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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Ecology: Trees

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Researchers report that the flexible shoulders and elbows that allow us to throw a football or reach a high shelf may have evolved as a natural braking system that let our primate ancestors get out of trees without dying. The researchers used sports-analysis software to compare the climbing movements of chimpanzees and small monkeys called mangabeys. While the animals climb up trees similarly, the researchers found that the shallow, rounded shoulder joints and shortened elbow bones that chimps have -- similar to humans -- allow them to fully extend their arms above their heads when climbing down, holding onto branches like a person going down a ladder to support their greater weight. When early humans left forests for the grassy savanna, these versatile appendages would have been essential for gathering food and using tools for hunting and defense. The findings are among the first to identify the significance of 'downclimbing' in the evolution of apes and early humans.

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By adding a naturally-occurring polymer that makes wood more porous, scientists have engineered trees easier to disassemble into simpler building blocks.

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Researchers have mathematically derived the fundamental limit of heat current flowing into a quantum system comprising numerous quantum mechanical particles in relation to the particle count. Further, they established a clearer understanding of how the heat current rises with increasing particle count, shedding light on the performance constraints of potential future quantum thermal devices.

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Tropical forests in South America lose their ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere when conditions become exceptionally hot and dry, according to new research. For a long time, tropical forests have acted as a carbon sink, taking more carbon out of the air than they release into it, a process that has moderated the impact of climate change. But new research found that in 2015 -- 2016, when an El Niño climate event resulted in drought and the hottest temperatures ever recorded, South American forests were unable to function as a carbon sink.

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In 2012, when the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) arrived in the U.S. from its home in China, scientists, land managers, and growers were understandably concerned that the sap-feeding insect would damage native and commercial trees. New long-term research has discovered that hardwood trees, such as maple, willow and birch, may be less vulnerable than initially thought.

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Hydrogen spillover is exactly what it sounds like. Small metal nanoparticles anchored on a thermally stable oxide, like silica, comprise a major class of catalysts, which are substances used to accelerate chemical reactions without being consumed themselves. The catalytic reaction usually occurs on the reactive -- and expensive -- metal, but on some catalysts, hydrogen atom-like equivalents literally spill from the metal to the oxide. These hydrogen-on-oxide species are called 'hydrogen spillover.'

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New work could help forest managers predict which forests are most at risk from drought and which will survive.

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Carbon capture is a promising method to help slow climate change. With this approach, carbon dioxide (CO¬¬2) is trapped before it escapes into the atmosphere, but the process requires a large amount of energy and equipment. Now, researchers have designed a capture system using an electrochemical cell that can easily grab and release CO2. The device operates at room temperature and requires less energy than conventional, amine-based carbon-capture systems.

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A new article found that overhunting of gorillas, elephants, and other large fruit-eating seed-dispersers make tropical forests less able to store or sequester carbon.

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The Mpemba effect is originally referred to the non-monotonic initial temperature dependence of the freezing start time, but it has been observed in various systems -- including colloids -- and has also become known as a mysterious relaxation phenomenon that depends on initial conditions. However, very few have previously investigated the effect in quantum systems. Now, the temperature quantum Mpemba effect can be realized over a wide range of initial conditions.

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A study on 'canopy soils' on old trees in Costa Rica shows they are important habitats and carbon stores that cannot easily be replaced.

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A new study of cavity-nesting birds in Ecuador shows the influence of deforestation on their habitat and reproductive success. Nest boxes could help.

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Climate impacts such as dry, hot summers reduce the growth and increase the mortality of trees in the Black Forest because they negatively influence the climatic water balance, i.e., the difference between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. That is the central finding of a long-term study of the influence of climate and climate change on trees in the Black Forest.

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Researchers combined human and ecological factors to analyze the global scale of non-native tree species invasions. Human activity in hotspots of global trade, such as maritime ports, is linked to an increased likelihood of non-native tree species invasions. However, a high diversity of native tree species can help to curb the intensity of such invasions.

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If coal and natural gas power generation were 2% more efficient, then, every year, there could be 460 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide released and 2 trillion fewer gallons of water used. A recent innovation to the steam cycle used in fossil fuel power generation could achieve this.

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New research has revealed Australia's iconic grasstrees -- known as 'yaccas' -- play a critical role in protecting wildlife from deadly weather extremes, thereby ensuring their survival. But the grasses themselves are under threat due to back burning, clearing and disease.

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Researchers have developed a new tool, REBURN, that can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century and has contributed to a rise in large and severe wildfires, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas to help create a more 'patchwork' forest structure that can help lessen fire severity. REBURN can also simulate conditions where more benign forest landscape dynamics have fully recovered in an area.

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Research attempts to quantify the value of U.S. property at risk in forested areas exposed to increased ecological disturbance associated with climate change, such as wildfire and tree mortality. Property exposed to such climate risks, especially in California, is project to climb substantially if emission-reduction measures are not taken.

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Indoor air pollution may have met its match. Scientists have designed catalyst-coated lampshades that transform indoor air pollutants into harmless compounds. The lampshades work with halogen and incandescent light bulbs, and the team is extending the technology so it will also be compatible with LEDs.

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Ecologists examined the distribution patterns of canopy soils, and their soil properties, across Costa Rican forests. The researchers suggest canopy soil may store more carbon than previously thought. Consideration of the time needed for reforestation of system with tree canopies should include the time needed for canopy mat regrowth.