Treesearch

Cosmic rays and solar energetic particles pose significant risks to satellites, space stations, and human space exploration. They also produce atmospheric radiocarbon (14C), which enters the carbon cycle and is recorded by paleoenvironmental proxies. Miyake events, rapid increases in atmospheric 14C, first identified in annual tree rings and later confirmed through ice core 10Be and 36Cl isotopes, are thought to result from extreme solar activity, are seven events identified over the last 14,300 years. However, uncertainty in annual 14C measurements limits precise inferences about their...

Wildland firefighters play a critical role in managing the complex relationship between humans and fire. To reduce the inherent risks that come with this role, firefighters use safety protocols such as lookouts, communications, escape routes, and safety zones (LCES). Currently, LCES implementation is conducted on the ground with limited support from geospatial information, despite the protocol’s inherently spatial nature. This study introduces GeoLCES: an analytical framework designed to enhance LCES implementation using remote sensing and geospatial modeling. GeoLCES comprises three...

Background: Root system architecture is a key determinant of plant establishment, particularly in species such as Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.), which inherently display limited lateral root formation and low survival rates after transplanting. This study evaluated the impact of radicle-tip excision on root architecture and overall seedling vigor in ‘Ohadi’ pistachio cultivar. A factorial experiment was conducted using five distinct radicle length categories at the time of excision: L1 (0.5–1.0 cm), L2 (1.01–2.0 cm), L3 (2.01–3.0 cm), L4 (3.01–4.0 cm) and L5 (4.01–5.0 cm), and three cutting...

Background: To navigate, animals balance nearby perceptual cues, random search, and memory. Isolating the role of memory, however, remains difficult.Methods: Here, we use a mechanistic movement model to do so, simulating animals responding solely to local perceptual cues (i.e., lacking memory) and comparing their paths with actual routes taken. By comparing route efficiency, we evaluate whether actual routes incorporate knowledge beyond the perceptual range (i.e., spatial memory).Results: We show that wolverines (Gulo gulo) employ spatial memory to plan routes through a rugged, mountainous...

Insect pests can rapidly accumulate in number and thrive in diverse environments, making them valuable models for studying phenotypic plasticity and the genetic basis of local adaptation. The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a major forest pest, and adult body size and generation time are 2 traits that vary among populations and directly influence reproductive success and outbreak dynamics. To identify regions of the genome linked to these 2 traits, we generated double-digest RAD sequencing data from an F2 intercross, using populations from 2 Y haplogroups with phenotypic...

1. Plant functional ecology research has primarily focused on juvenile and adult plants even though regeneration from seed can be the most consequential life-history bottleneck with cascading influence on later stages of growth and reproduction. Understandings of relationships among phenology, morphology and growth-related functional traits have improved our knowledge of plant life-history strategies and adaptive responses to changing climate. However, whether relationships among phenological and morpho-physiological traits exist during plant regeneration is unknown. We also lack understand...

Long-term monitoring is essential for wildlife conservation. Most wildlife population attributes require long-term monitoring to evaluate. Over the time for attributes to resolve through monitoring, however, information needs change. Existing frameworks to accommodate information need changes, such as adaptive monitoring and management, are built for large-scale, programmatic changes. Often, smaller, rapid changes are necessary. Fortunately, information needs can change predictably in wildlife monitoring, even when little is known about populations. Predictable changes include the desire...

The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station (OSBS) is a 38-km2 reserve owned by the University of Florida and is part of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The reserve contains several iconic Florida habitats, such as sandhill, mesic hammock, and scrubby flatwoods. While plants and animals have been extensively studied at OSBS, the fungi remain poorly known. Fungal inventories are critical to increase knowledge of both fungal diversity and species ranges, and thus to provide foundational data for a wide array of applications in ecology and resource management. Here, we present...

1. Bats are important but threatened insectivorous predators, making them a core group to consider when weighing the risks and benefits of insecticide use for combating pest outbreaks. Bats may benefit from open spaces created when insect pests defoliate tree canopies. Applying insecticides could also make treated areas less attractive to bats by lowering insect availability and increasing canopy densities. 2. Here, we examined the effects of a one-time insecticide treatment of oak forest plots with tebufenozide under outbreak and non-outbreak scenarios of the forestry pest species...

Accurate biomass estimation is essential for carbon stock assessment and coastal ecosystem management. Despite decades of research and interest in Puerto Rican mangroves, we lack species specific allometric models with only 10 Rhizophora mangleindividuals having been collected previously. To address this gap, we developed allometric equations for four mangrove species (Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa, Rhizophora mangle, and Conocarpus erectus) by harvesting and analyzing 152 individuals. Biomass estimation models were developed using standardized major axis (SMA) regression,...