Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Gareth Phoenix

@garethphoenix.bsky.social

770 followers 260 following 32 posts

Scientist. Climate change and ecosystems, Arctic, boreal, uplands, plant ecology, biogeochemistry, biodiversity. I like to run when I'm not injured.

Videos

Environmental science 38%

Geology 19%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Gareth K. Phoenix

Katie Field @katiefield4.bsky.social · 6d

If you’re looking for a PhD studentship in some really exciting areas of plant science 🌿 take a look at this year’s Sainsbury PhD studentships - you could come and study orchid mycorrhizas 🌸🍄 with me & @garethphoenix.bsky.social! www.findaphd.com/phds/program...

FindAPhD : Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation

Apply for a PhD: Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation

www.findaphd.com

17 11

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · 23d

Job alert 🚨
Technician post in soil carbon at the University of Sheffield @sheffieldpps.bsky.social supporting natural capital assessment in South Yorkshire, UK
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...

Technician: Research

jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk

6 3

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil @sheffieldpps.bsky.social · May 8

7. The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂
How much can ecosystems slow climate change? Study how nutrients regulate carbon storage in global ecosystems. Led by Catriona Macdonald (HIE)
bit.ly/434xNOd
#CarbonCycle #EcosystemScience #AcademicSky

The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University, listed on FindAPhD.com

bit.ly

2 3

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil @sheffieldpps.bsky.social · May 8

Applications open for our International Dual PhD Awards in Plant & Soil Sciences! Train in world-class labs across @sheffieldpps.bsky.social and @westsyduhie.bsky.social and spend time at both institutes.

bit.ly/4375M8D #PhDopportunity #PlantScience #SoilScience #Sustainability #AcademicSky

World class training - International dual award PhDs in Plant & Soil Science now open

These new studentships offer a unique opportunity to join a vibrant and collaborative research community spanning two world-class institutions in Sheffield, UK and Sydney, Australia.

bit.ly

2 13 16

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · May 8

🚨 PhD alert.
PhD opportunity studying how nutrient availability impacts the ability of ecosystems to absorb more CO2 as CO2 levels rise.

With Catriona MacDonald and Ben Smith at Western Sydney University and myself here @sheffieldpps.bsky.social Sheffield

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University, listed on FindAPhD.com

www.findaphd.com

7 5

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · May 2

Interesting paper:
Increases in Arctic Extreme Climatic Events Are Linked to Negative Fitness Effects on the Local Biota.

doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

Increases in Arctic Extreme Climatic Events Are Linked to Negative Fitness Effects on the Local Biota

The Arctic harbours uniquely adapted biodiversity and plays an important role in climate regulation. Strong warming trends in the terrestrial Arctic have been linked to an increase in aboveground bio....

doi.org

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · May 2

Interesting paper:
Tundra Plant Canopies Gradually Close Over Three Decades While Cryptogams Persist
doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

As the authors point out, "These results call into question the dominant dogma that cryptogams will decline with increases in vascular plant abundance" 🤯

Tundra Plant Canopies Gradually Close Over Three Decades While Cryptogams Persist

Two sites in northern Alaska representative of the circumpolar tundra biome were periodically sampled over more than three decades. Plant canopies both grew taller and increased in complexity while m...

doi.org

Reposted by Ingolf Kühn, Marten Winter, Niels Martin Schmidt , and 1 more Ingolf Kühn, Marten Winter, Niels Martin Schmidt, Gareth K. Phoenix

Dr. Mariana García Criado @nanitundra.bsky.social · Apr 30

🌸Plant diversity dynamics over space and time in a warming Arctic 🌸

Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍

Illustration of a Greenlandic landscape, showing in the foreground Rhododendron lapponicum on a cliff, with sea ice and icebergs in the background. Illustration by Alberto S. Ballesteros (@asbillustration.bsky.social)

7 61 170

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

Mika Rantanen @mikarantane.bsky.social · Apr 28

Excited to share that our new paper

“Summer 2024 in northern Fennoscandia was very likely the warmest in 2000 years”

has been published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science!

See the open-access paper from doi.org/10.1038/s416...

Short thread 👇

Summer 2024 in northern Fennoscandia was very likely the warmest in 2000 years - npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

npj Climate and Atmospheric Science - Summer 2024 in northern Fennoscandia was very likely the warmest in 2000 years

doi.org

2 50 120

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Apr 11

New paper: The changing face of the Arctic: four decades of greening and implications for tundra ecosystems

www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Feb 10

Quote:

"When fire emissions are factored in, the increasing Arctic–Boreal Zone sink is no longer statistically significant, and the permafrost region becomes CO2 neutral"

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Feb 10

Quote:

"Although the Arctic–Boreal Zone was overall an increasing terrestrial CO2 sink from 2001 to 2020, more than 30% of the region was a net CO2 source"

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Feb 10

Interesting paper:

Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake - Nature Climate Change

How the carbon stocks of the Arctic–Boreal Zone change with warming is not well understood. Here the authors show that wildfires and large regional differences in net carbon fluxes offset the overall ...

www.nature.com

1 2

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Jan 28

Although there are many different causes of browning events, there are also a number of commonalities among the impacts that they have.

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Jan 28

Browning events are extreme climatic, biotic and physical disturbance events that can cause substantial loss of plant biomass and productivity, sometimes at scales of > 1000 km2, They are therefore key contributors to the spatial and temporal complexity of Arctic greening and vegetation dynamics.

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Jan 28

Our review paper “Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: diverse causes with common consequences” is out in @plosclimate.org

journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

@sheffieldpps.bsky.social, @robertgbjork.bsky.social, @scootjd.bsky.social, @thissideofthearctic.org, @arctic-carolina.bsky.social

journals.plos.org

1 5 17

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

Anna Virkkala @annvirkk.bsky.social · Jan 28

We are looking for a grant-funded doctoral resarcher on a project focusing on how tree and shrub expansion into the tundra impact biodiversity and carbon balance @Department of Geosciences and Geography @helsinkiuni.bsky.social! DM me if you are interested, and please share!

24 27

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

PLOS Climate @plosclimate.org · Jan 27

A new PLOS Climate Review article by @garethphoenix.bsky.social and colleagues brings together understanding of browning events in Arctic ecosystems to compare their impacts and rates of recovery, and likely future changes in frequency and distribution

journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: Diverse causes with common consequences

Arctic ecosystems are experiencing extreme climatic, biotic and physical disturbance events that can cause substantial loss of plant biomass and productivity, sometimes at scales of >1000 km2. Collect...

journals.plos.org

1 6 10

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Jan 22

Interesting paper:
Increasing certainty in projected local extreme precipitation change.

Some regions are going to have big increases in annual maximum daily precipitation, and this is now known with greater certainty.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Increasing certainty in projected local extreme precipitation change - Nature Communications

This study presents more accurate future extreme precipitation projections at local scales constrained by past warming observations using an adaptative emergent constraint approach.

www.nature.com

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Jan 15

Interesting paper: Substantial and overlooked greenhouse gas emissions from deep Arctic lake sediment.

Carbon release from deep sediment permafrost thaw (20m in this study) may be much more important for changing climate than thought.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Substantial and overlooked greenhouse gas emissions from deep Arctic lake sediment - Nature Geoscience

Deep permafrost soils produce comparable amounts of greenhouse gases as shallow soils in response to warming, according to incubation experiments of deep Arctic lake sediments.

www.nature.com

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Jan 10

Quote "reduction in snow cover duration surpasses elevated temperatures in influencing heat accumulation during the growing season. This accumulation is a key driver of the pronounced greening observed in late snow-melting sites"

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 20

I like this: Regional fire–greening positive feedback loops in Alaskan Arctic tundra

Fire promotes arctic greening by facilitating establishment and growth of larger stature deciduous shrubs and other species. And the more severe fires do this more.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Regional fire–greening positive feedback loops in Alaskan Arctic tundra - Nature Plants

Arctic warming has led to widespread greening across the tundra. Utilizing remote-sensing and field data, this study identifies a positive fire–greening feedback loop operating across regional scales ...

www.nature.com

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 20

Looking to the future, to quote the abstract:
"For the coming decades, the propagation of permafrost warming to greater depths is largely predetermined already"

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 20

Enhanced warming of European mountain permafrost in the early 21st century

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Enhanced warming of European mountain permafrost in the early 21st century - Nature Communications

Permafrost in Europe’s mountains has warmed by more than 1 °C per decade in certain places, matching the levels in Arctic lowlands. The strongest warming occurred at cold bedrock at the highest elevat...

www.nature.com

1 1 2

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 20

This suggests that climate change impacts on plant phenology may decrease even as temperatures continue to rise.

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 20

Interesting: Diminishing warming effects on plant phenology over time.

This meta-analysis shows that the rate of change of plant phenology in response to warming declines over time.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Diminishing warming effects on plant phenology over time

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 14

Quote: "One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time".

I quite like that 😊

1 1 20

Reposted by Gareth K. Phoenix

Robert G. Björk @robertgbjork.bsky.social · Dec 9

Misclassifying Oroarctic areas has led to significant confusion. Risto Virtanen's old paper deserve more attention for clarifying this. The European tundra falls into 3 distinct categories: Arctic, Oroarctic, and Alpine #ClimateScience #Oroarctic #ArcticTundra onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Where do the treeless tundra areas of northern highlands fit in the global biome system: toward an ecologically natural subdivision of the tundra biome

(1) The broad-scale patterns in the distribution and ecology of European tundra have been disputed for long. We attempt solutions by introducing ecologically meaningful and sound guidelines for bioge...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 8

Gareth Phoenix @garethphoenix.bsky.social · Dec 8

Thanks @robertgbjork.bsky.social Could you add me please?

1 1