by ecos | Feb 23, 2016
Soil microbial communities are extremely complex, being composed of thousands of low-abundance species (<0.1% of total). How such complex communities respond to natural or human-induced fluctuations, including major perturbations such as global climate change,...
by ecos | Feb 23, 2016
Forests are a significant part of the global carbon cycle and are increasingly viewed as tools for mitigating climate change. Natural disturbances, such as fire, can reduce carbon storage. However, many forests and dependent species evolved with frequent fire as an...
by ecos | Feb 23, 2016
In Mediterranean-type ecosystems, nitrogen (N) accumulates in soil during dry summer months and rapidly becomes available during early season rain events. The availability of early season N could depend on the size of rainfall events, soil microbial activity, and...
by ecos | Feb 23, 2016
Foliar nitrogen (N) isotope ratios (δ15N) are used as a proxy for N-cycling processes, including the “openness” of the N cycle and the use of distinct N sources, but there is little experimental support for such proxies in lowland tropical forest. To address this, we...
by ecos | Feb 23, 2016
Arizona and New Mexico receive half of their annual precipitation during the summer monsoon season, making this large-scale rain event critical for ecosystem productivity. We used the monsoon rains to explore the responses of soil bacterial and fungal communities to...
