1,000,000 Citizen Science Observations
May 16, 2012 | USGS
Thanks to citizen-scientists around the country, the USA National Phenology Network hit a major milestone this week by reaching its one millionth nature observation. |
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Impact of Human Noise on Plants?
May 10, 2012 | National Science Foundation
Researchers monitored the response of wildlife and plants in parts of New Mexico where there is significant human activity and noise related to natural gas production. |
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Tree Rings, Droughts and Volcanic Eruptions
March 28, 2012 | New York Times Blog
Droughts and Volcanic eruptions are both reflected in the tree rings of Guatemala. Read a series of blog posts by Kevin Anchukaitis, an assistant research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. |
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Plants Invade Antarctica!
March 6, 2012 | ScienceMag.org
Field studies have shown that invasive plant species are being brought to Antarctica on the clothing and baggage of researchers and other visitors. They are then carried to diverse locations – often deep into the interior – where some of them take root. |
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Carnivorous Plant Catches Worms
January 10, 2012 | Christian Science Monitor
Philcoxia minensis is a carnivorous plant found in Brazil that catches worms with sticky underground leaves. |
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Reaction of Plants to Human-Induced Climate Change
December 19, 2011 | NASA
NASA researchers “investigated how Earth’s plant life is likely to react over the next three centuries as Earth’s climate changes in response to rising levels of human-produced greenhouse gases.” Quote from the NASA press release. |
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Slash-and-Burn Fires in Amazonia
October 10, 2011 | Earth Observatory
“This astronaut photograph illustrates slash-and-burn forest clearing along the Rio Xingu (Xingu River) in the state of Matto Grasso, Brazil.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
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Learning to Harvest Solar Power from Nature
September 26, 2011 | University of Toronto
“While sunlight is the most abundant source of energy at our disposal, we have yet to learn how to capture, transfer and store solar energy efficiently.” Quoted from the University of Toronto news release. |
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Bedrock Nitrogen and Forests
September 6, 2011 | University of California, Davis
“For the first time, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have demonstrated that forest trees have the ability to tap into nitrogen found in rocks, boosting the trees’ growth and their ability to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.” Quoted from the University of California – Davis news release. |
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Summer Droughts Reduce Positive Effects of CO2 on Plant Growth
August 29, 2011 | Technical University of Denmark
“The large scale project CLIMAITE, led by Risø DTU, has published its first synthesis paper in the renowned journal Global Change Biology, and the conclusion is perhaps a little surprising that the predicted increase in plant growth, due to more CO2 in the atmosphere is noticeably limited when combined with higher temperatures – and especially summer droughts.” Quoted from the Technical University of Denmark news release. |
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Global Carbon Uptake and Irrigation
August 29, 2011 | University of Wisconsin-Madison
“That adds up to a sizeable impact on carbon uptake from the atmosphere. It also means that water shortages – already forecasted to be a big problem as the world warms – could contribute to yet more warming through a positive feedback loop.” Quoted form the University of Wisconsin – Madison news release. |
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Rapid Evolution Often Doesn’t Last Within a Species
August 29, 2011 | Oregon State University
“In research that will help address a long-running debate and apparent contradiction between short- and long-term evolutionary change, scientists have discovered that although evolution is a constant and sometimes rapid process, the changes that hit and stick tend to take a long time.” Quoted from the Oregon State University news release. |
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8.7 Million Species on Earth
August 28, 2011 | BBC
Scientists have estimated that there are 8.7 million species in the natural world and claim this to be the most accurate estimate ever. However, they say most have not been identified and it could take more than 1,000 years to catalog them. |
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Image: JAXA/NASA/Suzaku
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Studying Stellar Explosions to Understand the Universe Expansion Rate
August 25, 2011 | Weizmann Institute of Science
“Cosmic distances are difficult to grasp and no less difficult to measure. When it comes to other galaxies or even remote parts of our own Milky Way, distance measurements are nothing but assessments, derived from indirect clues.” Quoted from the Weizmann Institute of Science press release. |
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Tropical Forest Growth and Carbon Release from Soil
August 17, 2011 | Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
“A new study shows that as climate change enhances tree growth in tropical forests, the resulting increase in litterfall could stimulate soil micro-organisms leading to a release of stored soil carbon.” Quoted from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology news release. |
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Mercury Contamination from Fallen Leaves
August 5, 2011 | USGS
“Fallen autumn leaves transfer as much, if not more, hazardous mercury from the atmosphere to the environment as does precipitation each year, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey research.” Quoted from the USGS news release. |
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Northwest Forest Plan has Unintended Carbon Sequestration Benefit
July 25, 2011 | Oregon State University
“The Northwest Forest Plan enacted in 1993 was designed to conserve old-growth forests and protect species such as the northern spotted owl, but researchers conclude in a new study that it had another powerful and unintended consequence – increased carbon sequestration on public lands.” Quoted from the Oregon State University news release. |
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Harvesting Trees and Using Wood Products Could Reduce Carbon Emissions?
July 19, 2011 | University of Washington
“Rather than just letting the forest sit there for a hundred or more years, the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere could be quadrupled in 100 years by harvesting regularly and using the wood in place of steel and concrete that devour fossil fuels, producing carbon dioxide, during manufacturing.” Quoted from the University of Washington news release. |
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Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Breakthroughs
July 19, 2011 | Berkeley National Lab
Here is a webpage that lists a number of impressive accomplishments by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Just to shout out a few, they: discovered 16 elements, identified good and bad cholesterol, confirmed the Big Bang, attributed the dinosaur extinction to an asteroid impact and determined the carbon path through photosynthesis. Nice work! |
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Soil Carbon Release and Climate Projections
June 14, 2011 | Oregon State University
“A new study concludes that models may be predicting releases of atmospheric carbon dioxide that are either too high or too low, depending on the region, because they don’t adequately reflect variable temperatures that can affect the amount of carbon released from soil.” Quoted from the Oregon State University news release. |
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Mobile App to Identify Trees
June 9, 2011 | MSNBC
Scientists have developed a mobile app to identify trees. A user can take a photo of a tree or plant leaf and the app will instantly search a huge, and still growing, library of leaf images assembled by the Smithsonian Institution. |
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Didymo Thrives in Pristine Rivers and Streams
June 3, 2011 | National Science Foundation
“A species of freshwater algae that lives in streams and rivers, called Didymo for Didymosphenia geminata, is able to colonize and dominate the bottoms of some of the world’s cleanest waterways.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release. |
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Top Ten New Species for 2010
May 24, 2011 | MSNBC
An article on MSNBC has photos and descriptions of the top ten new species for 2010 as selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. The new species include: a pancake batfish, glowing mushrooms and a jumping cockroach. |
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Why Some Extrasolar Planets Orbit Backwards
May 13, 2011 | National Science Foundation
“Astronomers observed that in some of these systems, the star is spinning one way and the planet is orbiting that star in the opposite direction.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release. |
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NYC Green Roof Systems and Stormwater Pollution
May 9, 2011 | Columbia University and ConEdison
“New York City stormwater is a major cause of water pollution in the harbor and estuaries. [...] Green, vegetative roofs may offer one of the most effective methods of distributed stormwater control to help abate this pollution.” Quoted from the ConEdison and Columbia University press release. |
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1,100 Years of El Niño History In Tree Rings
May 9, 2011 | University of Hawaii at Mānoa
“An international team of climate scientists has now shown that annually resolved tree-ring records from North America, particularly from the US Southwest, give a continuous representation of the intensity of El Niño events over the past 1100 years and can be used to improve El Niño prediction.” Quoted from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa press release. |
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Billions in Agriculture Saved by Bats
April 20, 2011 | USGS
“The value of the pest-control services to agriculture provided by bats in the U.S. alone range from a low of $3.7 billion to a high of $53 billion a year, estimated the study’s authors. They also warned that noticeable economic losses to North American agriculture could occur in the next 4 to 5 years as a result of emerging threats to bat populations.” Quoted from USGS. |
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Winter Crop Damage in Mexico
March 15, 2011 | NASA Earth Observatory
With an average temperature of 24 degrees Celsius (76 degrees Fahrenheit) in the month of February, the Mexican state of Sinaloa is [...] ideal for winter crops. Twenty-five percent of Mexico’s corn is grown in Sinaloa, and much of that is winter corn. Planted in December and January. In February 2011, winter crept south. Temperatures dipped as low as -8 degrees Celsius (18 Fahrenheit) in a cold snap that lasted nearly a week. By the end of the week, frost had destroyed the corn crop. This image shows the crop damage.
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Warmer Temperatures May Alter Plant Evolution
March 3, 2011 | University of Michigan
“Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming may affect interactions between plants and the insects that eat them, altering the course of plant evolution, research at the University of Michigan suggests.” Quoted from the University of Michigan press release. |
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