Gradient of Soil Fertilization Helps Tundra Shrubs Expand Across the Arctic

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Scientists at the Arctic LTER find that different points along a gradient of soil fertility aid ectomycorrhizal and ericaceous tundra shrubs. Their findings hint at the potential for those two types of shrubs to co-expand over the Arctic—a previously unconsidered scenario that could have vast implications for the future of the northern tundra

Stop giving early and late Arctic seasons the ‘cold shoulder’, say LTER scientists

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Streams LTER Research Assistant Frances Iannucci (a coauthor on the study) recording dissolved oxygen in a watershed associated with the Arctic LTER.

Climate change is hitting Arctic ecosystems hard – permafrost is rapidly thawing, releasing previously-frozen organic matter into the surrounding environment. Knowing not only how, but when, dissolved organic matter (DOM) and other nutrient concentrations are changing is important for predicting effects of climate change, but the picture is currently incomplete.  A new paper from Arctic… Read more »

Conceptual and Empirical Advances in Desert Microbial Ecology

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Credit: Anny ChungResearchers at SEV LTER led efforts to characterize fungi and bacteria in drylands and document their responses to environmental change. SEV LTER pioneered new assays of microbial function, including carbon use efficiency and ecoenzymatic stoichiometry. They quantified how microbes in roots maintain plant species coexistence and temporal stability in plant communities and how… Read more »

Climate Change Will Impact Lower Elevation Forests First

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Luquillo LTER uses an elevation gradient as a proxy for studying certain aspects of climate change. High elevation cloud forests on mountain summits harbor many endemic species likely to be threatened by the changes in precipitation and temperature projected to impact these areas within 20 years. Recording changes in biota and critical ecosystem function along… Read more »

Phytoplankton are the Breadbasket of the Kelp Forest

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Credit: SBC LTERDecades of research based on carbon stable isotope analyses supported the idea that macroalgal detritus, especially that of kelp, is a major source of food to coastal marine ecosystems, particularly suspension feeders. Comparative and experimental research from SBC LTER has overturned this paradigm, showing that phytoplankton, not kelp, are the main food resource… Read more »

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