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Categories: Computer Science: Encryption, Environmental: Ecosystems
Published Excess nutrients lead to dramatic ecosystem changes in Cape Cod's Waquoit Bay; the bay is a harbinger for estuaries worldwide, say researchers


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.
Published Researcher discovers threshold that triggers drought response in forests


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.
Published Sinking tundra surface unlikely to trigger runaway permafrost thaw


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.
Published Biochar offers new promise for climate-smart agriculture


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.
Published Detecting the impact of drought on plants with user-friendly and inexpensive techniques


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.
Published Food quality matters for southern resident killer whales


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.
Published Feedback loops make climate action even more urgent, scientists say


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.
Published How to pull carbon dioxide out of seawater



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.
Published North American mountain vegetation is rapidly shifting higher as the climate warms



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.
Published Amazon mammals threatened by climate change


Most land-based mammals in the Brazilian Amazon are threatened by climate change and the savannization of the region.
Published New technique maps large-scale impacts of fire-induced permafrost thaw in Alaska


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.
Published Coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific could survive into the 2060s


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.
Published Chromo-encryption method encodes secrets with color


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.
Published Endangered Bahamas bird may be lost from island following hurricane


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.
Published Reducing pesticide pollution and the intensity of harvesting can increase crop yield and contribute to climate change mitigation


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.
Published New research suggests drought accelerated empire collapse



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.
Published Plastic debris in the Arctic comes from all around the world


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.
Published Long-term restoration of a biodiversity hotspot hinges on getting seeds to the right place at the right time


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.
Published More frequent atmospheric rivers hinder seasonal recovery of Arctic sea ice


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.
Published Pacific Northwest heat dome tree damage more about temperature than drought, scientists say



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.