Publications by authors named "T'ai G W Forte"
Anthropogenic biodiversity decline threatens the functioning of ecosystems and the many benefits they provide to humanity. As well as causing species losses in directly affected locations, human influence might also reduce biodiversity in relatively unmodified vegetation if far-reaching anthropogenic effects trigger local extinctions and hinder recolonization. Here we show that local plant diversity is globally negatively related to the level of anthropogenic activity in the surrounding region.
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- Drought events are becoming more common in grasslands and shrublands, affecting soil organic carbon (SOC), which includes different forms like particulate (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC).
- A global study over 19 sites revealed that in wetter areas (aridity index > 0.65), extreme drought led to a significant decrease in SOC (7.9%) and POC (15.9%), but MAOC levels remained unchanged.
- In drier regions (aridity index < 0.65), drought did not significantly affect any type of soil organic carbon, indicating that the impact of drought on SOC is influenced by environmental aridity and rainfall variability.
Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2024
Article Synopsis
- Climate change is making droughts (periods without rain) happen more often and for longer periods of time, which is bad for ecosystems.
- Scientists did a big experiment in many places around the world to see how one year of drought affects grasslands and shrublands.
- They found that extreme drought can reduce plant growth much more than expected, especially in dry areas with fewer types of plants, showing that these places are more at risk.
Biochar effects on early decomposition of standard litter in a European beech forest (northern Italy).
Sci Total Environ
December 2023
The release of biochar (BC) on forest soil is a strategy aimed at increasing carbon reserves and forest productivity. The effect of BC amendments on the decomposition of different quality litter is, however, poorly understood. With this study we investigate the effects of wood-derived BC applications on early decomposition in a European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochar (BC) soil amendments could partially counteract soil carbon (C) stock decrease in broad-leaved forests in Italy; however, its effects on the growth of representative tree species—Fagus sylvatica L. and Quercus cerris L.—has not yet been addressed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal maps of soil temperature.
Glob Chang Biol
May 2022
Article Synopsis
- Research discusses how current global climate models are based on air temperatures but fail to capture the soil temperatures beneath vegetation where many species thrive.
- New global maps present soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at 1-km resolution for specific depths, revealing that mean annual soil temperatures can differ significantly from air temperatures by up to 10°C.
- The findings indicate that relying on air temperature could misrepresent climate impacts on ecosystems, especially in colder regions, highlighting the need for more precise soil temperature data for ecological studies.
SoilTemp: A global database of near-surface temperature.
Glob Chang Biol
November 2020
Current analyses and predictions of spatially explicit patterns and processes in ecology most often rely on climate data interpolated from standardized weather stations. This interpolated climate data represents long-term average thermal conditions at coarse spatial resolutions only. Hence, many climate-forcing factors that operate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions are overlooked.
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