Biologists and ecologists monitor wildlife to learn more about their behaviors, but tracking small creatures can be challenging, time-consuming and costly. Through a National Science Foundation grant, a multidisciplinary team at Northern Arizona University—led by Michael Shafer, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Carol Chambers, professor of wildlife ecology; and Paul Flikkema, professor of electrical engineering—has developed technology… Read more
ecology
NAU scientist maps CO2 emissions for entire Los Angeles Megacity to help improve environmental policymaking
As the threat of global warming grows—and with it, the specter of more extreme conditions such as wildfires, droughts and tropical storms—cities across the U.S. are developing policies to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide (CO2). Even though many local governments are committed to these goals, however, the emissions data they have to… Read more
How do new traits emerge? NAU researcher working to answer one of evolutionary biology’s most challenging questions
Evolutionary biologists have long puzzled over how new traits emerge in nature, largely because much of the evolutionary information available is from the distant past. To learn more about how genes influence evolution, these researchers study organism phenotypes—the observable characteristics of an organism that are influenced by genetics and environment—and… Read more
There will be an app for that: NAU scientists researching intermittent streams with smartphone technology
As collaborators on one of the first coordinated ecology research projects to study what happens to streams as they dry across the United States, Northern Arizona University researchers Ben Ruddell and Abe Springer will develop an improved smartphone application for mapping wet and dry reaches of streams.
Based on lessons learned from phone apps developed to map the desert springs of… Read more
NAU researchers quantify nutritional value of soil fungi to the Serengeti food web
Artist’s depiction of the Serengeti food web with normal AM (left) and a hypothetical food web without nutrient inputs from these important symbioses (right). Illustration by Victor Leshyk. The complex Serengeti ecosystem, which spans 12,000 square miles extending from northern Tanzania into southwestern Kenya, is home to millions of animals, including 70 species of large mammals. It is a hotspot for mammal diversity—including herbivores such… Read more
NAU scientists lead DoD project to assess environmental impact of changing climate on boreal forests
The boreal forest, or taiga, is the largest terrestrial biome on Earth, extending across North America, Europe and Asia north of the 50th parallel. Representing nearly one-third of the world’s forest cover, the boreal forest plays a significant role in the planet’s biodiversity. Its coniferous spruce, pine and larch trees flourish in the long, severe winters and short summers of the subarctic climate. The forest… Read more