Plant science articles

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Plant Canopy Data to Assess Urban Cooling Methods

With global warming and its effects becoming increasingly apparent, all possible measures must be explored to reduce its impact on human life. A growing number of communities find themselves dealing with increased temperatures not taken into account in earlier city planning. Urban cooling measures can make life easier for these residents and also mitigate climate… Continue reading…

Nutrients Moderate Root Dynamics

The continuous cultivation of trees in plantations requires nutrient management to maintain soil fertility. The method and extent to which nutrients are increased can alter species interactions in mixed plantations by influencing root growth. Until recently, little was known about these below-ground dynamics, as they were difficult to study. Advanced tools like minirhizotrons, which make… Continue reading…

Specific Leaf Area Drives Tropical Forest Seedling Diversity

Several forest restoration strategies are commonly attempted today, such as monocultures, mixed-species plantations, and passively regenerating forests. Scientists are also looking at an increasingly wider array of parameters to find out more about the processes that drive seedling diversity in recruitments in different forest restoration methods. Specific leaf area was found to be crucial in… Continue reading…

Leaf Area Measurement and Ecosytem Dynamics in a Changing Climate

An interesting marshland study in the Yangtze Estuary shows the difficulty in extrapolating general predictions of increased vegetative growth, under climate change-induced air warming. Local environmental factors in specialized ecosystems, such as salt marshes, can complicate plant growth patterns to give C3 plants an advantage over C4 plants in warmer climates. Moreover, population-level effects can… Continue reading…

Root Imaging and Genotype Selection in Marshlands Restoration Project

In an effort to restore ailing marshlands, a group of scientists turned their focus to not only selecting appropriate native species, but also understanding specific genotypes that could hold their own against the invasive common reed. Several root investigations were conducted in a bid to find the mechanism that helped the dominant genotype succeed against… Continue reading…

Canopy Cover and Mercury Sequestration in Tropical Forests

Mercury pollution, which has increased due to anthropogenic activities, can spread far from its sources. Knowing how tropical forests solve this issue is important, as these ecosystems are valuable carbon sinks which keep pollutants out of circulation. However, there are many gaps in the understanding of mercury flux in tropical forests. A team of scientists… Continue reading…

Studying Tree Cricket Signalling using Infrared Gas Analysis

A team of biologists wanted a tool for CO2 measurement to find the drivers of trade-offs in insect signalling. A portable Infrared Gas Analyzer, which was designed for plants, was found to be suitable for the task because it allowed non-destructive measurements of respiration. The tool was unrestrictive and allowed the insects to continue their… Continue reading…

Improving Carbon Flux Modeling with Plant Canopy Analysis and Gas Exchange Measurement

Gross Primary Productivity models are crucial to estimate carbon flux in time and space. Integrating sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), which is sensitive to photosynthetic activity, can improve productivity estimates. However, scaling SIF from plants to landscape, while including a myriad of factors that influence how much incident solar light is used, is not easy. Therefore,… Continue reading…

Root Growth and Nitrogen Treatments in Wheat Crop Rotation

Increasing yield has been and continues to be the holy grail in crop breeding. Aided by minirhizotrons, root scanning is increasingly used to understand underlying causes, such as root growth response to management practices. This approach could help to achieve higher yields without increasing nitrogen inputs. In one such attempt, a team of scientists in… Continue reading…

Climate and Competition: Gas Exchange in Two Studies of Wild Species

Climate change studies are focusing on the possible effects of higher temperature on vapor pressure, soil water availability, and light quality on plants. In native species adapted to milder climates, altered patterns of evapotranspiration could lead to increased stomatal closure and decreased photosynthesis. On the other hand, weed species that usually thrive in warm and… Continue reading…