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CU-led Mountain Forest Study Shows Vulnerability to Climate Change

By Guest PostSeptember 16, 2012Environmentalpine, anne kelly, Arctic, atmosphere, boulder, carbon dioxide, change, climate change, colorado, data, dry, energy, ernesto trujillo, flux towers, forest greenness, ground measurement, high resolution, michael golden, mid elevation, moisture change, mountain ecosystem, mountain range, noah molotch, precipitation, radiometer, rising temperature, roger bales, satellite image, sensitivity, sierra nevada, snowmelt, tipping point, united states, university, water vapor, western, wet, year

A new University of Colorado Boulder-led study that ties forest “greenness” in the western United States to fluctuating year-to-year snowpack indicates mid-elevation mountain ecosystems are most sensitive to rising temperatures and changes in precipitation and snowmelt.

Led by CU-Boulder researcher Ernesto Trujillo and Assistant Professor Noah Molotch, the study team used the data — including satellite images and ground measurements — to identify the threshold where mid-level forests sustained primarily by moisture change to higher-elevation forests sustained primarily by sunlight and temperature. Being able to identify this “tipping point” is important because it is in the mid-level forests — at altitudes from roughly 6,500 to 8,000 feet — where many people live and play in the West and which are associated with increasing wildfires, beetle outbreaks and increased tree mortality, said Molotch. (more…)

Construction of New Rock Spawning Reefs Will Help Great Lakes Native Fish

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012Environment, Naturebelle isle, boat traffic, boulder, bruce manny, center of excellence, connecting channel, crevices, delta, detroit, detroit river, erie, fighting island, great lakes, huron erie, huron erie corridor, jennifer read, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, lakes huron, michigan, michigan sea grant, middle channel, middle channel reefs, mooneye, native fish, northern madtom catfish, physical characteristics, reef project, river bottom, river redhorse sucker, rock spawning reefs, rock structure, sport fish, st clair river, U.S. Geological Survey, walleye

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The first of nine rock reefs is under construction in the St. Clair River delta northeast of Detroit. The goal of the project, which is led by Michigan Sea Grant, is to boost populations of lake sturgeon and other rare native fish by providing river-bottom rock structures where they can spawn.

The rock reefs are designed to assist several native species that are considered threatened or endangered in Michigan, including lake sturgeon, mooneye, the northern madtom catfish and the river redhorse sucker. Walleye, a popular sport fish, and commercially important lake whitefish should also benefit. (more…)

Discovery of Pine Beetles Breeding Twice in a Year Helps Explain Increasing Damage, CU Researchers Say

By Guest PostMarch 18, 2012Nature, Sciencealaska, american naturalist, attacking beetles, beetle epidemic, beetles, boulder, bugs, generation of beetles, higher elevation, jeffry mitton, lodgepole, mountain pine beetles, new mexico, pine trees, ponderosa, sangre de cristo, scott ferrenberg, tree killing beetles, university of colorado, warmer temperature, yukon territory

Long thought to produce only one generation of tree-killing offspring annually, some populations of mountain pine beetles now produce two generations per year, dramatically increasing the potential for the bugs to kill lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees, University of Colorado Boulder researchers have found.

Because of the extra annual generation of beetles, there could be up to 60 times as many beetles attacking trees in any given year, their study found. And in response to warmer temperatures at high elevations, pine beetles also are better able to survive and attack trees that haven’t previously developed defenses. (more…)

Americans Overestimate Political Polarization, According To New CU-Boulder Research

By Guest PostFebruary 7, 20122 commentsPoliticsamericans, boulder, charles judd, david sherman, degree of polarization, democrat, election, john chambers, leaf van boven, misconception, overestimate, polarization, political polarization, republican, san diego, university of colorado, university of florida, voting behavior

Many Americans overestimate the degree of polarization between Democrats and Republicans, and this misconception is associated with citizens’ voting behavior and their involvement in political activities, according to new findings from the University of Colorado Boulder.

“It is clear that Americans see themselves as very sharply polarized,” said Professor Leaf Van Boven, who led the research efforts. “And that the extent of perceived polarization dramatically overstates the actual degree of polarization.” (more…)

NASA Mars-Bound Rover Begins Research in Space

By Guest PostDecember 14, 2011Scienceaeroshell, astronauts, atomic and subatomic particles, boulder, cape canaveral, christian albrechts university, curiosity rover, distant supernovas, don hassler, doug mccuistion, earth, energetic particle radiation, gale crater, Germany, human missions, kiel, mars, mars science laboratory, microbes, monitoring, NASA, rad, radiation assessment detector, red planet, signs of life on mars, sources, southwest research institute, Space, space radiation, spacecraft, sun, surface of mars, trajectory

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s car-sized Curiosity rover has begun monitoring space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars. The research will aid in planning for future human missions to the Red Planet.

Curiosity launched on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Mars Science Laboratory. The rover carries an instrument called the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles from the sun, distant supernovas and other sources. (more…)

NASA Leads Study of Unprecedented Arctic Ozone Loss

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2011Science1989 montreal protocol, alfred wegener institute for polar and marine research, amount of ozone, Antarctic, antarctic ozone hole, Arctic, arctic ozone loss, arctic polar vortex, arctic stratospheric temperatures, aura and calipso spacecraft, boulder, canada, chemical ozone destruction, chlorine monoxide, denmark, depletion of earth ozone layer, finland, Germany, gloria manney, Japan, jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena, low temperatures, NASA, new mexico institute of mining and technology in socorro, noaa earth system research laboratory, ozone hole, potsdam, russia, spain, stratosphere, stratospheric ozone layer, the netherlands, ultraviolet rays, united states, winter

PASADENA, Calif. – A NASA-led study has documented an unprecedented depletion of Earth’s protective ozone layer above the Arctic last winter and spring caused by an unusually prolonged period of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere.

The study, published online Sunday, Oct. 2, in the journal Nature, finds the amount of ozone destroyed in the Arctic in 2011 was comparable to that seen in some years in the Antarctic, where an ozone “hole” has formed each spring since the mid-1980s. The stratospheric ozone layer, extending from about 10 to 20 miles (15 to 35 kilometers) above the surface, protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. (more…)

CU Student-Built Dust Counter Breaks Distance Record As It Heads for Pluto

By Guest PostOctober 13, 20101 commentSciencealan stern, andrew poppe, boulder, dust grains, johns hopkins university, jupiter, kuiper belt, mihaly horanyi, NASA, neptune, new horizons mission, orbit, pluto, satellite, sdc, sme, solar mesosphere explorer, solar system, space dust, student dust counter, university of colorado, uranus, venetia burney

A University of Colorado at Boulder space dust counter designed, tested and operated by students that is flying aboard NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto now holds the record for the most distant working dust detector ever to travel through space. (more…)

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