and conifer biomass in particular is significant. Lignocellulosic biomass consists of cellulose hemicellulose and lignin. Agricultural harvest waste contains large amounts of lignocellulosic biomass
#Climate change not responsible for altering forest tree composition, experts saychange in disturbance regimes--rather than a change in climate--is largely responsible for altering the composition of Eastern forests according to a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
since about 1930--during the Smokey Bear era--aggressive forest-fire suppression has had a far greater influence on shifts in dominant tree species than minor differences in temperature.
This includes the forest composition of the eastern U s. To determine how forest tree species have responded to changes in disturbance regimes temperature
and precipitation over long periods of time Abrams collaborated with Gregory Nowacki a scientist with the U s. Department of agriculture Forest Service office in Milwaukee on a study of the tolerance and sensitivity of trees to various factors.
whereby tree species/genera were partitioned into temperature shade tolerance and pyrogenicity classes and applied to comparative tree-census data.
The researchers compared presettlement--original land survey data --and current vegetation conditions in the eastern United states. Early tree surveys chronicle the westward progression of European land acquisition with some dating back to the 1600s along the East Coast.
In the research published online in Global Change Biology researchers analyzed 190 datasets to determine the relative impacts of climate
To the north intensive and expansive early European disturbance resulted in the ubiquitous loss of conifers and large increases of Acer (maple) Populus (poplar) and Quercus (oak) in northern hardwoods whereas to the south these disturbances perpetuated the dominance of oak in central hardwoods.
Maple increases and associated mesophication--the forest growing increasingly dense cool shady and moist in the absence of regular fire--in oak-pine systems were delayed until mid-20th century fire suppression.
This led to significant warm-to-cool shifts in temperature in which cool-adapted sugar maple increased
and caused temperature-neutral changes in which warm-adapted red maple increased. In both cases these shifts were attributed to fire suppression rather than climate change Abrams said.
Because mesophication is ongoing eastern U s. forests formed during the catastrophic disturbance era followed by fire suppression will remain in climate disequilibrium into the foreseeable future.
The Kansas Forest Service is asking residents to help save trees by buying their firewood locally all to prevent the further spread of an invasive beetle killing millions of ash trees.
The emerald ash borer is a small green metallic beetle that was detected first in the United states in 2002 in Detroit said Ryan Armbrust a forest health specialist with the Kansas Forest Service.
The invasive beetle is attacking ash trees in the Kansas city area specifically in Wyandotte Johnson and Leavenworth counties.
Ash trees are often found in neighborhoods making up 10 percent to 20 percent of the trees lining streets in urban cities.
Armbrust estimates that the Kansas city area could lose 3 million to 6 million untreated ash trees in the next decade taking away sources of shade stormwater retention and aesthetic value.
The beetle invades a tree by landing on the bark and laying an egg. That larva will hatch
and penetrate into the tree feeding on the thin layer between the bark and the heartwood.
The larva feed on the tree's vascular system eventually killing the tree. Trees that have been invaded by the emerald ash borer have a thin canopy Armbrust said.
As that tree loses leaf material it will try to regain some of it by sending out new shoots lower on the tree.
This is a tree response to stress. The differentiation between drought stress and stress from the emerald ash borer is woodpecker damage
because the beetle larva is a food source for the woodpecker. Unfortunately once these symptoms appear the beetle has already been in the tree for a few years
and has most likely spread to other trees. Armbrust says they believe the beetle first arrived in the United states through packing material.
Now it is spreading through the transportation of firewood and lumber. The adult beetles are poor flyers
and only travel about a mile on an annual basis Armbrust said. Where we really see rapid movement is assisted through human movement like cutting down logs for firewood and taking them 50 miles or 200 miles away.
Armbrust says not to treat your trees unless you are within 15 miles of a confirmed population
If you suspect you have infected an tree located outside of the already confirmed locations contact the Kansas Forest Service Kansas Department of agriculture or K-State Research and Extension.
#New tree of life traces evolution of a mysterious cotinga birdsthey are some of the brightest loudest oddest-looking least-understood birds on the planet.
But thanks to a comprehensive new evolutionary tree of life generated for the tropical cotinga family of South america the door is now open to new discoveries about the more than 60 species in this amazingly diverse group of birds.
When Berv and Prum examined patterns of evolution for these two traits across their new tree of life it turned out that they didn't perfectly match up.
One of the biggest analytical differences between what we've done and past work is used that we a'species tree'approach
and all of them strongly supported a consistent evolutionary'tree of life.''We hope other scientists who are interested in these birds take our phylogeny
the holm oak (Quercus ilex L.)and the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill..By using a stable isotope of nitrogen (N) researchers assessed the absorption efficiency of various nitrogen sources for both species. They observed that the best absorbed source was followed urea by ammonia glycine and finally the nitrate.
Likewise the holm oak absorbs via foliar better than the pine and this is associated to different anatomical properties at leaves scale such as stomatal density.
The foliar feeding caused an increase of the plant nitrogen content in the oak and the pine studied and all the products used.
Instead of celebrating milestone moments with their baby as the months ticked by Aspen's parents watched as their little girl lost weight and experienced seizures.
The symptoms led to a startling diagnosis for Aspen: she would need a combined liver-kidney transplant for a chance at a normal life.
Initially doctors didn't realize Aspen's 6 hour and 20 minute surgery on June 29 would make history as the smallest liver-kidney transplant on record.
when Aspen was 16-months-old. It was incredibly rewarding. We follow these children when they're small
Aspen's case is one of several firsts to occur at University of Utah Health care's revamped transplant program over the past year.
Statistics released last year show that more patients--like Aspen and her family--are turning to the University of Utah for liver transplant services.
Aspen's mother Auchelle Daniels said she'll always be grateful to the physicians who saved her daughter's life.
Instead of spending days worrying about the toddler's deteriorating health Daniels now watches as a reenergized Aspen rides her tricycle outside swings and rocks her baby dolls to sleep.
Before that point I'd never really heard her full-on laugh said Daniels of Aspen's life after her transplant.
the researchers sprayed the 11 nonsynthetic pesticides directly on bed bug nymphs they found that only two--Ecoraider (1%geraniol 1%cedar extract
#How beavers have affected ecosystem at Voyageurs National Parkfelling trees building dams and creating ponds--beavers have a unique ability to alter the landscape in ways that are beneficial to other organisms according to South dakota State university professor Carol Johnston of the natural resource management department.
because they cut down big trees and make dams that flood the landscape creating wet meadows and marshy vegetation Johnston explained.
what Johnston calls a bathtub ring of conifers when most of the aspen and deciduous trees have been harvested.
Venturing beyond that comfort zone makes them susceptible to predators she pointed out. Beavers are preferred a prey for wolves.
and cottonwood trees revive insects and dormant crustaceans give respite to birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway
which was timed for the germination of native trees. Rebirth of the Elwha Riverfor rivers with fewer economic and social demands restoration guided by historical records of the natural dynamics of the river can be an effective restoration strategy say Acreman and colleagues.
#Mangroves protecting corals from climate changecertain types of corals invertebrates of the sea that have been On earth for millions of years appear to have found a way to survive some of their most destructive threats by attaching to and growing under mangrove roots.
Scientists with the U s. Geological Survey and Eckerd College recently published research on a newly discovered refuge for reef-building corals in mangrove habitats of the U s. Virgin islands.
More than 30 species of reef corals were found growing in Hurricane Hole a mangrove habitat within the Virgin islands Coral reef National monument in St john. Corals are animals that grow in colonies forming reefs over time as old corals die
It is from these threats that corals are finding refuge under the red mangroves of Hurricane Hole.
Red mangroves subtropical or tropical trees that colonize coastlines and brackish water habitats have networks of prop roots that extend down toward the seafloor
Mangroves and their associated habitats and biological processes protect corals in a variety of ways. Bleaching occurs when corals lose their symbiotic algae.
When examining corals for this study researchers found evidence of some species thriving under the mangroves
while bleaching in unshaded areas outside of the mangroves. Boulder brain corals for example were found in abundance under the mangroves
and were healthy while many of those in unshaded areas a short distance away were bleaching.
It is known not how many other mangrove areas in the world harbor such a high diversity of corals as most people do not look for corals growing in these areas.
No coral reefs have been identified to date that protect from rising ocean temperatures acidification and increased solar radiation like these mangrove habitats in St john. Story Source:
Of course it's unwise to burden the earth with oil palm and sugar beet cultivation when corresponding products can be produced in an ecologically sustainable way from algae explains Grã ndahl.
The consequences for the trees at the newly created edges of the forest are known. The climate conditions change significantly:
This means that stress increases for trees in peripheral areas. Especially the larger specimens die off.
Tree mortality increases so that they can't store as much carbon as healthy trees in the centre of the forest the core area says Dr. Sandro PÃ tz the main author of the study.
The researchers examined herbivore damage on leaves of nonnative oak trees in arboreta across the United states. They found that nonnative oaks in regions with high oak species diversity showed more leaf damage than those in regions with low diversity.
While native oaks still suffered more leaf damage than nonnative oaks overall in the absence of native oaks nonnative oaks showed even less leaf damage.
Plants and trees are also feeling the change but they can't move out of the way.
but things like plants and trees are rooted in the ground and must withstand climate change or die.
Scientists have combined genetic analyses with new modeling approaches for the first time to help identify how well balsam popular trees are adapted to handle climate change.
The scientists sampled the genetic code of 400 trees from 31 locations across northern North america
and combined the genetic variations with computer modeling techniques to map how important genes differ within balsam poplar
and to locate where trees may have the best chance of survival in a rapidly warming world.
For instance models for North american tree species often predict them to occur further north as climate warms.
Some poplar trees are adapted already genetically to handle climate changes expected over the next few decades while others are not--just like some people a more likely to survive a disease than others.
and are linked tightly to the beauty of the trees and other plants we see she said.
No one would ever expect to find an overlap in the types of trees we see in Central park
and the type of trees we see in a tropical forest Fierer said. But that doesn't seem to be true for the microbes living in the soil.
whether it's dirt pavement water or trees among other things. Land use means how people utilize public and private land such as agriculture forestry or conservation land.
and land converted from pine forests to urban use. Areas with higher average annual precipitation showed less sequestration in agricultural crops and pine forests.
Among land-use types researchers also found sugarcane in the soils of the Everglades Agricultural area near Lake Okeechobee and wetlands stored the most soil carbon
and European colleagues studied the resistance of forests to drought according to the diversity of tree species. Due to climate change parts of the world will face droughts that will affect forest health.
Scientists from INRA in collaboration with WSL 1 (Switzerland) and European colleagues studied the resistance of forests to drought according to the diversity of tree species. Contrary to
what was accepted commonly by scientists species diversity does not systematically improve tree resistance to drought in forest ecosystems.
To shed more light on the effects of biodiversity on the resistance of European forests to drought scientists from INRA in collaboration with WSL and European colleagues studied 160 forest stands with a variety of tree diversity
For every region we compared monocultures to mixed forests (up to 5 tree species) and looked at their respective capacity to resist to drought explains Damien Bonal who led the research at INRA.
tree diversity may afford resistance to drought stress only in drought-prone areas i e. in regions where the frequency and severity of drought during the growing season is high.
Therefore managing forest ecosystems for high tree species diversity alone does not necessarily ensure forest adaptability to possible future severe drought events.
The study showed that Granny smith apples surpass Braeburn Fuji Gala Golden delicious Mcintosh and Red delicious in the amount of nondigestible compounds they contain.
#Mountain pine beetles get bad rap for wildfires, study saysmountain pine beetles get a bad rap and understandably so.
The grain-of-rice-sized insects are responsible for killing pine trees over tens of millions of acres in the Western U s. and Canada over the last decade.
But contrary to popular belief these pests may not be to blame for more severe wildfires like those that have swept recently through the region.
whether fires that burn in areas impacted by mountain pine beetles are more ecologically severe than in those not attacked by the native bug.
Large severe fires are typical in the lodgepole pine forests found throughout the region even without mountain pine beetle outbreaks.
The phenomenon of more beetles has meant more dead trees and some have grown concerned about how beetle attacks
The conventional wisdom is that a forest of dead trees is a tinder box just waiting to burn up says Turner who has studied long the forest landscape of the Mountain West.
--which burrow into the bark of lodgepole pines to mate and incubate their larvae--can seem nothing more than ample kindling for a raging blaze with their dead wood and dry reddish-brown needles.
The burrows the beetles carve under the bark of pines called galleries choke off water and nutrient circulation in the trees.
The trees die and for the first couple of years they hold on to their dry lifeless needles.
and some believe these trees could fuel more severe fires. By year three most beetle-attacked trees have entered the gray stage dropping their once green pine foliage becoming needleless wood carcasses.
Earlier studies from Turner's group suggested that beetle outbreaks would not lead to more severe fires.
However in 2011 wildfires throughout eastern Idaho and western Montana--in forests that had experienced varying mountain pine beetle outbreak impacts--provided opportunity for the research team to begin to answer the question:
Fortunately for the team among the burned areas studied were pine stands that had not been attacked by beetles.
in some stands beetles killed nearly 90 percent of the trees prior to wildfire. The fires that raged also ran the spectrum of severity allowing the researchers to compare a number of variables.
Some study plots comprised mostly live trees while others contained mostly red-stage or gray-stage trees--allowing the researchers to assess
whether plots with red-stage trees (with dry needles) experienced greater levels of fire severity than plots with mostly gray-stage trees (no needles) as they
and others had expected. The study team examined ecosystem indicators of fire severity such as how many trees were killed by fire
and how much char covered the forests. Engaging in what Harvey calls post-fire detective work in 2012 the scientific team evaluated fire severity in each study plot
and stripped sections of bark from over 10000 trees to determine what killed them beetles
As they sifted through the blackened trees and forest floor the team became covered with ash and soot.
We looked like coal miners when we were done says Harvey. They found that the severity of the outbreak
and whether trees were in the red or gray stage had almost no effect on fire severity under moderate burning conditions.
and windy--did areas with more beetle-killed trees show signs of more ecologically severe fires such as more deeply burned trunks
and crowns (the part of the tree that includes its limbs and needles). The presence of more gray-stage trees actually had a stronger impact on fire severity than the amount of red-stage trees to the surprise of the scientists.
Overall however Turner says the effects of beetle outbreaks on fire severity took a back seat to stronger drivers--primarily weather and topography.
Lodgepole pines are adapted to fire containing two types of seed-carrying cones: those that release seeds as soon as they mature
Tree seedlings were most numerous where more of the fire-killed trees bore the fire-adapted or serotinous cones.
Beetle-killed trees likely contributed to post-fire seedling establishment too as their seeds remain viable in cones
Connoisseurs search for the precious delicacies near hazelnut trees oaks and some species of pine. This is because truffles grow in a symbiotic relationship with the trees.
For scientists truffles are therefore a model organism to investigate how symbiosis evolved between plants and fungi.
#Preference for built-up habitats could explain rapid spread of tree bumblebee in UKTHE strikingly rapid spread of the Tree Bumblebee in Britain could be occurring
A new study published today shows that Tree Bumblebees are associated with built-up areas and that these areas form a large part of their habitat use.
--which could explain how Tree Bumblebees have managed to colonize much of the UK while many other bumblebee species have been declining.
The Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) has spread to nearly all of England and Wales since its first appearance in southern England in 2001.
When combined with landscape mapping data these observations revealed that the Tree Bumblebee was much more likely to be found in built-up areas and to a lesser extent areas with woodland nearby.
In contrast none of the other five bumblebee species studied shared the combination of favoured landscape features found in the Tree Bumblebee.
Additionally the Tree Bumblebee preferred to forage on a set of flowering plants different to the sets of plants favoured by the other bumblebee species being more likely to use some species of flowering trees
The results are the first evidence that in its new range in the UK the Tree Bumblebee is associated with built-up areas such as towns and villages and that these areas form a large part of its habitat use.
An association between Tree Bumblebees and human habitation has previously been suspected from natural history observations. Along with an association with trees it is likely to stem from the Tree Bumblebee's habit of nesting in cavities above the ground
which is unusual among British bumblebees. Lead author Liam Crowther from UEA's School of Biological sciences said:
This research implies that the Tree Bumblebee's remarkable success is due in part to favouring a suite of resources different to those used by the bumblebee species that are already widespread in the UK.
and suburban areas may be facilitating the Tree Bumblebee's remarkably rapid natural colonization of the UK.
The Tree Bumblebee was recorded first in the UK in the New Forest in 2001 and has expanded since its range approximately 600 km northwards through most of England
and Wales and into southern Scotland a rate of expansion of nearly 50 km per yearin continental Europe and Asia however its range extends from western France to Japan and as far north as the Kola Peninsula in arctic
#If trees could talk: Forest research network reveals global change effectspermafrost thaw drives forest loss in Canada
while drought has killed trees in Panama southern India and Borneo. In the U s. In virginia overabundant deer eat trees before they reach maturity
while nitrogen pollution has changed soil chemistry in Canada and Panama. Continents apart these changes have all been documented by the Smithsonian-led Center for Tropical forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory CTFS-Forestgeo
what 59 forests in 24 countries where we monitor nearly 6 million trees teach us about forest responses to global change said Kristina Anderson-Teixeira first author of the report
and monitoring trees researchers describe the relatedness of trees track flower and seed production collect insects survey mammals quantify carbon stocks
and Walter Dodds university distinguished professor of biology are researching grassland streams and the expansion of nearby woody vegetation such as trees and shrubs.
because as trees expand into these grassland areas people who are using grassland for cattle production have less grass for animals too Dodds said.
In their latest research the biologists studied 25 years of aerial photography on Konza and observed the expansion of trees and shrubs in riparian areas
Burning every one to two years slowed the growth of trees and shrubs Veach said.
While burning can help to slow the expansion of trees and shrubs additional actions are need to maintain quickly disappearing grassland ecosystems.
so they may not influence the growth of nearby trees and shrubs Veach said. Woody vegetation also may be expanding in grasslands because of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere Dodds said.
Grasses and trees compete for carbon dioxide and grasses are much better at conserving water and efficiently using carbon dioxide.
As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase it becomes easier for trees to gather carbon dioxide and gives them a growing advantage over grasses.
and raised by their parents at the U s. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research center in Laurel Maryland were released on the U s. Fish and Wildlife Service's Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.
when the city of Houston called for ideas about how to get rid of an estimated 5. 6 million cubic yards of fallen trees broken branches
and Humboldt State university in Arcata Calif. The study authors who looked at 1. 3 million acres of ponderosa pine
and mixed conifer forest from Teller County west of Colorado springs through Larimer County west and north of Fort Collins reconstructed the timing
and severity of past fires using fire-scarred trees and tree-ring data going back to the 1600s.
Only 16 percent of the study area showed a shift from historically low-severity fires to severe potential crown fires that can jump from treetop to treetop.
and are killing higher percentages of trees said Sherriff who completed her doctorate at CU-Boulder under Veblen in 2004.
In addition tree-ring evidence from the new study shows there were several years on the Front Range
The authors looked at more than 1200 fire-scarred tree samples and nearly 8000 samples of tree ages at 232 forest sample sites from Teller County to Larimer County.
The study is one of the largest of its kind ever undertaken in the western United states. The team was interested especially in fire records before about 1920
In relatively dry ponderosa pine forests of the West a common assumption is that fires were relatively frequent
and of low severity and not lethal to most large trees prior to fuel build up in the 20th century said Veblen.
which large percentages of the mature trees were killed. Along the Front Range especially at higher elevations homeowners and fire managers should expect a number of high-severity fires unrelated to any kind of fire suppression
This matters because high-severity fires are dangerous to people kill more trees and are trickier
A bioartificial liver also known as a BAL could potentially sustain patients with acute liver failure until their own livers self-repair said Steven D. Colquhoun MD the surgical director of liver transplantation at Cedars
Colquhoun is leading an investigation at Cedars-Sinai to assess the safety and effectiveness of the ELADÂ bioartificial liver system which is designed by Vital Therapies Inc. the sponsor of the clinical trials.
The research at Cedars-Sinai involves patients with liver disease caused by acute alcoholic hepatitis a group with few therapeutic options.
This important investigation we are undertaking at Cedars-Sinai is a critical step in addressing the medical emergency presented by liver failure said Andrew S. Klein MD MBA director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center and the Esther
The above story is provided based on materials by Cedars-Sinai Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length g
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