Defoliation severity is positively related to soil solution nitrogen availability and negatively related to soil nitrogen concentrations following a multi-year invasive insect irruption

Understanding connections between ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling and invasive insect defoliation could facilitate the prediction of disturbance impacts across a range of spatial scales. In this study we investigated relationships between ecosystem N cycling and tree defoliation during a recent 2015–18 irruption of invasive gypsy moth caterpillars (Lymantria dispar), which can cause tree stress and sometimes mortality following multiple years of defoliation. Nitrogen is a critical nutrient that limits the growth of caterpillars and plants in temperate forests. In this study, we assessed the associations among N concentrations, soil solution N availability and defoliation intensity by L. dispar at the scale of individual trees and forest plots. We measured leaf and soil N concentrations and soil solution inorganic N availability among individual red oak trees (Quercus rubra) in Amherst, MA and across a network of forest plots in Central Massachusetts. We combined these field data with estimated defoliation severity derived from Landsat imagery to assess relationships between plot-scale defoliation and ecosystem N cycling. We found that trees in soil with lower N concentrations experienced more herbivory than trees in soil with higher N concentrations. Additionally, forest plots with lower N soil were correlated with more severe L. dispar defoliation, which matched the tree-level relationship. The amount of inorganic N in soil solution was strongly positively correlated with defoliation intensity and the number of sequential years of defoliation. These results suggested that higher ecosystem N pools might promote the resistance of oak trees to L. dispar defoliation and that defoliation severity across multiple years is associated with a linear increase in soil solution inorganic N

Training macrosystems scientists requires both interpersonal and technical skills

Macrosystems science strives to integrate patterns and processes that span regional to continental scales. The scope of such research often necessitates the involvement of large interdisciplinary and/or multi-institutional teams composed of scientists across a range of career stages, a diversity that requires researchers to hone both technical and interpersonal skills. We surveyed participants in macrosystems projects funded by the US National Science Foundation to assess the perceived importance of different skills needed in their research, as well as the types of training they received. Survey results revealed a mismatch between the skills participants perceive as important and the training they received, particularly for interpersonal and management skills. We highlight lessons learned from macrosystems training case studies, explore avenues for further improvement of undergraduate and graduate education, and discuss other training opportunities for macrosystems scientists. Given the trend toward interdisciplinary research beyond the macrosystems community, these insights are broadly applicable for scientists involved in diverse, collaborative projects.https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.228

The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.Peer reviewe

The uncertain climate footprint of wetlands under human pressure

Significant climate risks are associated with a positive carbon–temperature feedback in northern latitude carbon-rich ecosystems,making an accurate analysis of human impacts on the net greenhouse gas balance of wetlands a priority. Here, we provide a coherent assessment of the climate footprint of a network of wetland sites based on simultaneous and quasi-continuous ecosystem observations of CO2 and CH4 fluxes. Experimental areas are located both in natural and in managed wetlands and cover a wide range of climatic regions, ecosystem types, and management practices. Based on direct observations we predict that sustained CH4 emissions in natural ecosystems are in the long term (i.e., several centuries) typically offset by CO2 uptake, although with large spatiotemporal variability. Using a space-for-time analogy across ecological and climatic gradients, we represent the chronosequence from natural to managed conditions to quantify the “cost” of CH4 emissions for the benefit of net carbon sequestration. With a sustained pulse– response radiative forcing model, we found a significant increase in atmospheric forcing due to land management, in particular for wetland converted to cropland. Our results quantify the role of human activities on the climate footprint of northern wetlands and call for development of active mitigation strategies for managed wetlands and new guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) accounting for both sustained CH4 emissions and cumulative CO2 exchange

The Clean Plate Club? Food Waste and Individual Responsibility

We offer an overview of both the empirical literature on food waste and philosophical work on the concept of waste. We use this background to argue that an overemphasis on the reduction of individual food waste is misleading at best, and pernicious at worst, in combatting the substantial problems that global food waste creates. Rather, we argue that civic engagement and political activism aimed at institutional reform will be essential in addressing these problems

Developing simulation modeling skills in an introductory biology course

These slides were presented by Jaclyn Matthes from Wellesley College at the Association of American Colleges & Universities Project Kaleidoscope Summer 2018 meeting, "Off to a Good Start: Excellent in Teaching Introductory STEM courses" at Salem State University. The presentation highlights two modeling and data apps that were developed by Matthes for use in an Introductory to Organismal Biology course at Wellesley College.<br

Tree Stress and Mortality from Emerald Ash Borer Does Not Systematically Alter Short-Term Soil Carbon Flux in a Mixed Northeastern U.S. Forest

Invasive insect pests are a common disturbance in temperate forests, but their effects on belowground processes in these ecosystems are poorly understood. This study examined how aboveground disturbance might impact short-term soil carbon flux in a forest impacted by emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) in central New Hampshire, USA. We anticipated changes to soil moisture and temperature resulting from tree mortality caused by emerald ash borer, with subsequent effects on rates of soil respiration and methane oxidation. We measured carbon dioxide emissions and methane uptake beneath trees before, during, and after infestation by emerald ash borer. In our study, emerald ash borer damage to nearby trees did not alter soil microclimate nor soil carbon fluxes. While surprising, the lack of change in soil microclimate conditions may have been a result of the sandy, well-drained soil in our study area and the diffuse spatial distribution of canopy ash trees and subsequent canopy light gaps after tree mortality. Overall, our results indicate that short-term changes in soil carbon flux following insect disturbances may be minimal, particularly in forests with well-drained soils and a mixed-species canopy

Experimental and Observational Evidence of Negative Conspecific Density Dependence in Temperate Extomycorrhizal Trees

Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) promotes tree species diversity by reducing recruitment near conspecific adults due to biotic feedbacks from herbivores, pathogens, or competitors. While this process is well-described in tropical forests, tests of temperate tree species range from strong positive to strong negative density dependence. To explain this, several studies have suggested that tree species traits may help predict the strength and direction of density dependence: for example, ectomycorrhizal-associated tree species typically exhibit either positive or weaker negative conspecific density dependence. More generally, the strength of density dependence may be predictably related to other species-specific ecological attributes such as shade tolerance, or the relative local abundance of a species. To test the strength of density dependence and whether it affects seedling community diversity in a temperate forest, we tracked the survival of seedlings of three ectomycorrhizal-associated species experimentally planted beneath conspecific and heterospecific adults on the Prospect Hill tract of the Harvard Forest, in Massachusetts, USA. Experimental seedling survival was always lower under conspecific adults, which increased seedling community diversity in one of six treatments. We compared these results to evidence of CNDD from observed sapling survival patterns of 28 species over approximately 8 years in an adjacent 35-ha forest plot. We tested whether species-specific estimates of CNDD were associated with mycorrhizal association, shade tolerance, and local abundance. We found evidence of significant, negative conspecific density dependence (CNDD) in 23 of 28 species, and positive conspecific density dependence in two species. Contrary to our expectations, ectomycorrhizal-associated species generally exhibited stronger (e.g., more negative) CNDD than arbuscular mycorrhizal-associated species. CNDD was also stronger in more shade-tolerant species but was not associated with local abundance. Conspecific adult trees often have a negative influence on seedling survival in temperate forests, particularly for tree species with certain traits. Here we found strong experimental and observational evidence that ectomycorrhizal-associating species consistently exhibit CNDD. Moreover, similarities in the relative strength of density dependence from experiments and observations of sapling mortality suggest a mechanistic link between negative effects of conspecific adults on seedling and sapling survival and local tree species distributions