Guam researcher studies Mount Pinatubo ecosystem recovery

Primary succession on the slopes

2011-08-09

(Press-News.org) University of Guam ecologist Thomas Marler recently mobilized efforts to characterize the vegetation that has recovered following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines. "My interest was sparked by the paradox that this volcano's cataclysmic 1991 eruption was so powerful it changed global climate, yet after a full 15 years the biology of the recovering ecosystem had not been studied," said Marler.

The void of research motivated the Guam ecologist to spend a majority of 2006 conducting botanical surveys on the mountain. Marler then teamed up with University of Washington ecologist Roger del Moral to publish results from the surveys in a recent issue of the journal Pacific Science.

This facet of ecology is termed "primary succession" and refers to how organisms begin to grow in sterile habitats, then how they form communities. One core theme that emerged from Marler's research was that unstable soil surfaces of Mount Pinatubo continue to re-start the succession of community formation. "The situation on this mountain serves to remind us that recovery from the damage inflicted by hurtful events may linger for many years," said Marler. A life lesson that Marler contends has application to human relations.

The pair of ecologists also identified several explanatory factors that have correlations with the current status of primary succession. Elevation and the distance to permanent human settlement were two major factors that emerged to explain the vegetation characteristics. According to Marler, there is no solidarity among ecologists about a set of universal factors that enable detailed prediction during succession. The Pinatubo research adds to the list of case studies that may eventually allow the formation of clarity among various succession models.

A scientist with the Western Pacific Tropical Research Center (WPTRC), Marler's research in the Philippines will increase global understanding of ecosystem recovery following natural disasters. "This important research is an example of the critical role that the University of Guam plays while fulfilling our mission in the region," said Greg Wiecko, Associate Director of the WPTRC. "A critical void in knowledge was identified and the University's expertise and resources were deployed to fill the void."

INFORMATION:

Find more information on Thomas Marler's research at www.wptrc.org.

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Heavy metal -- in and around the lakes

2011-08-09

Heavy metal pollution of lakes has a seriously detrimental impact on people and ecosystems that rely on such bodies of water. According to a study published in the current issue of Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, researchers have focused on the physicochemical properties and toxicology of water from and around Thane City of Maharashtra. Environmental chemist Pravin Singare of Bhavan's College, in Mumbai, and colleagues highlight the fact that fresh water bodies all over the world are becoming increasingly polluted day by day and that this represents a growing ...

Improved radical surgery techniques provide positive outcomes for bladder cancer patients

2011-08-09

Bladder cancer patients who have radical surgery at university hospitals can benefit from excellent local control of the disease, acceptable clinical outcomes and low death rates, according to research in the August issue of the urology journal BJUI. Researchers studied 2,287 patients who had radical cystectomy surgery, where the bladder is removed, together with nearby tissue and organs as required. The surgery was performed at eight Canadian academic centres between 1998 and 2008. The study found that there were three independent factors, apart from pathological ...

Live from the scene: Biochemistry in action

2011-08-09

Researchers can now watch molecules move in living cells, literally millisecond by millisecond, thanks to a new microscope developed by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Published online today in Nature Biotechnology, the new technique provides insights into processes that were so far invisible. By combining light-sheet microscopy and single molecule spectroscopy, the new microscope can record the fluorescence of every pixel within view, and take snapshots at intervals of less than one millisecond. With it, scientists ...

'Paranoia' about rivals alters insect mating behavior

2011-08-09

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that male fruitflies experience a type of 'paranoia' in the presence of another male, which doubles the length of time they mate with a female, despite the female of the species only ever mating with one male. Females in many species of animal have multiple mates and males have evolved particular reproductive characteristics to ensure their sperm are successful when in competition with the sperm of other males. Adaptations include physical traits that result in increased sperm count, as well as behavioural alterations ...

Schoolchildren can also learn complex subject matters on their own

2011-08-09

Calculating the surface area of Gran Canaria is no easy task for a 14-year-old. It's not simply a question of learning the right formula. Students have to develop a strategy that enables them to put mathematical theory into practice – working out the information that is important and applying the right geometric models and tools. Realizing that the island has an almost circular shape and so its surface area can be approximated using the area of a circle is not as straightforward as it sounds. Are schoolchildren capable of developing these kinds of solutions themselves or ...

Light unlocks fragrance in laboratory

2011-08-09

In Anna Gudmundsdottir's laboratory at the University of Cincinnati, dedicated researchers endeavor to tame the extremely reactive chemicals known as radicals. Highly reactive radicals are atoms, molecules or ions frantically trying to become something else. Their lifetimes are measured in fractions of seconds and typically occur in the middle of a chain of chemical reactions. They are also known as reactive intermediates. Much of Gudmundsdottir's work has focused on a family of radicals known as triplet nitrenes. "Triplet nitrenes are reactive intermediates with high ...

Walking around is the simplest way to shorten hospital stay

2011-08-09

A new study from the University of Haifa has found that walking around the ward during hospitalization significantly reduces the length of the older patient's stay. "Given the over-occupancy of many hospitals, this finding can be of great importance," the researchers stated. Walking around the ward during hospitalization reduces the length of geriatric patients' stay in internal wards. This has been shown in a new study by Dr. Efrat Shadmi and Dr. Anna Zisberg of the University of Haifa's Department of Nursing, funded by the Israeli Science Foundation and published in ...

Many top US scientists wish they had more children

2011-08-09

Nearly half of all women scientists and one-quarter of male scientists at the nation's top research universities said their career has kept them from having as many children as they had wanted, according to a new study by Rice University and Southern Methodist University (SMU). The study, "Scientists Want More Children," was authored by sociologists Elaine Howard Ecklund of Rice and Anne Lincoln of SMU and appears in the current issue of the journal PLoS ONE. For the past three years, Ecklund and Lincoln have been studying what junior and senior scientists in physics, ...

Technology reveals citrus greening-infected trees

2011-08-09

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are using a technology known as "Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection" (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy to rapidly identify with 95 percent accuracy citrus plant leaves infected with the devastating disease known as citrus greening. Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Subtropical Plant Pathology Research Unit in Fort Pierce, Fla., and the agency's Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit in Athens, Ga., collaborated on the use of FTIR-ATR spectroscopy to identify citrus greening in plants. ...

Most Canadians can be uniquely identified from their date of birth and postal code

2011-08-09

OTTAWA – August 8, 2011 – There are increasing pressures for health care providers to make individual-level data readily available for research and policy making. But Canadians are more likely to allow the sharing of their personal data if they believe that their privacy is protected. A new report by Dr. Khaled El Emam, the Canada Research Chair in Electronic Health Information at the University of Ottawa and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, suggests that Canadians can be uniquely identified from their date of birth, postal code, and gender. ...

Following a 2005 policy, episiotomy rates have reduced in France without an overall increase in anal sphincter injuries during labor, with more research needed to confirm the safest rate of episiotomi

Guam researcher studies Mount Pinatubo ecosystem recovery

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: