MERIS monitoring tracks planetary photosynthesis levels
...tering from atmospheric particles, the presence of soils and the changing geometry of illumination and observation." The validation of MGVI is in fact an ongoing activity, along with that for a family of related FAPAR algorithms developed by JRC for other satellite sensors, including NASA's MODIS and Sea...Scientists discover genetic key to growing hardier, more productive plants
...productive, more drought resistant and can grow in soils low in nutrients. Their work is the first to successfully test in cells a 30-year-old hypothesis that explains the movement of a primary growth and development hormone through plants and is expected to prompt biology textbooks to be rewritten. The re...A study of the ectomychorrizal community amongst Quercus rubra L. plantations
...y the autumn. Also, the infective potential of the soils of the plantations was evaluated and it was observed that plantlings of 1 or 2 saps can be mycorrhized by the inoculum present in both mature and non-mature plantations. Regarding the selection of mycorrhizal species for their use in afforestation, ...Geoscientists follow arsenic from chicken feed to streambeds
...adsorption of inorganic arsenic to minerals in the soils and aquifer sediments, a surprising finding from water samples from streams receiving runoff is that low concentrations of arsenic are transported to streambeds instead of being retained by the aquifers, Schreiber said. "We think that the arsenic is ...California's oak woodlands face a new threat: Climate change
...rn Sierra Nevada, while valley oak grows on deeper soils along rivers and streams, particularly in the Central Valley. Both species are sensitive to temperature and rainfall. The changes in their potential ranges under the climate change scenario were attributable primarily to increasing temperature and de...Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, November 2005
... impact on the amount of carbon stored in cropland soils around the nation, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Results published recently in Geophysical Research Letters show that about 5 percent of the 868 million tons of carbon se...War on terror meets war on cancer
...o-nitrogen-14 ratios helped Ehleringer distinguish soils where coca plants were grown, while ratios of carbon-13 to carbon-12 revealed plants grown in humid versus drier climates. That let the DEA distinguish cocaine from Peru, Colombia, Bolivia or Ecuador. Similar analysis of carbon isotopes in heroin a...Tropical dry forests receive international recognition
...st is being forgotten even though the most fertile soils are there," said Sanchez-Azofeifa, who hails from Costa Rica. "It's a mystery to me why, when both ecosystems are in danger one is ignored over the other." Tropical dry forests once made up 42 per cent of all forests in the tropics yet less than one ...Elevated atmospheric CO2 increases soil carbon
...rent issue of Global Change Biology indicates that soils in temperate ecosystems might contribute more to p...is suggests that some of the carbon added to these soils could stick around for awhile."...Amazon trees much older than assumed, raising questions on global climate impact of region
...old because they grow very slowly on nutrient-poor soils in dark shade under the canopy of large trees. The growth rates they measured for Central Amazon trees are among the slowest in any forest on Earth. These results, Trumbore points out, are contrary to the widely held view that tropical forests are hi...Surprising killer of southeastern salt marshes: Common sea snails
...Florida assistant professor, said drought-stressed soils pave the way for predatory periwinkles that spread fungal disease as they graze on cordgrass. "Snails can transform healthy marsh to mudflats in a matter of months," said Silliman, lead author of the Science paper. "This finding represents a huge shi...Most of Arctic's near-surface permafrost to thaw by 2100
...t may hold 30% or more of all the carbon stored in soils worldwide. As the permafrost thaws, it could lead to large-scale emissions of methane or carbon dioxide beyond those produced by fossil fuels. "There's a lot of carbon stored in the soil," says Lawrence. "If the permafrost does thaw, as our model pre...Storing carbon to combat global warming may cause other environmental problems, study suggests
... atmosphere, as trees roots removed water from the soils and discharged some portions as water vapor emanat... said. "We predict that plantations could salinize soils in these locations as well if planted broadly." Together with nutrient removal, leaf and needle fall......ifferent carbon and oxygen isotopes in prehistoric soils and animal teeth. In the new study, Cerling and colleagues analyzed hair in the tails of African elephants in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. The foot-long hairs were collected when the elephants were briefly immobilized with drug-laden dart guns...In bacterial diversity, Amazon is a 'desert'; Desert is an 'Amazon'
...sity of soil bacteria is soil pH. Thus, the acidic soils of topical forests harbor fewer bacterial species than the neutral soils of deserts. The researchers said that, since soil bacteria play a fundamental role in a vast array o...Experts find better way to scrub milking hardware
...hlorinated detergent at high temperature to remove soils such as fat and protein deposits, and then with a weak acid to neutralize the detergent and remove mineral deposits. Finally, the pipes have to be sanitized with an EPA-registered sanitizing agent before they can be used again. Demirci and his collea...UC Riverside researchers identify clay as major contributor to oxygen that enabled early animal life
...ur study shows for the first time that the initial soils covering the terrestrial surface of Earth increase...thor of the Science paper. Clay minerals form in soils through biological interactions with weathering rocks and are then eroded and flushed to the sea, wh...Declining snowpack cools off CO2 emissions from winter soils, says U. of Colorado study
... of heat-trapping carbon dioxide gases from forest soils into the atmosphere during the dead of winter, acc...f Nature. "While winter CO2 emissions from forest soils have slowed, the lack of winter moisture is stressing the trees during the spring and summer and inh...Ancient greenhouse emissionspossible lessons for modern climate
...ep oceans, but some are associated with permafrost soils in the Arctic. Release of the methane can occur through natural processes, including underwater landslides or other seismic events, or by warming of ocean waters. Once released, the gas can induce atmospheric warming that has a positive feedback effe...