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Invasion in the Desert: Why Some Plant Species are Survivors

By Guest PostSeptember 25, 2013Environment, Natureblooming chaenactis stevioides, brassica tournefortii, changing environment, desert, desert plants, doctoral student, dry environments, dune, environmental policy, environmental variation, field ecologist, fitness density covariance, habitat, invasion, invasive species, max li, mohawk valley, native desert plants, peter chesson, plant species, research, sahara mustard, sand, sonoran desert, southern arizona, Space, survivors, time, university of arizona, winter rainfall

Max Li’s research could inform policies to promote sustainable native environments and curb the invasion of alien plant species.

Max Li, a University of Arizona doctoral student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is studying mechanisms that determine how competing desert plants can coexist with each other and what factors can cause the destruction of this stable coexistence.

His research could help inform policies to curb the spread of invasive species. (more…)

Which Plants Will Survive Droughts, Climate Change?

By Guest PostApril 9, 2012Environmentagaves, alahee, cacti, california, carbon dioxide, cell level loss, chaparral shrubs, China, christine scoffoni, climate change, desert plants, drought tolerance, ecosystems, extinction, faith inman narahari, hawaiian drought, lawren sack, megan bartlett, photosynthesis, plant species, psydrax odorata, sandalwood, santalum paniculatum, stiff cell wall, stomata, sunflower, tropical botanical gardens, turgor loss point, turgor pressure, xishuangbanna, yuccas, yunnan

New research by UCLA life scientists could lead to predictions of which plant species will escape extinction from climate change.

Droughts are worsening around the world, posing a great challenge to plants in all ecosystems, said Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and senior author of the research. Scientists have debated for more than a century how to predict which species are most vulnerable.

Sack and two members of his laboratory have made a fundamental discovery that resolves this debate and allows for the prediction of how diverse plant species and vegetation types worldwide will tolerate drought, which is critical given the threats posed by climate change, he said. (more…)

Scientists, Public Team Up to Discover Biodiversity

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2011Sciencebiodiversity, biodiversity collections, desert plants, natural world, sonoran desert

During the 2011 BioBlitz at Saguaro National Park Oct. 21-22, school children and volunteers teamed up with experts to embark on a 24-hour race to discover and tally as many of the park’s living creatures as possible in an effort to better understand the ecology and biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert.

Under an afternoon sun that is beating down much too relentlessly for this time of year, our group of eleven is scrambling up a hillside in Saguaro National Park just west of Tucson. (more…)

Tag Archives: desert plants

Invasion in the Desert: Why Some Plant Species are Survivors

Which Plants Will Survive Droughts, Climate Change?

Scientists, Public Team Up to Discover Biodiversity