A new conceptual framework for incorporating the way plants use carbon and water, or plant dynamics, into fine-scale computer models of wildland fire provides a critical first step toward improved global fire forecasting.
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Non-vascular bryophytes live in colonies that cover the ground and resemble tiny forests. In a real forest, plants compete for light in different layers of the canopy. If a plant does not receive enough sunlight, it stops lateral branching and…
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In a paper published botanists have shown that some Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants) are capturing more nitrogen, and therefore nutrients, from mammal droppings as compared to those that capture insects.
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Ghostly-looking Monotropastrum humile that is widely found across East and Southeast Asia. It often grows in woodlands where there is little sunlight, obtaining the nutrients it needs by feeding off the hyphae of fungi. Despite its wide distribution, it was previously believed…
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Global climate change brings increases in precipitation extremes, from severe drought to heavy rainfall events, both expected to become more prevalent through the 21st century. Powerful weather events already impact human environments, with intense fires and flooding, and greatly transform…
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Scientists in Colombia show that well managed pasture can store more soil carbon while reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to offset the climate impact of livestock.
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A herb that grows abundantly in coastal areas can be used to rid the soil around nuclear plants of caesium, a radioactive by-product of reactors, says a new study.
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A big part of evolution is competition-- when there are limited resources to go around, plants and animals have to duke it out for nutrients, mates, and places to live. That means that the flower-covered meadows of China’s Hengduan mountains…
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Scientists have puzzled over the origin of Namibia’s fairy circles for nearly half a century. It boiled down to two main theories: either termites were responsible, or plants were somehow self-organizing. Now, researchers benefitting from two exceptionally good rainfall seasons…
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Until now, the only way to learn about these traits from herbarium collections has required destroying bits of the precious specimens. But now researchers have developed a fast, nondestructive way of estimating the functional traits of herbarium specimens. The research, offers…
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