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What Is Nitrogen Deposition and How Does It Affect Plants and Biodiversity?

June 2, 2026 at 7:06 pm | Updated June 2, 2026 at 7:06 pm | 12 min read

Air pollutants, nitrogen oxides, and ammonia, are leading to increased nitrogen deposition on soil and water. Increased nitrogen deposition is changing soil properties through nitrogen enrichment and acidification. As a result of soil changes and acid rain, plants’ biochemistry, physiology, and morphology are changing. Loss of species and a shift in species composition are negatively… Continue reading…

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What Happens If My Canopy Profiles Change Mid‑Season
What Happens If My Canopy Profiles Change Mid‑Season

What Happens If My Canopy Profiles Change Mid‑Season?

Canopy profiles rarely stay still for an entire growing season. That is exactly why tracking canopy profiles matters. A crop can look uniform in early vegetative growth, then shift quickly once row closure, heat stress, nutrient differences, pruning, lodging, disease pressure, or irrigation variation start changing leaf angle, canopy density, and light penetration. When canopy… Continue reading…

CI 340 Handheld Photosynthesis System
CI 340 Handheld Photosynthesis System

Is the CI‑340 Accurate Enough for Photosynthesis Rate Comparisons?

For researchers running photosynthesis rate comparisons, the real question is usually not whether a handheld system can produce useful data. It is whether the instrument is stable, repeatable, and flexible enough to support side by side measurements across treatments, genotypes, environments, or time points. On that standard, the CI-340 makes a strong case. CID Bio-Science… Continue reading…

What’s the Difference Between Gap‑Fraction and PAR Methods in Canopy Analysis
What’s the Difference Between Gap‑Fraction and PAR Methods in Canopy Analysis

What’s the Difference Between Gap‑Fraction and PAR Methods in Canopy Analysis?

When researchers compare canopy analysis methods, the conversation usually comes down to one practical question: do you want to estimate canopy structure from images of the canopy itself, or from the light that makes it through the canopy? That is the core difference between gap-fraction and PAR methods. Both are used to estimate leaf area… Continue reading…

CI-600 In-Situ Root Imager
CI-600 In-Situ Root Imager

What Environmental Conditions Affect Root Image Quality in the CI‑600?

Root image quality is one of the most important factors when working with in situ root phenotyping systems like the CI-600. If the image is unclear, inconsistent, or distorted, downstream analysis becomes less reliable. That is why understanding how environmental conditions influence root image quality is critical for researchers who want consistent, publishable data. The… Continue reading…

Chlorophyll Fluorescence for Non-Destructive Estimation of Crop Nutrient Status

Chlorophyll fluorescence (ChF) can detect individual and multiple nutrient deficiencies simultaneously. The method involves non-destructive, precise, real-time measurements. A species-specific approach is necessary when developing ChF-based technology to detect multiple nutrient deficiencies. The main aim of agricultural practices is to optimize conditions and resources essential to maintaining productivity.  Instead of determining the levels of a… Continue reading…

How Light Fluorescence Ratios Help Detect Plant Stress Before Symptoms Appear

Plant leaves fluoresce red, far-red, blue, and green under varying wavelengths of light. Chlorophyll fluorescence-based ratios include Fv/Fm and the red-to-far-red ratio. Fluorescence from red, far-red, blue, and green light occurs in response to UV light. Blue-to-red and blue-to-far-red ratios are more sensitive to stress than the chlorophyll fluorescence ratio of red/far-red. Plants do not… Continue reading…