Gareth Phoenix

LTE Site of the Week: Wardlow Hay Cop, England. A landscape photo showing fields and a hill in the background where there are blue skies. Running since 1990. Gareth Phoenix, University of Sheffield. Icons for grassland and nutrients.

Wardlow Hay Cop, #England is the #LTESiteOfTheWeek.

@garethphoenix.bsky.social from @sheffielduni.bsky.social is looking at the effects of #nitrogen on #grassland
bit.ly/WardlowHay

Listen to our #interview #podcast with Gareth bit.ly/3sQ7jNW

@naturalengland.bsky.social 🌏

On day 4 of our #PLOSClimateCountdown, we're highlighting a Review article by @garethphoenix.bsky.social and colleagues:

"Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: Diverse causes with common consequences"

🔗 journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

Hi @bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social we're keen to reach out to the freshwater community for this. Any chance of a repost? Thanks 🙂

🚨Calling all U.K. Arctic terrestrial scientists.

"UK Arctic terrestrial science strengths and priorities workshop"
to discuss and then produce a prospectus outlining the UK’s “Strengths & Priorities” in Arctic terrestrial research.

Info and registration link here 👇
drive.google.com/file/d/1HV0c...

FindAPhD : Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation Apply for a PhD: Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation

If you’re looking for a PhD studentship in some really exciting areas of plant science 🌿 take a look at this year’s Sainsbury PhD studentships - you could come and study orchid mycorrhizas 🌸🍄 with me & @garethphoenix.bsky.social! www.findaphd.com/phds/program...

Job alert 🚨
Technician post in soil carbon at the University of Sheffield @sheffieldpps.bsky.social supporting natural capital assessment in South Yorkshire, UK
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...

The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University, listed on FindAPhD.com

7. The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂
How much can ecosystems slow climate change? Study how nutrients regulate carbon storage in global ecosystems. Led by Catriona Macdonald (HIE)
bit.ly/434xNOd
#CarbonCycle #EcosystemScience #AcademicSky

World class training - International dual award PhDs in Plant & Soil Science now open These new studentships offer a unique opportunity to join a vibrant and collaborative research community spanning two world-class institutions in Sheffield, UK and Sydney, Australia.

Applications open for our International Dual PhD Awards in Plant & Soil Sciences! Train in world-class labs across @sheffieldpps.bsky.social and @westsyduhie.bsky.social and spend time at both institutes.

bit.ly/4375M8D #PhDopportunity #PlantScience #SoilScience #Sustainability #AcademicSky

The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - The Importance of Nutrients in Controlling How Much Ecosystems Can Slow the Rate of Rising CO₂ at Western Sydney University, listed on FindAPhD.com

🚨 PhD alert.
PhD opportunity studying how nutrient availability impacts the ability of ecosystems to absorb more CO2 as CO2 levels rise.

With Catriona MacDonald and Ben Smith at Western Sydney University and myself here @sheffieldpps.bsky.social Sheffield

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Summer 2024 in northern Fennoscandia was very likely the warmest in 2000 years - npj Climate and Atmospheric Science npj Climate and Atmospheric Science - Summer 2024 in northern Fennoscandia was very likely the warmest in 2000 years

Excited to share that our new paper

“Summer 2024 in northern Fennoscandia was very likely the warmest in 2000 years”

has been published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science!

See the open-access paper from doi.org/10.1038/s416...

Short thread 👇

Illustration of a Greenlandic landscape, showing in the foreground Rhododendron lapponicum on a cliff, with sea ice and icebergs in the background. Illustration by Alberto S. Ballesteros (@asbillustration.bsky.social)

🌸Plant diversity dynamics over space and time in a warming Arctic 🌸

Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions.

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

🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍

Increases in Arctic Extreme Climatic Events Are Linked to Negative Fitness Effects on the Local Biota The Arctic harbours uniquely adapted biodiversity and plays an important role in climate regulation. Strong warming trends in the terrestrial Arctic have been linked to an increase in aboveground bio....

Interesting paper:
Increases in Arctic Extreme Climatic Events Are Linked to Negative Fitness Effects on the Local Biota.

doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

Tundra Plant Canopies Gradually Close Over Three Decades While Cryptogams Persist Two sites in northern Alaska representative of the circumpolar tundra biome were periodically sampled over more than three decades. Plant canopies both grew taller and increased in complexity while m...

Interesting paper:
Tundra Plant Canopies Gradually Close Over Three Decades While Cryptogams Persist
doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

As the authors point out, "These results call into question the dominant dogma that cryptogams will decline with increases in vascular plant abundance" 🤯

New paper: The changing face of the Arctic: four decades of greening and implications for tundra ecosystems

www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...

Quote:

"When fire emissions are factored in, the increasing Arctic–Boreal Zone sink is no longer statistically significant, and the permafrost region becomes CO2 neutral"

Quote:

"Although the Arctic–Boreal Zone was overall an increasing terrestrial CO2 sink from 2001 to 2020, more than 30% of the region was a net CO2 source"

Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake - Nature Climate Change How the carbon stocks of the Arctic–Boreal Zone change with warming is not well understood. Here the authors show that wildfires and large regional differences in net carbon fluxes offset the overall ...

Interesting paper:

Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

An important Starter Pack that could use your support in following, reposting, or by tagging scientists, locals, key stakeholders, and Arctic-centric entities that deserve to be represented. Thank you.
go.bsky.app/KxURBR1

We are looking for a grant-funded doctoral resarcher on a project focusing on how tree and shrub expansion into the tundra impact biodiversity and carbon balance @Department of Geosciences and Geography @helsinkiuni.bsky.social! DM me if you are interested, and please share!

Although there are many different causes of browning events, there are also a number of commonalities among the impacts that they have.

Browning events are extreme climatic, biotic and physical disturbance events that can cause substantial loss of plant biomass and productivity, sometimes at scales of > 1000 km2, They are therefore key contributors to the spatial and temporal complexity of Arctic greening and vegetation dynamics.

Our review paper “Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: diverse causes with common consequences” is out in @plosclimate.org

journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

@sheffieldpps.bsky.social, @robertgbjork.bsky.social, @scootjd.bsky.social, @thissideofthearctic.org, @arctic-carolina.bsky.social

Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: Diverse causes with common consequences Arctic ecosystems are experiencing extreme climatic, biotic and physical disturbance events that can cause substantial loss of plant biomass and productivity, sometimes at scales of >1000 km2. Collect...

A new PLOS Climate Review article by @garethphoenix.bsky.social and colleagues brings together understanding of browning events in Arctic ecosystems to compare their impacts and rates of recovery, and likely future changes in frequency and distribution

journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

Increasing certainty in projected local extreme precipitation change - Nature Communications This study presents more accurate future extreme precipitation projections at local scales constrained by past warming observations using an adaptative emergent constraint approach.

Interesting paper:
Increasing certainty in projected local extreme precipitation change.

Some regions are going to have big increases in annual maximum daily precipitation, and this is now known with greater certainty.

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

Substantial and overlooked greenhouse gas emissions from deep Arctic lake sediment - Nature Geoscience Deep permafrost soils produce comparable amounts of greenhouse gases as shallow soils in response to warming, according to incubation experiments of deep Arctic lake sediments.

Interesting paper: Substantial and overlooked greenhouse gas emissions from deep Arctic lake sediment.

Carbon release from deep sediment permafrost thaw (20m in this study) may be much more important for changing climate than thought.

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

Quote "reduction in snow cover duration surpasses elevated temperatures in influencing heat accumulation during the growing season. This accumulation is a key driver of the pronounced greening observed in late snow-melting sites"

Waning snowfields have transformed into hotspots of greening within the alpine zone - Nature Climate Change The authors use multidecadal, high-resolution data to investigate the spatial variability of vegetation greening in European mountains. They show that changes in snow cover duration play a more signif...

"Waning snowfields have transformed into hotspots of greening within the alpine zone"

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

Regional fire–greening positive feedback loops in Alaskan Arctic tundra - Nature Plants Arctic warming has led to widespread greening across the tundra. Utilizing remote-sensing and field data, this study identifies a positive fire–greening feedback loop operating across regional scales ...

I like this: Regional fire–greening positive feedback loops in Alaskan Arctic tundra

Fire promotes arctic greening by facilitating establishment and growth of larger stature deciduous shrubs and other species. And the more severe fires do this more.

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

Looking to the future, to quote the abstract:
"For the coming decades, the propagation of permafrost warming to greater depths is largely predetermined already"

Enhanced warming of European mountain permafrost in the early 21st century - Nature Communications Permafrost in Europe’s mountains has warmed by more than 1 °C per decade in certain places, matching the levels in Arctic lowlands. The strongest warming occurred at cold bedrock at the highest elevat...

Enhanced warming of European mountain permafrost in the early 21st century

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