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Categories: Ecology: Trees, Geoscience: Geology
Published Mapping the future's sweet spot for clean energy and biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study of Joshua trees, kit foxes and solar energy developments highlights the need to consider climate-induced range shifts for species as we expand clean energy.
Published New study reveals insight into which animals are most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a new study, researchers have used the fossil record to better understand what factors make animals more vulnerable to extinction from climate change. The results could help to identify species most at risk today from human-driven climate change.
Published Rock weathering and climate: Low-relief mountain ranges are largest carbon sinks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For many hundreds of millions of years, the average temperature at the surface of the Earth has varied by not much more than 20 degrees Celsius, facilitating life on our planet. To maintain such stable temperatures, Earth appears to have a 'thermostat' that regulates the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide over geological timescales, influencing global temperatures. The erosion and weathering of rocks are important parts of this 'thermostat.'
Published Earth's earliest forest revealed in Somerset fossils
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The oldest fossilized forest known on Earth -- dating from 390 million years ago -- has been found in the high sandstone cliffs along the Devon and Somerset coast of South West England.
Published 8 in 10 lizards could be at risk due to deforestation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source These reptiles move around tree trunks to seek warmth or shade. With trees disappearing, they would have trouble controlling their body temperature, a new study shows.
Published An inside look at Beech tree disease
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study found differences at the cellular level of leaves from infected Beech trees -- variations that may account for tree mortality.
Published Geologists explore the hidden history of Colorado's Spanish Peaks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team has collected dozens of samples from across southeastern Colorado, and their results could help to answer an enduring mystery: What made Colorado's High Plains so high?
Published In wake of powerful cyclone, remarkable recovery of Pacific island's forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source After one of the most intense cyclones in world history tore through the Pacific island of Tanna in Vanuatu, new research showed the resilience of the island's forests.
Published Mercury rising: Study sheds new light on ancient volcanoes' environmental impact
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Massive volcanic events in Earth's history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions. A new method to estimate how much and how rapidly carbon was released by the volcanoes could improve our understanding of the climate response, according to an international team.
Published 80 mph speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research documents the fastest-known large-scale breakage along an Antarctic ice shelf. A 6.5-mile crack formed in 2012 over 5-and-a-half minutes, showing that ice shelves can effectively shatter -- though the speed is limited by seawater rushing in. The results help inform large-scale ice sheet models and projections of future sea level rise.
Published Creepy crawlies protect apples when flowers are planted on farms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bugs including hoverflies, lacewings and ladybirds play an important role in keeping Britain's apples healthy, a new study has shown.
Published UBC Okanagan researchers look to the past to improve construction sustainability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers are revisiting old building practices -- the use of by-products and cast-offs -- as a way to improve building materials and sustainability of the trade. A technique known as rammed earth construction uses materials that are alternatives to cement and are often more readily available in the environment. One such alternative is wood fly ash, a by-product of pulp mills and coal-fired power plants.
Published Biggest Holocene volcano eruption found by seabed survey
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A detailed survey of the volcanic underwater deposits around the Kikai caldera in Japan clarified the deposition mechanisms as well as the event's magnitude. As a result, the research team found that the event 7,300 years ago was the largest volcanic eruption in the Holocene by far.
Published Modeling tree masting
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The effects of a phenomenon called tree masting on ecosystems and food webs can be better understood thanks to new theoretical models validated by real world observations.
Published Reforestation programs could threaten vast area of tropical grasslands
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research reveals the scale of inappropriate reforestation projects across Africa. A new study reveals that an area the size of France is threatened by forest restoration initiatives, such as the AFR100 initiative (African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative), due to inappropriate restoration in the form of tree-planting.
Published Early-stage subduction invasion
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our planet's lithosphere is broken into several tectonic plates. Their configuration is ever-shifting, as supercontinents are assembled and broken up, and oceans form, grow, and then start to close in what is known as the Wilson cycle.
Published New 'time travel' study reveals future impact of climate change on coastal marshes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study offers a glimpse into the possible impact of climate change on coastal wetlands 50 years or longer into the future. Scientists are usually forced to rely on computer models to project the long-term effects of rising seas, but an unexpected set of circumstances enabled a real-world experiment along the Gulf Coast.
Published Scientists are unravelling the secrets of red and grey squirrel competition
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have identified significant differences between the diversity of gut bacteria in grey squirrels compared to red squirrels which could hold the key to further understanding the ability of grey squirrels to outcompete red squirrels in the UK.
Published Is the Amazon forest approaching a tipping point?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse. New research has identified the potential thresholds of these stressors, showing where their combined effects could produce a 'tipping point' -- in which the forest is so fragile that just a small disturbance could cause an abrupt shift in the state of the ecosystem.
Published Researchers studying ocean transform faults, describe a previously unknown part of the geological carbon cycle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source This study reports widespread mineral carbonation of mantle rocks in an oceanic transform fueled by magmatic degassing of CO2. The findings describe a previously unknown part of the geological carbon cycle in transform faults that represent one of the three principal plate boundaries on Earth. The confluence of tectonically exhumed mantle rocks and CO2-rich alkaline basalt formed through limited extents of melting characteristic of the St. Paul's transform faults may be a pervasive feature at oceanic transform faults in general. Because transform faults have not been accounted for in previous estimates of global geological CO2 fluxes, the mass transfer of magmatic CO2 to the altered oceanic mantle and seawater may be larger than previously thought.