Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Bill Smith

Fernando T. Maestre @ftmaestre.bsky.social · 11h

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

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Reposted by Bill Smith

biometlab @biometlab.bsky.social · 1d

www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...

Newsom says he’ll pull California from governors group if it won’t condemn Trump deployments

Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote to the National Governors Association that if the group can’t unite to condemn President Donald Trump’s actions, he will withdraw California’s membership.

www.sfchronicle.com

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Mathias Disney @matdisney.bsky.social · 2d

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

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Loren Albert @albert-loren.bsky.social · 1d

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

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Dr. Crystal A. Kolden @pyrogeog.bsky.social · 6d

Published today: our new paper showing a 44-year trend of increasing global wildfire disasters (fatalities and economic losses) due to climate change-induced extreme weather. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires

Climate change and land mismanagement are creating increasingly fire-prone built and natural environments. However, despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially ...

www.science.org

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Bill Smith @wkolby.bsky.social · 8d

Our new @agu.org commentary on why keeping the Orbiting Carbon Observatory missions operational is essential for U.S. agriculture, national interests, and global food security. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

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Reposted by Bill Smith

current perspectives on biosphere inititative @c-pob.bsky.social · 8d

The second paper of the Current Perspectives on Biosphere Research Initiative is available as a preprint and constructive comments are welcome during the open review process, which ends on 6 November.

Preprint: doi.org/10.5194/egus...
First Paper: bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...

#climate #nature

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Shawn Serbin @doctorjackpine.bsky.social · 8d

www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/9/new-d...

New Democratic Staff Report: Direct Evidence Trump Administration Has Been Illegally Imposing President’s Proposed Budget Cuts at NASA Since Early Summer—Threatening Safety, Mission, Science

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released a new staff report revealing that OMB Director Russell Vought has...

www.commerce.senate.gov

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 8d

Disentangling climate and policy uncertainties for the Colorado River post-2026 operations www.nature.com/articles/s41... 'under existing policy, both reservoirs will face substantial risks (>80% likelihood) of reaching dead pool before 2060'

Disentangling climate and policy uncertainties for the Colorado River post-2026 operations - Nature Communications

Planning for the Colorado River is critical to secure water and hydropower for the western US under climate change. This study highlights how different policies may reduce but not eliminate the risk of losing water and energy supply altogether.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Sally Aitken 🇨🇦 @sallyaitken.bsky.social · 12d

We are searching for a Forest Ecophysiologist (tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor) to join the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry. Please share! Details are here: ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcfacultyjobs

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Brooke Osborne (she/her) @brookebosborne.bsky.social · 18d

Climate rather than overgrazing explains most rangeland primary productivity change in Mongolia | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Climate rather than overgrazing explains most rangeland primary productivity change in Mongolia

Rangelands are Earth’s dominant land type, supporting the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people. Concerns about rangeland degradation typically focus on overgrazing. But climate change may be a gr...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 20d

We mourn the passing of our Editor-in-Chief Steve Long.

His vision to establish one of the first journals dedicated to Global Change over 30 years ago was truly ahead of its time. Through GCB, researchers have demonstrated that biology and ecosystems are not simply victims of global change..

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Arielle Koshkin @akoshkin.bsky.social · 20d

Our latest research on fire impacts on snow melt timing across the Western US was just published in @aaas.org Science Advances. Read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Impact of current and warmer climate conditions on snow cover loss in burned forests

Wildfires are causing earlier snowmelt across the western US, and this effect would be exacerbated with projected warmer winters.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · 21d

Across 97% of forest area from eight million sampled forested locations, the density of aboveground biomass is lower near forest edges than in forest interiors. This edge effect is estimated to be responsible for 9% reduction in forest aboveground biomass.🧪🌲🌴🌳

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

A globally consistent negative effect of edge on aboveground forest biomass - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Across 97% of forest area from eight million sampled forested locations worldwide, the density of aboveground biomass is lower near forest edges than in forest interiors. Given widespread forest fragm...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Abigail Swann, PhD @ecoclimatelab.bsky.social · 22d

Maybe the land carbon sink is weaker than we thought. Big implications: "A lower-than-expected land carbon sink would also imply that the land biosphere may be closer to transitioning from a net carbon sink to a net source than current models predict" Randerson et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The weak land carbon sink hypothesis

Satellite-derived time series of vegetation carbon do not support a strong Northern Hemisphere net land carbon sink.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Bill Smith

biometlab @biometlab.bsky.social · 24d

I found an obituary for Steve

www.renner-wikoffchapel.com/obituary/Ste...

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Bill Smith @wkolby.bsky.social · Sep 8

📢📢We are looking for a postdoc to join a NASA Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) project!! Please see the attached job ad and help us share widely!! @uarizona.bsky.social @ecology-awesome.bsky.social @villarreal-miguel.bsky.social 📢📢

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Fernando T. Maestre @ftmaestre.bsky.social · Sep 5

Our new article is out in @geoderma.bsky.social! Drylands, which cover 40% of Earth’s land, store ~30% of global soil organic carbon. But how do different carbon fractions support ecosystem services under rising aridity? 🏜️
📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Antoine Cabon @acabon.bsky.social · Sep 5

🌳 New Tansley Insight!
What really limits tree growth—carbon source or sink? 🤔
I argue it’s not either/or but a distal → proximal continuum: from photosynthesis to transport and cell division, drivers act together to shape C allocation & growth 🌱🌍
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70516

Distal to proximal: a continuum of drivers shaping tree growth and carbon partitioning

The relationship between tree carbon (C) assimilation and growth is central to understanding tree functioning and forecasting forest C sequestration, yet remains unresolved. The long-standing debate ...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Sep 4

Check out our piece in @theconversation.com explaining how intraspecific trait coordination across climatic gradients helps to avoid heat stress in some (but not all) tropical tree species

theconversation.com/some-tropica...

Some tropical trees cool their leaves to survive the heat — but not all species have ways to cope

In full sun, tropical leaves can become much hotter than the surrounding air. Their ability to cope can be a matter of life or death.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Dr. Renato Braghiere @renatobrgh.bsky.social · Sep 4

New paper led by T. Eren Bilir in AGU Advances—proud to be a coauthor: Satellite-Constrained Reanalysis of the Global Land Carbon Sink. doi.org/10.1029/2025...

Satellite‐Constrained Reanalysis Reveals CO2 Versus Climate Process Compensation Across the Global Land Carbon Sink

CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$-driven terrestrial C gains are ∼4 times greater than climate-driven losses during 2001–2021 and are mainly in live biomass reservoirs In the global sum, CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}...

doi.org

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social · Sep 4

I stand by my offer to appear on Joe Rogan and set the record straight about our half-billion-year temperature reconstruction www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Joe Rogan claims study shows Earth cooling – but report’s authors say he’s wrong

Scientists say ‘old-school denier nonsense’ isn’t helpful as podcaster repeatedly airs false claim on his show

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · Sep 4

Climate change increases the interannual variance of summer crop yields globally through changes in temperature and water supply www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Climate change increases the interannual variance of summer crop yields globally through changes in temperature and water supply

Future crop yield instability is driven by not only warming but also increased temperature variance and covariance with dryness.

www.science.org

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Long Term Ecological Research Network (United States) @uslter.bsky.social · Sep 2

Distinguished scientist (and LTER stalwart) Alan Knapp talks about his long career in research and the evolution of science. source.colostate.edu/the-art-of-r...

The Art of Research: Alan Knapp

CSU University Distinguished Professor and plant ecologist Alan Knapp talks about the value of grasslands and the future of science research.

source.colostate.edu

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Reposted by Bill Smith

Abigail Swann, PhD @ecoclimatelab.bsky.social · Sep 2

More coverage of the scathing review by more than 80 scientists of the report from the DOE's climate working group. It's biased, cherry picked, and written with a scientifically unsupported agenda. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump team’s contentious climate report ‘makes a mockery of science’, experts say

Over 85 top climate specialists lambasted administration’s review, calling it a ‘shoddy mess’ that downplays risks

www.theguardian.com

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