Category: Ecosystems
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How Backyard Landscapes Could Save Biodiversity
You have probably never thought of your property as a wildlife preserve representing the last chance we have to sustain plants and animals that were once common throughout the US. But that is exactly the role our suburban and urban landscapes are now playing – and will play even more in the near future.
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Coffee Plantations That Are Truly Bird-Friendly
In Ethiopia, coffee is traditionally grown on plantations shaded by native trees. These farms boasted more than 2.5 times as many bird species as adjacent mountain forest
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Termites: Defenders Of Savanna Landscapes
Researchers report that termites slow the spread of deserts into drylands by providing a moist refuge for vegetation on and around their mounds. They report that drylands with termite mounds can survive on significantly less rain than those without termite mounds.
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A Tree Is Not A Tree, It Is A World
Interactions between trees and their associated microbial communities are tremendously complex and the resulting multiorganismal networks have central roles in plant growth and productivity (Bonfante & Anca, 2009). A more holistic view of plant health and disease is needed to better understand these ‘superorganisms’, in which interacting species are thought to play a role in the overall stability of the system. Similar to the human microbiota, disruption of the homeostasis between plants and their associated fungal and bacterial communities may alter the stability of the system, with potential impacts on host fitness
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S.E.Asian Rain Forests Managed By Humans For 11,000 years
It has long been believed that the rainforests of the Far East were virgin wildernesses, where human impact has been minimal. Our findings, however, indicate a history of disturbances to vegetation. While it could be tempting to blame these disturbances on climate change, that is not the case as they do not coincide with any known periods of climate change. Rather, these vegetation changes have been brought about by the actions of people.
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Epiphyte Communities Determined By Host Tree
The crowns of drought-deciduous trees, characterized by sunnier and drier microclimates, hosted fewer individuals and less diverse epiphyte assemblages. Differences were also observed at a functional level, e.g. epiphyte assemblages in deciduous trees had larger proportions of Crassulacean acid metabolism species and individuals. At the population level a drier microclimate was associated with lower individual growth and survival in a xerophytic fern.
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Vines Take Over The World
The biggest worry is that proliferating vines could reduce carbon storage. Forests lock up billions of tonnes of carbon in woody tissue, and when vines kill or suppress trees some of that carbon is released into the atmosphere. Studies in Panama and Amazonia suggest rampaging vines replace just a small fraction of the carbon they cause trees to release. That could induce a positive feedback, with still more greenhouse gases and a warmer future for us all. If that goes too far, we really could be heading for a planet of the vines.
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Northern Forests Radically Altered By Deer
Where deer have been common, ferns and grasses — as well as several nonnative plants — have become more abundant. Deer greatly reduced regeneration of native trees, the growth of shrubs, the height of forest understory plants, and the abundance of flowering plants that are neither woody nor grassy.
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After The Rhinos Are Extinct, What Becomes Of The Savanna?
Take away the rhinos from the landscape and, according to this research, the landscape will suffer.
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Invasive Ant Species Spread Invasive Plant Species
An invasive ant species that has become increasingly abundant in eastern North America not only takes over yards and delivers a nasty sting, it’s helping the spread of an invasive plant species. The ants are very effective dispersers of invasive plant seeds and new research suggests that together they could wreak havoc on native ecosystems.