Mark Ranger

Burning coal and smelting metals vaporizes small amounts of iron. Some of the iron produced by East Asian industry has been wafting into the North Pacific, where it supercharges an algal bloom. 🧪🦑

The point I made is that forests no longer have 300 or 400 years to recover now that climate change is increasing the frequency of wildfires.

Intense fires do 'kill' trees and a forest with nearly 100% tree mortality has been 'eviscerated,' even if the fire that did it is perfectly natural. Effective science communication requires down-to-earth, accurate language, not technical jargon like 'tree mortality.'

Me too. The Yellowstone forests that historically burned very infrequently are the most vulnerable to increasing fire frequency caused by climate change. These forests have few adaptations to fire and take centuries to regenerate. The same could be true for boreal forests.

"...In areas that burned in both fires, one-sixth as many new trees sprouted after the 2016 fire when compared to the 1988 fire, subsequent field research led by Turner revealed....Repeated fires could cause a gradual collapse in forests across the GYE, they added."

Actually, that is not entirely true. From the story: "But in a changing climate, all three scientists agree that the interval of time between fires is decreasing...the 2016 Maple Fire reburned forests previously scorched in 1988...(continued in the thread)

Yellowstone’s 1988 Fires Eviscerated Forests. Will They Ever Recover? - Mountain Journal While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why.

In 1988, wildfires razed one-third of Yellowstone National Park. While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why. 🧪🌿🌎

New study documents California coyotes eating harbor seal pups A paper published on February 12 in the journal Ecology details how the researchers used motion-triggered cameras placed at MacKerricher State Beach on California's North Coast during harbor seal pupp...

Whether it’s ice cream, a greasy hamburger, or a heap of french fries, everybody loves fatty foods. For coyotes, that meal is a blubbery seal pup, according to a new study led by UC Santa Cruz scientists. 🧪🌎🦑

They published the first known videos of California coyotes hunting harbor seals.

I would love to be added! I'm a science communication student and my personal website is here:

Markdegraff.com

Wild Coho Salmon Are Surviving Four Years After CZU Fire At the southern end of their range, coho salmon in Scott Creek are adapting to wildfire and warming.

Happy #salmonsunday!! 🦑🌎🐟

The Santa Cruz Mountains are home to the world’s southernmost coho salmon runs. Although this population of fish is critically endangered, scientists are finding that they were relatively unaffected by a major wildfire.

Wild Coho Salmon Are Surviving Four Years After CZU Fire At the southern end of their range, coho salmon in Scott Creek are adapting to wildfire and warming.

Coincidentally, I published a story today about how coho salmon in the Santa Cruz mountains proved surprisingly resilient following a 2020 wildfire. Fingers crossed steelhead are the same.

A (sperm) whale of a discovery in Monterey Bay “We actually found that these animals are here quite a bit more often than we had realized,” says Will Oestreich, a researcher from MBARI and the lead author of a study published last month in Move…

Happy #whalewednesday!! 🌎🦑

Humans hardly see sperm whales since they spend most of their time thousands of feet underwater. But it turns out they are common off the coast of California. Scientists made the finding by listening for the whales on an underwater microphone in Monterey Bay.

Dry conditions are fueling the deadly wildfires in Southern California, burning thousands of homes. #Hydrologist Ming Pan shares maps and charts to put the region's dryness into perspective: https://buff.ly/3C2TCEc 🌎 #climatesky

Stuck in the muck: Scientists study carbon trapped by Elkhorn Slough Salt marshes, which have historically been drained and turned into farms or land ripe for real estate development, are emerging as a powerful tool in the fight against global warming.

Happy #saltmarshsaturday!! 🌎🦑

Salt marshes are powerful tools in the fight against climate change because they trap more carbon than nearly any other ecosystem. In this story, I wrote about the scientists who are measuring how much carbon is stuck in the muck of a northern California salt marsh.

Even more f&%ked, if that is possible:

Frog on a branch with a bug in its mouth

Frog on a branch with a bug in its mouth

This frog has a bug in its mouth!

Phyllomedusa chaparroi in the rainforest near Tarapoto, Peru. 🌿 #photography #nature

LA is so windy and dry right now that fuels reduction is not enough to stop the fires 😳🌎

This is absolutely terrifying

It's a bummer that land agencies are using that rationale to remove large trees. It seems like there is a lot of scientific research around forest thinning right now, but the consensus is strong that the older, larger trees must be left alone.

That's so cool! I love seeing the species that take advantage of the open space created by fire.

Walking through a coastal northern California forest that burned a little over 4 years ago.

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), madrone (Arbutus menziesii) and manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp) are THIRVING. 🌎🌿🔥

Panoramic photo of a coastal redwood tree with an understory of ferns & oxalis - the bark is robust & complex with lichens & moss colonizing the base.

Happy #ThickTrunkTuesday rockers ♡ nice, somewhat small coastal redwood. Maybe 3-4 ft diameter near the base - pano photo caused a little distortion. #Nature #Trees #TreeHugger 🌿

Students and scientists collaborate to maintain Navajo Nation forests Surviving desert heat, alpine cold, and meager rainfall each year, two-needle pinyon pines (Pinus edulis) are the backbone of many forests in the southwestern United States. Their stout branches offer...

Young trees and saplings are choking out many forests in the western United States after 150 years of grazing and fire supression. I really enjoyed reporting on this Navajo-led project to reverse these changes. 🌎

I don't think it ever stopped being mainstream :(

🌎

Thanks for the link! That's really interesting. We have a similar situation here in California where present-day politicians are being blamed for a housing crisis that began decades ago.

At this point, we should be boosting everything that doesn't emit CO2

I didn't know that (I'm not from NY). What are your thoughts on congestion pricing?

I'm curious to see how this plays out. It should encourage people to use public transit, but its impact might fall disproportionately on the lower class.

Poison dart frog carrying tadpoles

Male Ameerega trivittata carrying tadpoles on his back. He is taking them to a pool of water where he will tend to them until they turn into frogs.

I took this photo about a year ago in the rainforest near Tarapoto, Peru. #photography #nature 🌿