Ecological determinants of stability in dryland plant communities Gresse et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Looking for the Southwest Chapter at ESA 2026? You can find us at our table in the exhibit hall or at one of our events! We have an organized oral session, a business mixer and a career central event. We are excited to see everyone in Salt Lake City!🌵

🌱This study reveals a dual response in grasslands to repeated drought, where community fine root traits maintain high resistance through species turnover, suggesting that community functional responses to climate extremes cannot be inferred from species trait shifts alone 👉️ buff.ly/gmDusXy

New job--please share! Looking for a postdoc to deep learning methods for identifying plant species from drone imagery. The two year position offers a salary of $78,000 and the option to be based in Boise, Idaho, or Burns, Oregon. For more info: caughlinlab.com/join-the-lab/ #postdoc #drones #ai

Botany friends: cool job alert. We're searching for a new Director for the UC & Jepson Herbaria here at UC Berkeley. Share with nice people. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05405 🌿🌺🌵

Associate/Full Professor- Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics- Integrative Biology, and Director- University of California Berkeley Herbaria

University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

aprecruit.berkeley.edu

☀️🫗Quantitative synthesis of the effects of drought on community composition and species interactions in terrestrial ecosystems vist.ly/584ei #ClimateChange #Decomposition #Diversity #FoodWeb #InteractionStrength #MetaAnalysis

🌳 Forest decline isn’t just visible in the canopy - it begins belowground. Thinner roots, fewer mycorrhizas, more decomposers: a whole shift in the hidden life of soils that keeps forests alive 👉️ buff.ly/TVWhiDM

Our new paper examines the patterns and drivers of wind erosion in solar facilities. Traditional blade and grade facilities increase sediment flux 100x compared to undisturbed areas, whereas new methods that limit disturbance result in much less erosion. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Decreased Wind Erosion at a Solar Energy Facility With Low‐Impact Compared to Conventional Construction

Wind erosion and dust emission can diminish air quality, harm human health, and impact ecosystems and agriculture. Dust can also interfere with operations of solar energy facilities, reducing energy ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Assistant Professor position available at Stanford University, in any area of Earth System Science. Apply by October 1, 2026. facultypositions.stanford.edu/jobs/assista...

Assistant Professor, Department of Earth System Science - Stanford University, California, United States

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Earth System Science (https://earthsystemscience.stanford.edu). Ea...

facultypositions.stanford.edu

🌍🧬 Multiple stressors hit the soil microbiome hard. Up to 60 percent of functional genes shift. Growth genes down. Stress and energy genes up. A global functional restructuring with lasting consequences for soil functionality. #plantscience @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This research provides critical information to balance renewable energy expansion and ecological function in warm deserts link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ecovoltaic solar energy development creates novel microclimate, temperature, and soil moisture patterns under solar panels in a warm desert - Ecological Processes

Background As solar energy development expands in desert regions, new installation practices and solar technologies seek to balance ecosystem conservation and energy generation (ecovoltaics). The Gemi...

link.springer.com

Our results provide a novel approach to conduct wildfire risk assessments that consider values at risk outside the WUI and rely on Tribal knowledge and priorities. 🔥 🔥 🔥 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Adapting wildfire risk assessment for a Tribal landscape: Mount Baldy and the Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona - Landscape Ecology

Context The White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona manages their natural and cultural resources within a perpetually wildfire-risky environment. The Tribe’s values also ...

link.springer.com

Long-term vegetation recovery in the Mojave Desert following different levels of reclamation efforts reclamationsciences.kglmeridian.com/view/journal...

Can surface treatments and climate matching enhance restoration success in the Sonoran Desert? - Lyu - Restoration Ecology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Can surface treatments and climate matching enhance restoration success in the Sonoran Desert?

In arid environments, seeding success and native plant recruitment can be bolstered by surface modifications that increase water and litter capture, such as pits. Mulch also appeared to help seedling...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Alternative approaches to dryland reclamation enhance vegetation cover and soil stability at a former uranium mine - led by Katie Eckhoff - Restoration Ecology - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Alternative approaches to dryland reclamation enhance vegetation cover and soil stability at a former uranium mine

In arid conditions reclamation is particularly challenging, and innovative techniques may promote revegetation and soil stability. Alternative approaches to reclamation, including ConMods, native-onl...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🌧️Study found that tree populations at the climatic trailing edge contain drought-adapted seedling phenotypes. Recruitment was greatly affected by precipitation seasonal timing, and seedling survival increased with more summer, but not spring, water 👉️ buff.ly/ooIUjJ0

2026 Southwest Ecologist Travel Award is open! 🌵 We will award $550 each to 4 early-career ecologists presenting research related to ecosystems of the Southwestern US or northern Mexico at the 2026 ESA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. Apply by June 14, 2026: forms.gle/TjMaY6T7GQt6...

Southwest Ecologist Awards ($550 travel award)

We are excited to announce the 2026 Southwest Ecologist Travel award ($550)! Funding will be awarded to four early career (students and post-graduates) and/or federal agency ecologists whose work is r...

forms.gle

UVic is hiring a Terrestrial Plant Ecologist Assistant Professor! Come join our department! We're nice and Victoria is awesome. www.uvic.ca/science/biol...

Faculty Position in Terrestrial Plant Ecology - University of Victoria

Department: Biology                 &am...

uvic.ca

Temperate tree species show cross‐tolerance to heat, drought, and late spring‐frost stress Kunert et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🔥 From Science: Forest fuel treatments reduced wildfire damages and returned nearly four dollars for every dollar invested, supporting larger-scale prevention efforts. (Frederik Strabo, Matthew N. Reimer) ▶️ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #PlantScience #Wildfire

Wildfire damages and the cost-effective role of forest fuel treatments

Wildfires are among the most pressing environmental challenges of the 21st century, intensified by the accumulation of forest fuels after a century of fire suppression policies. Although fuel-reductio...

science.org

🔊ESA Southwestern Chapter is seeking nominations for 2026-2027 positions! No prior Chapter/Section experience needed - just an interest in Southwest ecosystems, academic service, outreach, and community building. Current officers are eligible for re-election.

A long-term, operational-scale, true experiment on woody plant removal treatment effects revealed limits to grassland restoration that direct future investments esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Large‐scale experimental evaluation of woody plant removal in desert grassland: Restoration, novelty, or degradation?

Woody plant encroachment into grassy ecosystems is a worldwide phenomenon that radically transforms ecosystem services. Billions of dollars have been spent to remove woody plants, but there is great ....

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Combining LTER sites (as this group of grads and postdocs did) -> even more powerful insights. Multiple Community Properties Drive Ecosystem Resistance and Resilience to Extreme Climate Events Across Mesic Grasslands - Ajowele - 2026 - Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Multiple Community Properties Drive Ecosystem Resistance and Resilience to Extreme Climate Events Across Mesic Grasslands

Using nearly 40 years of data from naturally-assembled plant communities, we found that while richness is important for resistance to extreme dry events, dominance is important for resistance to extr....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🌱 Subordinate grassland species enhance drought resistance by increasing belowground C allocation and N uptake, influencing microbial activity and soil functions 👉️ buff.ly/aXPsAfj

Our new synthesis compares how 7 dominant #invasive grass species influence #wildfire and which treatments are effective to mitigate risk across the Intermountain West USA 🌾🌾🌾 🔥🔥🔥🔥 doi.org/10.1017/inp....

“Critics raised alarm over the proposal to consolidate research stations while much of the Western United States is suffering from record temperatures and prolonged drought that increase the risk of wildfires this summer.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/c...

Forest Service Will Close Research Stations That Study Wildfire Risk

nytimes.com

Check out the new issue of ECOSYSTEMS, great studies in ecosystem ecology across a wide range of systems and scales. We welcome your manuscripts! Top-notch editorial board, quality reviews, timely publication. @steve-carpenter.bsky.social @springernature.com link.springer.com/journal/1002...

Ecosystems

Ecosystems is an international journal that bridges fundamental ecology, environmental ecology, and environmental problem-solving across diverse temporal and ...

link.springer.com

Really nice article and visuals in @washingtonpost.com this morning showing how spring has arrived early - very early - in much of the lower 48 states www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte... @usa-npn.bsky.social #phenology @bennollweather.bsky.social

See where flowers and leaves are emerging early after record-warm March

About 190 million people across the U.S. are experiencing an early start to spring, based on the behavior of lilac and honeysuckle, data shows.

washingtonpost.com

For more than 15 years, botanist Naomi Fraga has been trying to collect seeds from the rare Death Valley sage, for safekeeping in a vault of native California seeds. n.pr/4ttOsq4

A botanist searches for the seeds of the rare Death Valley Sage

For more than 15 years, botanist Naomi Fraga has been trying to collect seeds from the rare Death Valley sage, for safekeeping in a vault of native California seeds.

n.pr

☀️This dryland study unveils diverse drought resistance strategies in annuals and shows that in open areas, more drought-resistant populations are more stable over time. Under extreme aridity, delayed germination emerges as a key driver of stability 🔍Article: buff.ly/PvhqEXD 📰 Blog: buff.ly/gh2nJNq