Genetic Differences May Help Corals Adapt to Changing Conditions

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Individuals—even individuals of the same species—don’t always respond to a stimulus in the same way. Studying calcification in a key coral species, Acropora pulchra, researchers at the Moorea Coral Reef LTER found greater variety in the corals’ response to temperature than to high levels of CO2 in seawater. Since individual variation is the raw material of evolution, the contrast suggests it may be easier for this coral species to adapt to rising temperatures than to increased ocean acidification.

The Spruce and the Hare: Backing Up Leopold’s Intuition

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snowshoe hare

Snowshoe hares prefer many other plants to white spruce seedlings, but when the population of hares skyrockets—as it does about once a decade—they can decimate even a bumper crop of spruce seedlings. Researchers with the Bonanza Creek LTER reconstructed over 40 years of browsing history by analyzing the age and browse scars of thousands of seedlings and saplings at 18 locations on the floodplain of Alaska’s Tanana River.

The grazing effect: How bison impact plant water use

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When one envisions a grassland community, imagery of tall grasses and bison often come to mind. Bison are an iconic species on the landscape, and they also impact the structure and function of the grassland ecosystem in important ways.  Using natural variations in the abundance of oxygen isotopes, researchers at the Konza Prairie LTER found that  grazing influenced plant water use through changes in diversity.

Harvard Forest researchers say whitebark pine tree’s future may be at risk

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New research by Harvard Forest (HFR) LTER scientists suggest that widespread death of the whiteback pine tree from beetle infestations and tree disease outbreaks may be affecting seed production and hence the future of the tree–a mountain tree important to wildlife and water resources in the western United States and Canada. In a paper published… Read more »

Harvard Forest carbon research featured on NSF “Science Nation”

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The National Science Foundation’s online video magazine, “Science Nation,” has released a short video featuring long term research by scientists at the Harvard Forest (HFR) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program to determine how the forest responds to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The short video and the accompanying short article can be viewed at… Read more »

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