PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

UM researcher: Forest canopies buffer against climate change

2015-04-29
(Press-News.org) MISSOULA -- When temperatures rise and less water falls, forests respond. Forest canopies can buffer juvenile trees from drought and heat by providing shade for the younger trees below the leaf and needle cover. Adult trees have deep roots and can handle hot and dry conditions better than juveniles of the same species.

However, current models of how forests will respond to climate change don't account for this difference between adult and juvenile trees. Recent research by Solomon Dobrowski, a University of Montana professor of forest landscape ecology, finds that climatic buffering from forest canopies is important to consider when projecting the likelihood of regeneration in future forests.

"Models that forecast forest change should consider where juvenile trees can make a living - and this might not be where the adult trees currently grow," Dobrowski said.

His research is featured in "Forest structure and species traits mediate projected recruitment declines in western U.S. tree species," published this month in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography. Find the paper online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.12302/abstract.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Dobrowski a $410,000 grant for more research in this area. That grant, "Quantifying Risk of Tree Species Regeneration Failure and Ecosystem Transitions in Lower Elevation Forests," also involves UM research collaborators Anna Sala and Marco Maneta.

For the research in the journal, Dobrowski and colleagues looked at where juvenile trees are found relative to adults of the same species and how this might change under future climates. They suspected a forest canopy might protect juvenile trees from some of the limiting factors that kill juvenile trees like high wind speeds, solar radiation and high temperatures. Projections into the future suggest juvenile trees fare better with a protective forest canopy overhead. Remove the shade-providing tree canopy, however, and juvenile trees may suffer. Eventually, a forest with no juveniles will decline.

"Extensive losses of forest canopy from disturbances such as severe wildfire, will amplify the effects of climate change," Dobrowski said.

The differences between juvenile and adult trees of the same species are most pronounced in the hottest and driest geographic extent of a tree species' range. In dry habitats, juvenile trees tend to occupy wetter locations. In shade-tolerant tree species, juvenile trees are found in cooler settings than adult trees.

Look at many forests in the western United States and you'll see the impact of this difference. Where ponderosa pine trees meet dry grasslands, for instance, you won't find many juveniles. They're likely growing in wet spots, north-facing slopes or further up the mountain.

"We're not sure what the future holds for western forests, but comparing where juveniles and adults currently make a living can give us some unique insights," Dobrowski said.

INFORMATION:

Dobrowski's co-authors include Alan Swanson, John Abatzoglou, Zachary Holden, Hugh Safford, Mike Schwartz and Daniel Gavin.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Toxic combination of air pollution and poverty lowers child IQ

2015-04-29
Children born to mothers experiencing economic hardship, who were also exposed during pregnancy to high levels of PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), scored significantly lower on IQ tests at age 5 compared with children born to mothers with greater economic security and less exposure to the pollutants. The findings by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health appear in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology. PAH are ubiquitous in the environment from emissions from motor vehicles, oil, ...

Illuminating the dark zone

Illuminating the dark zone
2015-04-29
The human body is a cross between a factory and a construction zone -- at least on the cellular level. Certain proteins act as project managers, which direct a wide variety of processes and determine the fate of the cell as a whole. One group of proteins called the WD-repeat (WDR) family helps a cell choose which of the thousands of possible gene products it should manufacture. These WDR proteins fold into a three-dimensional structure resembling a doughnut -- an unusual shape that allows WDR proteins to act as stable platforms on which large protein complexes can assemble ...

Novel approach blocks amyloid production in Alzheimer's mouse model

2015-04-29
Offering a potential early intervention for Alzheimer's disease (AD), researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Cenna Biosciences, Inc. have identified compounds that block the production of beta amyloid peptides in mice. The study is reported April 29 in PLOS ONE. If the results ultimately translate to human treatment, the most promising compound - a peptide dubbed P8 - could be administered to individuals at high risk of developing the disease, long before the tell-tale signs of dementia occur and perhaps with few side effects, due to ...

Extinct species skull shape, ancestors help predict prehistoric diet

2015-04-29
Understanding extinct species diets may require a greater understanding of the relationship between skull biomechanics and the animals' ancestry than previously thought, according to a new study published April 29, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Zhijie Jack Tseng and John Flynn from the American Museum of Natural History. The diet of long-extinct animals may be inferred by using modern animals with similar skull shapes and tooth patterns as models, but scientists aren't sure if diet is the main factor influencing skull shape and biomechanics. To understand ...

New fossil rattles Moby Dick's family tree

New fossil rattles Moby Dicks family tree
2015-04-29
April 24, 2015. Almost since the time of Melville's epic hunt, scientists have been fascinated by the remarkable attributes of the sperm whale and its kin, the smaller pigmy and dwarf whales. Capable of diving to great depths and gifted with an acute sense of echolocation, these animals have remained inseparable from maritime lore. An international team of scientists, led by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's Curator of Marine Mammals Dr. Jorge Velez-Juarbe, has discovered a new species of an extinct pigmy sperm whale from Panama that clarifies key aspects ...

Medical education risks becoming 2-tiered unless strong research focus is preserved

2015-04-29
(Philadelphia, PA) - For more than 100 years, exposing students to basic and clinical research has been an essential component of a medical school education in the United States. However, today, new models of medical education in which research plays a minimal role are likely to create a two-tiered system of education, decrease the physician-scientist pipeline and diminish the application of scientific advances to patient care. Those are the concerns outlined in "American Medical Education at a Crossroads" - a position paper published April 29 by Science Translational ...

New study shows how babies' lives were saved by 3-D printing

New study shows how babies lives were saved by 3-D printing
2015-04-29
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Kaiba was just a newborn when he turned blue because his little lungs weren't getting the oxygen they needed. Garrett spent the first year of his life in hospital beds tethered to a ventilator, being fed through his veins because his body was too sick to absorb food. Baby Ian's heart stopped before he was even six months old. Three babies all had the same life-threatening condition: a terminal form of tracheobronchomalacia, which causes the windpipe to periodically collapse and prevents normal breathing. There was no cure and life-expectancies were ...

High costs of dental care leave many with too little money for basic necessities

2015-04-29
Having to pay for dental health care can put a considerable strain on household finances in many countries, according to an international study led by King's College London. The new study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, assessed the extent of household 'catastrophic dental health expenditure' (CDHE) in 41 low and middle income countries. Expenditure was defined as catastrophic if it was equal to or higher than 40% of the household's capacity to pay. Up to 7% of the households surveyed in these countries had incurred catastrophic dental health expenditure in ...

Improved sanitation may reduce sexual violence in South African townships

2015-04-29
New Haven, Conn.--Improving access to public toilets in South African urban settlements may reduce both the incidence of sexual assaults by nearly 30% and the overall cost to society, a study by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Management found. The research was published April 29 in PLOS ONE. Development and human rights organizations have pointed to inadequate local sanitation facilities as a key factor in a woman's risk for physical or sexual assault. Many women in South Africa must travel out of their homes to public toilets, ...

Novel rapid method for typing of Clostridium difficile could limit outbreaks

2015-04-29
The Public Health Agency of Sweden has developed a method of typing that can allow laboratories to faster establish the presence of hospital outbreaks of the intestinal bacterium Clostridium difficile. The findings are now published in PLOS ONE. The Clostridium difficile bacteria exist in the intestines of 2-5 per cent of the healthy population, and is rather common among infants. In certain circumstances the bacteria can induce diarrhea in persons treated with antibiotics. The diarrhea is in some cases serious. The majority of the cases occur at hospitals. This is ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Heat and heavy metals are changing the way that bees buzz

What’s behind the enormous increase in early-onset gastrointestinal cancers?

Pharmacogenomics expert advances precision medicine for bipolar disorder

Brazilian researcher explores centenarian stem cells for aging insights

Dr. Xuyu Qian's breakthrough analysis of 18 million brain cells advances understanding of human brain development

Gene networks decode human brain architecture from health to glioma

How artificial light at night damages brain health and metabolism

For ultrasound, ultra-strength not always a good thing

Matching your workouts to your personality could make exercising more enjoyable and give you better results

Study shows people perceive biodiversity

Personality type can predict which forms of exercise people enjoy

People can accurately judge biodiversity through sight and sound

People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, global study shows

When domesticated rabbits go feral, new morphologies emerge

Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050

Breakthrough in upconversion luminescence research: Uncovering the energy back transfer mechanism

Hidden role of 'cell protector' opens cancer treatment possibilities

How plants build the microbiome they need to survive in a tough environment

Depression due to politics and its quiet danger to democracy addressed in new book 'The Sad Citizen'

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Nearly half of U.S. grandchildren live within 10 miles of a grandparent

Study demonstrates low-cost method to remove CO₂ from air using cold temperatures, common materials

Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) welcomes 13 students to prestigious Summer Fellowship program

Mass timber could elevate hospital construction

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns

$2.6 million NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program changed drastically when anxiety was added as a qualifying condition

1 in 5 overweight adults could be reclassified with obesity according to new framework

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

[Press-News.org] UM researcher: Forest canopies buffer against climate change