Browse Titles - 9 results
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Do Land Management Changes Have Effects on Climate as Large as Land Cover Changes?
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 10 mins
The study presented in this video evaluates data from observational towers, satellite pictures and other published data to compare the impact of land-cover change and land management change on climate. The results show that land management change within the same vegetation (e.g., harvesting a formerly untouched fo...
Open Access
(Latest Thinking, 2017), 10 mins
Description
The study presented in this video evaluates data from observational towers, satellite pictures and other published data to compare the impact of land-cover change and land management change on climate. The results show that land management change within the same vegetation (e.g., harvesting a formerly untouched forest) has effects on climate change that are similarly large as effects of land-cover change (e.g., changing forests into pasture). Thu...
The study presented in this video evaluates data from observational towers, satellite pictures and other published data to compare the impact of land-cover change and land management change on climate. The results show that land management change within the same vegetation (e.g., harvesting a formerly untouched forest) has effects on climate change that are similarly large as effects of land-cover change (e.g., changing forests into pasture). Thus, JULIA PONGRATZ explains, earth system models which are used to estimate human impact on climate should include changes in land management.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Julia Pongratz
Person Discussed
Julia Pongratz
Topic / Theme
Geography, Agricultural ecology, Earth sciences, Forest management, Land conservation, Deforestation, Climate change
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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How Do Forest Trees Defend Themselves Against Insects Under Natural Conditions and Is This Process Affected by Forest Management?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
When plants are being attacked by herbivore insects, they protect themselves by emitting volatiles that attract enemies of the insects. This has already been well investigated in greenhouse settings and on smaller plants but very little research has been done under natural conditions and on trees. In this video, S...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
Description
When plants are being attacked by herbivore insects, they protect themselves by emitting volatiles that attract enemies of the insects. This has already been well investigated in greenhouse settings and on smaller plants but very little research has been done under natural conditions and on trees. In this video, SYBILLE UNSICKER explains how the research team studied this pattern in the forest ecosystem while also controlling for the influence of...
When plants are being attacked by herbivore insects, they protect themselves by emitting volatiles that attract enemies of the insects. This has already been well investigated in greenhouse settings and on smaller plants but very little research has been done under natural conditions and on trees. In this video, SYBILLE UNSICKER explains how the research team studied this pattern in the forest ecosystem while also controlling for the influence of different land management regimes on the so-called “indirect plant defense”. The results show that predatory insects were indeed more attracted to the trees which were infested with caterpillars during the experiment. Surprisingly the forest management regime had no influence on the attraction of natural enemies.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Topic / Theme
Trees, Natural phenomena, Forest management
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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How Do Plant Genomes Develop Different Phenotypes Depending on Their Environment?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 16 mins
Once a plant has germinated in a particular location, it cannot change it anymore. This means its growth depends on its location with its particular context, such as soil, herbivores, or sunlight levels. Therefore plants have evolved sophisticated signal transduction systems that allow them to perceive the outside...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 16 mins
Description
Once a plant has germinated in a particular location, it cannot change it anymore. This means its growth depends on its location with its particular context, such as soil, herbivores, or sunlight levels. Therefore plants have evolved sophisticated signal transduction systems that allow them to perceive the outside world and then modify their growth, morphology and chemicals production and develop different phenotypes. IAN BALDWIN and his research...
Once a plant has germinated in a particular location, it cannot change it anymore. This means its growth depends on its location with its particular context, such as soil, herbivores, or sunlight levels. Therefore plants have evolved sophisticated signal transduction systems that allow them to perceive the outside world and then modify their growth, morphology and chemicals production and develop different phenotypes. IAN BALDWIN and his research team investigate how exactly this process happens. As Baldwin describes in this video, the recently published genome of Nicotiana attenuata allows the researchers to examine the possibility that not only protein-coding genes but also non-coding RNA is involved in the regulatory process in the genome. Using RNAi to silence protein-coding genes, they take these engineered plants into the field and observe the differences. Their findings confirm the hypothesis that the small RNA machinery causes the change in phenotype.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
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How Do Plants Regulate Their Behavior Based on Their Carbohydrate Resources?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
It has been known since the 1980s that sugars are central to the growth of plants. High levels of carbohydrates enable the plant to assimilate nitrogen to increase amino acid synthesis which then enables them to make proteins more quickly which, in turn, allows the plant to grow faster. It is still unclear, howeve...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 14 mins
Description
It has been known since the 1980s that sugars are central to the growth of plants. High levels of carbohydrates enable the plant to assimilate nitrogen to increase amino acid synthesis which then enables them to make proteins more quickly which, in turn, allows the plant to grow faster. It is still unclear, however, how plants sense their levels of carbohydrates and how they regulate their metabolism and growth based on this information. As MARK...
It has been known since the 1980s that sugars are central to the growth of plants. High levels of carbohydrates enable the plant to assimilate nitrogen to increase amino acid synthesis which then enables them to make proteins more quickly which, in turn, allows the plant to grow faster. It is still unclear, however, how plants sense their levels of carbohydrates and how they regulate their metabolism and growth based on this information. As MARK STITT explains in this video, he and his fellow researchers studied the compound trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) that plays an important role in carbohydrate sensing in plants. To investigate this mechanism the researchers developed methods to measure the levels of T6P as well as many other compounds and the rate at which they are being made. Introducing a mutation in the plants that increases the level of T6P at a certain point enabled the scientists to monitor the effects of the changes. The findings confirm the essential role of T6P in carbohydrate sensing and the regulation of the plant’s metabolism. The results are important as they show a way to improve plant growth and help to understand how plant behavior is determined.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
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How Does the Interplay of Genes, Environment, and Development Affect the Biological Diversity of a Species?
(Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 7 mins
Plants, animals, and fungi show a huge diversity regarding form and phenotype: the observable characteristics of an organism. The research presented in this video uses the model of a particular roundworm to investigate how the phenotype is changed by the environment; this is known as phenotypic plasticity. RALF SO...
Open Access
(Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 7 mins
Description
Plants, animals, and fungi show a huge diversity regarding form and phenotype: the observable characteristics of an organism. The research presented in this video uses the model of a particular roundworm to investigate how the phenotype is changed by the environment; this is known as phenotypic plasticity. RALF SOMMER explains that Pristionchus pacificus develops alternative mouth forms depending on their environment, either feeding on bacteria o...
Plants, animals, and fungi show a huge diversity regarding form and phenotype: the observable characteristics of an organism. The research presented in this video uses the model of a particular roundworm to investigate how the phenotype is changed by the environment; this is known as phenotypic plasticity. RALF SOMMER explains that Pristionchus pacificus develops alternative mouth forms depending on their environment, either feeding on bacteria or on other roundworms. By manipulating the worms’ genome, the researchers identified one gene which, if deactivated, results in animals that no longer develop the predatory mouth form. Theoretical biologists have been suggesting the existence of so-called developmental switch genes that determine which of several traits encoded in the genome of an individual is formed. Such genes had, however, not yet been identified. Further experiments revealed that this developmental switch is not constituted by one single gene but is part of a more complex genetic network.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Ralf J. Sommer, 1963-
Person Discussed
Ralf J. Sommer, 1963-
Topic / Theme
Genetic engineering, Scientific research, Genetics
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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Phosphorus
presented by Rosanna Kleemann, fl. 2015; produced by University of Surrey (Surrey, England: University of Surrey, 2015), 3 mins
This thesis examines how too much phosphorus in water causes many problems. However, it is an important and dwindling compound. This research looks at how Thames Water is the first to recover the waste phosphorus from water sludge and return it into fertilizer.
Open Access
presented by Rosanna Kleemann, fl. 2015; produced by University of Surrey (Surrey, England: University of Surrey, 2015), 3 mins
Description
This thesis examines how too much phosphorus in water causes many problems. However, it is an important and dwindling compound. This research looks at how Thames Water is the first to recover the waste phosphorus from water sludge and return it into fertilizer.
Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Lecture/presentation
Contributor
University of Surrey
Author / Creator
Rosanna Kleemann, fl. 2015
Date Published / Released
2015
Publisher
University of Surrey
Topic / Theme
Water supply, Scientific research
ORCID
0000-0001-9002-8960
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What Is the Role of the Eurasian Forests Under a Warming Climate?
produced by Latest Thinking (Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
The Eurasian forests are an important component in the earth’s climate system: Forests contain a lot of carbon in the vegetation and in the soil. But their role under warming conditions is still unclear – on the one hand, a higher CO2 level in the air acts like a fertilizer for plants that grow and thus store mor...
Open Access
produced by Latest Thinking (Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 11 mins
Description
The Eurasian forests are an important component in the earth’s climate system: Forests contain a lot of carbon in the vegetation and in the soil. But their role under warming conditions is still unclear – on the one hand, a higher CO2 level in the air acts like a fertilizer for plants that grow and thus store more CO;">2 in the form of carbon. On the other hand, microbes that like warmer temperatures bring the soil to decompose faster and releas...
The Eurasian forests are an important component in the earth’s climate system: Forests contain a lot of carbon in the vegetation and in the soil. But their role under warming conditions is still unclear – on the one hand, a higher CO2 level in the air acts like a fertilizer for plants that grow and thus store more CO;">2 in the form of carbon. On the other hand, microbes that like warmer temperatures bring the soil to decompose faster and release even more CO;">2 and methane. To monitor long-term biogeochemical changes, a German-Russian research collaboration established an observatory in the Siberian taiga. Since 2006, the regional effects of global warming are studied from the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory. As MARTIN HEIMANN explains in this video, two of the main findings of the long-term measurements are that currently the western Siberian forests store more carbon than they release. However, due to the many bogs the region is also a source of methane, another important greenhouse gas.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Contributor
Martin Heimann, Latest Thinking
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Topic / Theme
Greenhouse effect, Air quality management, Ecosystem management, Air pollution
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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What New Insights into Plants' Defense Mechanisms Can Be Gained by Studying Their Interactions with Their Habitat?
(Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 13 mins
In the past decades plants were viewed primarily as “growth machines” that produce oxygen and biomaterials. The research projects presented in this video look at plants more as organisms that have to solve the challenges of life. The studies analyzed the reaction of plants to certain ecological interactions in...
Open Access
(Hamburg, Hamburg State: Latest Thinking, 2017), 13 mins
Description
In the past decades plants were viewed primarily as “growth machines” that produce oxygen and biomaterials. The research projects presented in this video look at plants more as organisms that have to solve the challenges of life. The studies analyzed the reaction of plants to certain ecological interactions in a manner that brings together molecular biology and ecology. This reunion of biological sub-disciplines enables scientists to understa...
In the past decades plants were viewed primarily as “growth machines” that produce oxygen and biomaterials. The research projects presented in this video look at plants more as organisms that have to solve the challenges of life. The studies analyzed the reaction of plants to certain ecological interactions in a manner that brings together molecular biology and ecology. This reunion of biological sub-disciplines enables scientists to understand gene functions that are the basis for the elaborated chemical responses to environmental stimuli that native plants have developed over the course of their evolution. As IAN T. BALDWIN explains, this new perspective on plants is helpful to bring “ecological sophistication” back to cultivated plants in order to make them more resistant to harsh habitats.
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Field of Study
Environmental Studies
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Ian T. Baldwin, 1958-
Person Discussed
Ian T. Baldwin, 1958-
Topic / Theme
Ecology, Habitats, Botany
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
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When Will Arctic Sea Ice Be Gone?
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 12 mins
The Arctic sea ice is the ice that is floating on the Arctic Ocean. In recent decades, this pack ice has been disappearing very rapidly. So the question arises when the Arctic sea ice will be completely gone. DIRK NOTZ has examined this using the Arctic summer sea ice in September as example. As he explains in thi...
Open Access
(Germany: Latest Thinking, 2017), 12 mins
Description
The Arctic sea ice is the ice that is floating on the Arctic Ocean. In recent decades, this pack ice has been disappearing very rapidly. So the question arises when the Arctic sea ice will be completely gone. DIRK NOTZ has examined this using the Arctic summer sea ice in September as example. As he explains in this video, his research group combined satellite observations with model simulations and found a clear linear correlation between the los...
The Arctic sea ice is the ice that is floating on the Arctic Ocean. In recent decades, this pack ice has been disappearing very rapidly. So the question arises when the Arctic sea ice will be completely gone. DIRK NOTZ has examined this using the Arctic summer sea ice in September as example. As he explains in this video, his research group combined satellite observations with model simulations and found a clear linear correlation between the loss of Arctic sea ice and carbon dioxide emissions. For each ton of CO2 we emit, we make about three square meters of Arctic sea ice disappear. From this linear relationship the researchers could extrapolate the amount of carbon dioxide that can still be emitted before the Arctic sea ice is completely gone in summers. For the first time, these findings present very intuitive numbers that make clear the impact every individual has on the global warming.
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Field of Study
Global Issues
Content Type
Instructional material
Date Published / Released
2017
Publisher
Latest Thinking
Speaker / Narrator
Dirk Notz, 1975-
Person Discussed
Dirk Notz, 1975-
Topic / Theme
Arctic circle, Scientific research, Global warming, Carbon dioxide, Sea ice
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2017 Latest Thinking
×
