When things get MESI: The Manipulation Experiments Synthesis Initiative-A coordinated effort to synthesize terrestrial global change experiments.

Responses of the terrestrial biosphere to rapidly changing environmental conditions are a major source of uncertainty in climate projections. In an effort to reduce this uncertainty, a wide range of global change experiments have been conducted that mimic future conditions in terrestrial ecosystems, manipulating CO , temperature, and nutrient and water availability. Syntheses of results across experiments provide a more general sense of ecosystem responses to global change, and help to discern the influence of background conditions such as climate and vegetation type in determining global change responses.

Temperature Effects on the Survival and Development of Two Pest Bark Beetles Hylurgus ligniperda F. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Hylastes ater Paykull (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Hylurgus ligniperda (F.) and Hylastes ater (Paykull) are secondary bark beetles that have successfully spread beyond their native range, particularly into Pinus spp. plantations in the Southern Hemisphere.

Soil Inoculation With Beneficial Microbes Buffers Negative Drought Effects on Biomass, Nutrients, and Water Relations of Common Myrtle.

Common myrtle ( L.) occurs in (semi-)arid areas of the Palearctic region where climate change, over-exploitation, and habitat destruction imperil its existence. The evergreen shrub is of great economic and ecological importance due to its pharmaceutical value, ornamental use, and its role in urban greening and habitat restoration initiatives.

High light-induced photoinhibition is not limiting seedling establishment at abrupt treeline ecotones in New Zealand.

Seedlings of New Zealand's treeline-forming Fuscospora cliffortioides (Hook.f.) perform poorly beyond the established canopy, limiting treeline advance.

Can Copper Be Used to Treat Foliar Infections in ?

Red needle cast is a significant foliar disease of commercial stands of caused by in New Zealand. The effect of copper, applied as a foliar spray of cuprous oxide at a range of doses between 0 and 1.72 kg ha, was investigated in two controlled trials with potted plants and in an operational trial with mature .

Temperature Effects on Biomass and Regeneration of Vegetation in a Geothermal Area.

Understanding the effects of increasing temperature is central in explaining the effects of climate change on vegetation. Here, we investigate how warming affects vegetation regeneration and root biomass and if there is an interactive effect of warming with other environmental variables. We also examine if geothermal warming effects on vegetation regeneration and root biomass can be used in climate change experiments.

Olfactory Cues, Visual Cues, and Semiochemical Diversity Interact During Host Location by Invasive Forest Beetles.

Plant-feeding insects use visual and olfactory cues (shape, color, plant volatiles) for host location, but the relative importance of different cues and interactions with non-host-plant volatiles in ecosystems of varying plant biodiversity is unclear for most species. We studied invasive bark beetles and wood borers associated with pine trees to characterize interactions among color, host and non-host volatiles, by employing traps that mimic tree trunks. Cross-vane flight intercept traps (black, green, red, white, yellow, clear) and black funnel traps were used with and without attractants (α-pinene + ethanol), repellents (non-host green leaf volatiles, 'GLV'), and attractant/repellent combinations in four pine forests in New Zealand.

A dynamic leaf gas-exchange strategy is conserved in woody plants under changing ambient CO2 : evidence from carbon isotope discrimination in paleo and CO2 enrichment studies.

Rising atmospheric [CO2 ], ca , is expected to affect stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange of woody plants, thus influencing energy fluxes as well as carbon (C), water, and nutrient cycling of forests. Researchers have proposed various strategies for stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange that include maintaining a constant leaf internal [CO2 ], ci , a constant drawdown in CO2 (ca  - ci ), and a constant ci /ca . These strategies can result in drastically different consequences for leaf gas-exchange.

Long-term ¹³C labeling provides evidence for temporal and spatial carbon allocation patterns in mature Picea abies.

There is evidence of continued stimulation of foliage photosynthesis in trees exposed to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations; however, this is mostly without a proportional growth response. Consequently, we lack information on the fate of this extra carbon (C) acquired. By a steady application of a (13)CO2 label in a free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment, we traced the fate of C in 37-m-tall, ca.

Spatio-temporal water dynamics in mature Banksia menziesii trees during drought.

Southwest Australian Banksia woodlands are highly diverse plant communities that are threatened by drought- or temperature-induced mortality due to the region's changing climate. We examined water relations in dominant Banksia menziesii R. Br.

Experimental vs. modeled water use in mature Norway spruce (Picea abies) exposed to elevated CO(2).

Rising levels of atmospheric CO(2) have often been reported to reduce plant water use. Such behavior is also predicted by standard equations relating photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and atmospheric CO(2) concentration, which form the core of dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). Here, we provide first results from a free air CO(2) enrichment (FACE) experiment with naturally growing, mature (35 m) Picea abies (L.