a truly efficient and inexpensive mechanism for removing carbon dioxide from seawater. The method could be far more efficient than existing systems for removing the greenhouse gas from the air.

Environmental: Ecosystems
Published

North American mountain vegetation is rapidly shifting higher as the climate warms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In mountainous western North America, vegetation cover has moved upward at a rapid rate over the past several decades, according to a new study. Understanding such shifts in species distribution could provide insights on the velocity of climate change and aid conservation planning.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

New technique maps large-scale impacts of fire-induced permafrost thaw in Alaska      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a machine learning-based ensemble approach to quantify fire-induced thaw settlement across the entire Tanana Flats in Alaska, which encompasses more than 3 million acres. They linked airborne repeat lidar data to time-series Landsat products (satellite images) to delineate thaw settlement patterns across six large fires that have occurred since 2000. The six fires resulted in a loss of nearly 99,000 acres of evergreen forest from 2000 to 2014 among nearly 155,000 acres of fire-influenced forests with varying degrees of burn severity. This novel approach helped to explain about 65 percent of the variance in lidar-detected elevation change.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific could survive into the 2060s      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists found that some reefs in the tropical Pacific Ocean could maintain high coral cover into the second half of this century by shuffling the symbiotic algae they host. The findings offer a ray of hope in an often-dire picture of the future of coral reefs worldwide.

Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General Engineering: Nanotechnology Mathematics: Puzzles Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Optics
Published

Chromo-encryption method encodes secrets with color      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new approach to security that unites technology and art, E researchers have combined silver nanostructures with polarized light to yield a range of brilliant colors, which can be used to encode messages.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Endangered Bahamas bird may be lost from island following hurricane      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The endangered Bahama Warbler may be surviving on just one island following Hurricane Dorian's devastation in 2019, according to researchers. A new study shows the bird's distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama before the hurricane struck. But the team says that the warbler may now only survive on neighboring Abaco island, after hurricane Dorian destroyed the bird's forest habitat on Grand Bahama. The research comes from the same team that found what is thought to have been the last living Bahama Nuthatch, previously thought to have been extinct.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Reducing pesticide pollution and the intensity of harvesting can increase crop yield and contribute to climate change mitigation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have found that carbon sequestration and plant resilience as well as forage pasture yield can be increased through key adjustments in agricultural management. The results provide a roadmap for reducing pesticide loads in soils and the first steps towards increasing climate change mitigation while improving crop yield in grasslands.

Archaeology: General Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New research suggests drought accelerated empire collapse      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The collapse of the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age has been blamed on various factors, from war with other territories to internal strife. Now, scientists have used tree ring and isotope records to pinpoint a more likely culprit: three straight years of severe drought.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Plastic debris in the Arctic comes from all around the world      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In the course of five years, citizens who went on sailing cruises to the Arctic surveyed and collected plastic debris that had washed up on the shores of Svalbard. This has now been analyzed. According to the findings, one third of the plastic debris which still bore imprints or labels allowing an analysis of their origin came from Europe, and much of that number from Germany.

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

Long-term restoration of a biodiversity hotspot hinges on getting seeds to the right place at the right time      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research shows that degraded savanna ecosystems can reap lasting benefits from a single seeding of native understory plants. Once a diverse understory of savanna plants became established, its long-term persistence was relatively unaffected by environmental factors -- with one exception. Higher temperatures during the height of the growing season were associated with poorer long-term survival among some species, indicating one threat posed by a warming climate.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

More frequent atmospheric rivers hinder seasonal recovery of Arctic sea ice      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The Arctic is rapidly losing sea ice, even during winter months when temperatures are below freezing and ice should be recovering from the summer melt. A new study found powerful storms called atmospheric rivers are increasingly reaching the Arctic in winter, slowing sea ice recovery and accounting for a third of all winter sea ice decline, according to a team led by Penn State scientists.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Pacific Northwest heat dome tree damage more about temperature than drought, scientists say      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Widespread tree scorch in the Pacific Northwest that became visible shortly after multiple days of record-setting, triple-digit temperatures in June 2021 was more attributable to heat than to drought conditions, researchers say.