Moral paragons, but crummy friends: The case of snitching.

Loyalty to friends is an important moral value, but does that mean snitching on friends is considered immoral? Across six preregistered studies, we examine how loyalty obligations impact people's moral evaluations of snitching (i.e., turning in others who commit transgressions).

Shower thoughts: why scientists should spend more time in the rain.

Stormwater is a vital resource and dynamic driver of terrestrial ecosystem processes. However, processes controlling interactions during and shortly after storms are often poorly seen and poorly sensed when direct observations are substituted with technological ones. We discuss how human observations complement technological ones and the benefits of scientists spending more time in the storm.

How Much Is Enough? The Relationship Between Prosocial Effort and Moral Character Judgments.

The amount of effort required to bring about a prosocial outcome can vary from low-handing a stranger the wallet she just dropped-to high-spending days tracking down the owner of a lost wallet. The goal of the current research is to characterize the relationship between prosocial effort and moral character judgments. Does more prosocial effort always lead to rosier moral character judgments? Across four studies ( = 1,658), we find that moral character judgments increase with prosocial effort to a point and then plateau.

Quantifying and manipulating the angles of light in experimental measurements of plant gas exchange.

Diffuse light has been shown to alter plant leaf photosynthesis, transpiration and water-use efficiency. Despite this, the angular distribution of light for the artificial light sources used with common gas exchange systems is unknown. Here, we quantify the angular distribution of light from common gas exchange systems and demonstrate the use of an integrating sphere for manipulating those light distributions.

Sensitivity and threshold dynamics of Pinus strobus and Quercus spp. in response to experimental and naturally occurring severe droughts.

Increased drought frequency and severity are a pervasive global threat, yet the capacity of mesic temperate forests to maintain resilience in response to drought remains poorly understood. We deployed a throughfall removal experiment to simulate a once in a century drought in New Hampshire, USA, which coupled with the region-wide 2016 drought, intensified moisture stress beyond that experienced in the lifetimes of our study trees. To assess the sensitivity and threshold dynamics of two dominant northeastern tree genera (Quercus and Pinus), we monitored sap flux density (Js), leaf water potential and gas exchange, growth and intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) for one pretreatment year (2015) and two treatment years (2016-17).

Tracing plant-environment interactions from organismal to planetary scales using stable isotopes: a mini review.

Natural isotope variation forms a mosaic of isotopically distinct pools across the biosphere and flows between pools integrate plant ecology with global biogeochemical cycling. Carbon, nitrogen, and water isotopic ratios (among others) can be measured in plant tissues, at root and foliar interfaces, and in adjacent atmospheric, water, and soil environments. Natural abundance isotopes provide ecological insight to complement and enhance biogeochemical research, such as understanding the physiological conditions during photosynthetic assimilation (e.

A longer shortlist increases the consideration of female candidates in male-dominant domains.

Making it onto the shortlist is often a crucial early step toward professional advancement. For under-represented candidates, one barrier to making the shortlist is the prevalence of informal recruitment practices (for example, colleague recommendations). The current research investigates informal shortlists generated in male-dominant domains (for example, technology executives) and tests a theory-driven intervention to increase the consideration of female candidates.

Linking coordinated hydraulic traits to drought and recovery responses in a tropical montane cloud forest.

Premise: Understanding plant hydraulic functioning and water balance during drought has become key in predicting species survival and recovery. However, there are few insightful studies that couple physiological and morphological attributes for many ecosystems, such as the vulnerable Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF). In this study, we evaluated drought resistance and recovery for saplings for five tree species spanning deciduous to evergreen habits from a Mexican TMCF.

Diffuse light and wetting differentially affect tropical tree leaf photosynthesis.

Most ecosystems experience frequent cloud cover resulting in light that is predominantly diffuse rather than direct. Moreover, these cloudy conditions are often accompanied by rain that results in wet leaf surfaces. Despite this, our understanding of photosynthesis is built upon measurements made on dry leaves experiencing direct light.

Spatiotemporal Coupling of Vessel Cavitation and Discharge of Stored Xylem Water in a Tree Sapling.

Water discharge from stem internal storage compartments is thought to minimize the risk of vessel cavitation. Based on this concept, one would expect that water storage compartments involved in the buffering of xylem tensions empty before the onset of vessel cavitation under drought stress, and potentially refill after soil saturation. However, scant in vivo data exist that elucidate this localized spatiotemporal coupling.

Why size matters: the interactive influences of tree diameter distribution and sap flow parameters on upscaled transpiration.

In stands with a broad range of diameters, a small number of very large trees can disproportionately influence stand basal area and transpiration (Et). Sap flow-based Et estimates may be particularly sensitive to large trees due to nonlinear relationships between tree-level water use (Q) and tree diameter at breast height (DBH). Because Q is typically predicted on the basis of DBH and sap flow rates measured in a subset of trees and then summed to obtain Et, we assessed the relative importance of DBH and sap flow variables (sap velocity, Vs, and sapwood depth, Rs) in determining the magnitude of Et and its dependence on large trees in a tropical montane forest ecosystem.

Vegetation-zonation patterns across a temperate mountain cloud forest ecotone are not explained by variation in hydraulic functioning or water relations.

Many studies have demonstrated linkages between the occurrence of fog and ecophysiological functioning in cloud forests, but few have investigated hydraulic functioning as a determining factor that explains sharp changes in vegetation. The objective of this study was to compare the plant water status during cloud-immersed and non-immersed conditions and hydraulic vulnerability in branches and roots of species across a temperate, mountain fog ecotone. Because cloud forests are often dark, cool and very moist, we expected cloud forest species to have less drought-tolerant characteristics (i.

Foliar uptake, carbon fluxes and water status are affected by the timing of daily fog in saplings from a threatened cloud forest.

In cloud forests, foliar uptake (FU) of water has been reported for numerous species, possibly acting to relieve daily water and carbon stress. While the prevalence of FU seems common, how daily variation in fog timing may affect this process has not been studied. We examined the quantity of FU, water potentials, gas exchange and abiotic variation at the beginning and end of a 9-day exposure to fog in a glasshouse setting.

Cloud immersion: an important water source for spruce and fir saplings in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Cloud immersion can provide a potentially important moisture subsidy to plants in areas of frequent fog including the threatened spruce-fir communities of the southern Appalachian Mountains (USA). These mountaintop communities grow only above ~1,500 m elevation, harbor the endemic Abies fraseri, and have been proposed to exist because of frequent cloud immersion. While several studies have demonstrated the importance of cloud immersion to plant water balance, no study has evaluated the proportion of plant water derived from cloud moisture in this ecosystem.

Ecophysiological importance of cloud immersion in a relic spruce-fir forest at elevational limits, southern Appalachian Mountains, USA.

Climate warming predicts changes to the frequency and height of cloud-immersion events in mountain communities. Threatened southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests have been suggested to persist because of frequent periods of cloud immersion. These relic forests exist on only seven mountaintop areas, grow only above ca.

Responding to suffering: providing options and respecting choice.

Voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) as a legal means to hasten death has been discussed by some as an option for persons who wish to end their lives. A case is presented of a woman who elected to forgo eating and drinking to end intractable suffering. The potential for benefit and harm in physicians discussing VSED is discussed.

Widespread neonatal brain damage following calcium channel blockade.

An abundance of evidence exists that shows calcium channel blockade promotes injury in cultured neurons. However, few studies have addressed the in vivo toxicity of such agents. We now show that the L-type calcium channel antagonist nimodipine promotes widespread and robust injury throughout the neonatal rat brain, in an age-dependent manner.