Bill Smith
@wkolby.bsky.social
Associate Professor @uarizona.bsky.social. Ecosystem ecology, ecophysiology, multi-scale remote sensing, drylands. Lab website: https://sites.arizona.edu/ecd-lab/; NASA ARID website: https://aridscoping.arizona.edu/
Pinned
Bill Smith
@wkolby.bsky.social
· Nov 3
Serendipity in Space: NASA’s Eye in the Sky - Eos
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission, proposed for early termination, has turned out to be a boon to forest and agricultural management.
eos.org
Serendipity in Space: NASA’s Eye in the Sky eos.org/editor-highl...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Temporal decoupling of #carbon #source and sink processes in temperate trees: insights from combined measurements of #remote #sensing and #xylogenesis
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Leng et al.
@WIleyPlantSci #PlantScience
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Leng et al.
@WIleyPlantSci #PlantScience
December 4, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Temporal decoupling of #carbon #source and sink processes in temperate trees: insights from combined measurements of #remote #sensing and #xylogenesis
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Leng et al.
@WIleyPlantSci #PlantScience
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Leng et al.
@WIleyPlantSci #PlantScience
Reposted by Bill Smith
The new Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED5, 2002–2022) shows that at the global scale 1) by far, most area burned are grasslands; 2) area burned is declining; & 3) fuel consumption is increasing: ie, fires are increasing in forests & encroached grasslands.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🔥🌳🌐
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🔥🌳🌐
December 2, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The new Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED5, 2002–2022) shows that at the global scale 1) by far, most area burned are grasslands; 2) area burned is declining; & 3) fuel consumption is increasing: ie, fires are increasing in forests & encroached grasslands.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🔥🌳🌐
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🔥🌳🌐
Reposted by Bill Smith
We compared the responses of aboveground and seed bank communities at five perennial grass-dominated sites across an elevational gradient to 6 years of extreme drought and deluge. New paper led by Jenny Gremer
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Divergent responses of seed banks and aboveground vegetation to drought and deluge in grasslands across an elevational gradient - Oecologia
Increased variability in precipitation associated with climate change creates extreme conditions of drought and deluge that can have profound effects on the abundance and composition of plant communit...
link.springer.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
We compared the responses of aboveground and seed bank communities at five perennial grass-dominated sites across an elevational gradient to 6 years of extreme drought and deluge. New paper led by Jenny Gremer
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Elevated CO2 Increases the Canopy Temperature of Mature Quercus robur (Pedunculate Oak)
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buff.ly
November 22, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Elevated CO2 Increases the Canopy Temperature of Mature Quercus robur (Pedunculate Oak)
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🔗
Reposted by Bill Smith
New paper w. Chris Doughty & Ben Wiebe on some fun experiments a forest canopy in Panama: Experimental manipulations of albedo and mortality of upper canopy leaves in a tropical forest diverge from earth system model results: tinyurl.com/22kzdj3z
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
New paper w. Chris Doughty & Ben Wiebe on some fun experiments a forest canopy in Panama: Experimental manipulations of albedo and mortality of upper canopy leaves in a tropical forest diverge from earth system model results: tinyurl.com/22kzdj3z
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Applications are open for the Spectral Ecology Summer School (www.specschool.org) a program introducing graduate students and postdocs to hyperspectral and lidar remote sensing using NEON data. This year's application and info is here: forms.gle/ohkeGYvmGQ9C... Applications close December 23, 2025.
SPEC School
spectral ecology summer school
www.specschool.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Applications are open for the Spectral Ecology Summer School (www.specschool.org) a program introducing graduate students and postdocs to hyperspectral and lidar remote sensing using NEON data. This year's application and info is here: forms.gle/ohkeGYvmGQ9C... Applications close December 23, 2025.
Urge your representative to join the bipartisan letter to Save NASA Science www.congressweb.com/PlanetarySoc...
Urge your representative to join the bipartisan letter to Save NASA Science
Contact your House Representative to encourage them to sign the bipartisan congressional letter requesting full funding for NASA Science in the final deal for Fiscal Year 2026.
If your Represent...
www.congressweb.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Urge your representative to join the bipartisan letter to Save NASA Science www.congressweb.com/PlanetarySoc...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Published today in Earth System Science Data: The Global Carbon Budget 2025
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Global Carbon Budget 2025
Abstract. Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to bette...
essd.copernicus.org
November 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Published today in Earth System Science Data: The Global Carbon Budget 2025
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Just out: more evidence for a weakening land carbon sink across the contiguous U.S. Proud to be part of this collaborative effort among (mostly) federal scientists! 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Land change, fire, and climate weaken carbon sink in the conterminous United States
The United States has experienced rising carbon sources driven by land use, fire, and climate factors.
www.science.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Just out: more evidence for a weakening land carbon sink across the contiguous U.S. Proud to be part of this collaborative effort among (mostly) federal scientists! 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Reposted by Bill Smith
Cool use of a clumped isotopologue in wood! - Isotopic evidence for elevated photorespiration during the last glacial period www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Isotopic evidence for elevated photorespiration during the last glacial period - Nature Geoscience
Low carbon dioxide levels during the last glacial period enhanced photorespiration in trees across North America, indicating a decline in land plant productivity, according to measurements of clumped ...
www.nature.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Cool use of a clumped isotopologue in wood! - Isotopic evidence for elevated photorespiration during the last glacial period www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Extreme warming of Amazon waters in a changing climate | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Extreme warming of Amazon waters in a changing climate
In 2023, an unprecedented drought and heat wave severely affected Amazon waters, leading to high mortality of fishes and river dolphins. Five of 10 lakes monitored had exceptionally high daytime water...
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Extreme warming of Amazon waters in a changing climate | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Congrats to @bposch.bsky.social for leading the writing of the New Phytologist Tansley Review on High‐temperature acclimation of photosystem II in land plants. @newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
High‐temperature acclimation of photosystem II in land plants
The effect of high temperature on plant performance and survival is a topic of great interest given the ongoing rise in global heatwave frequency, duration, and intensity. The temperature at which ph...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Congrats to @bposch.bsky.social for leading the writing of the New Phytologist Tansley Review on High‐temperature acclimation of photosystem II in land plants. @newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Serendipity in Space: NASA’s Eye in the Sky eos.org/editor-highl...
Serendipity in Space: NASA’s Eye in the Sky - Eos
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission, proposed for early termination, has turned out to be a boon to forest and agricultural management.
eos.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Serendipity in Space: NASA’s Eye in the Sky eos.org/editor-highl...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Please help circulate this postdoc fellowship opportunity! (And shameless plug that here at OSU there would be opportunities to build intersections between forest biology, remote sensing, modeling, or creative uses of the impressive new OSU supercomputer.) www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
October 28, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Please help circulate this postdoc fellowship opportunity! (And shameless plug that here at OSU there would be opportunities to build intersections between forest biology, remote sensing, modeling, or creative uses of the impressive new OSU supercomputer.) www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Reposted by Bill Smith
The latest DroughtNet paper is out in Science today! Using coordinated experiments across six continents and 74 sites, the International Drought Experiment found differences between the effects of extreme droughts and more typical droughts... (1/3) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity
As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with cons...
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The latest DroughtNet paper is out in Science today! Using coordinated experiments across six continents and 74 sites, the International Drought Experiment found differences between the effects of extreme droughts and more typical droughts... (1/3) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Job: Assistant/Associate Professor, Earth System Modeling, Yale University apply.interfolio.com/174637
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Job: Assistant/Associate Professor, Earth System Modeling, Yale University apply.interfolio.com/174637
Reposted by Bill Smith
Australian tropical rainforest trees switch in world first from carbon sink to emissions source www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Australian tropical rainforest trees switch in world first from carbon sink to emissions source
Researchers say carbon emissions change in Queensland tropical rainforests may have global climate implications
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Australian tropical rainforest trees switch in world first from carbon sink to emissions source www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Bill Smith
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
Happy to share a new #RSE paper, "Satellite observations reveal ecosystem resistance and resilience ... driven by dominant vegetation along a rainfall gradient in Australia," led by PhD student Huanhuan Wang doi-org.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/10.1016/j.rs...
October 9, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Happy to share a new #RSE paper, "Satellite observations reveal ecosystem resistance and resilience ... driven by dominant vegetation along a rainfall gradient in Australia," led by PhD student Huanhuan Wang doi-org.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/10.1016/j.rs...
Reposted by Bill Smith
In #drylands, plants don’t grow randomly — they self-organize into disordered hyperuniform patterns that help them use water wisely & endure extreme aridity. A beautiful hidden logic of nature, revealed in a new @pnas.org study doi.org/10.1073/pnas... including #Maestrelab alumni
October 8, 2025 at 6:59 AM
In #drylands, plants don’t grow randomly — they self-organize into disordered hyperuniform patterns that help them use water wisely & endure extreme aridity. A beautiful hidden logic of nature, revealed in a new @pnas.org study doi.org/10.1073/pnas... including #Maestrelab alumni
Reposted by Bill Smith
Reposted by Bill Smith
Our new perspective on what TLS can (& can't) do in forest research www.nature.com/articles/s41... - led by Eduardo Maeda w lots of great colleagues including @kimcalders.bsky.social @emilyrlines.bsky.social @louiseterryn.bsky.social @benjaminbrede.bsky.social (apols for any I don;t have @ for)
Expanding forest research with terrestrial LiDAR technology - Nature Communications
This Review highlights how terrestrial laser scanning is transforming forest research by enabling highly detailed 3D measurements of trees, supporting applications in forest ecology, carbon monitoring, and biodiversity assessment.
www.nature.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Our new perspective on what TLS can (& can't) do in forest research www.nature.com/articles/s41... - led by Eduardo Maeda w lots of great colleagues including @kimcalders.bsky.social @emilyrlines.bsky.social @louiseterryn.bsky.social @benjaminbrede.bsky.social (apols for any I don;t have @ for)
Reposted by Bill Smith
I'm excited to share this work led by Lynn Riley investigating albedo impacts from afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects. We hope the findings will guide future projects in the fight against climate change. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Accounting for albedo in carbon market protocols - Nature Communications
The paper analyzes the impact of omitting biophysical effects from carbon credits on climate mitigation. It shows that some Voluntary Carbon Market projects may result in net warming due to albedo while others enhance cooling.
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I'm excited to share this work led by Lynn Riley investigating albedo impacts from afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects. We hope the findings will guide future projects in the fight against climate change. www.nature.com/articles/s41...