News by Subject Agriculture

A warming climate and more frequent wildfires do not necessarily mean the western United States will see the forest loss that many scientists expect. Dry forest margins may be more resilient to climate change than previously thought if managed appropriately, according to Penn State researchers.

Fairy circles are one of nature's greatest enigmas and most visually stunning phenomena. Researchers led by Göttingen University have now collected detailed data to show that Alan Turing's model explains the striking vegetation patterns of the Australian fairy circles. In addition, the researchers showed that the grasses that make up these patterns act as "eco-engineers" to modify their hostile and arid environment, keeping the ecosystem functioning. Results were published in the Journal of Ecology.

Squeezed by changing ocean conditions that limit their food options and the long-term loss of old forest needed for nesting, marbled murrelets would benefit most from conservation efforts that take both ocean and forest into account, new research shows.

How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It's a deceptively complicated question, so a Rutgers-led group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question.

A new study finds that glyphosate residue from herbicides in manure fertilizer decrease the growth of strawberry and meadow fescue as well as runner production of strawberry.