Snowmelt is a critical biogeochemical period that accounts for large nitrogen (N) export events from high-elevation watersheds. Soil microbial populations bloom and immobilize N during snowmelt, yet the population size crashes in spring, which releases a pulse of soil N. We sought to discover the N

Drought is changing the American Mountain West at unprecedented rates with unknown consequences to soil microbiome composition and function. As a part of LBNL Watershed Science Focus Area (SFA), we investigated shifts in microbial community and transcriptional activity on a subalpine conifer-meadow

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken in 2018 in May (flooded conditi

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken in 2017 in June (flooded condit

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken in 2019 in June (flooded condit

The Watershed Function Science Focus Area (WF SFA) at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab is working to build a mechanistic understanding of the distribution and dynamics of biogeochemical processes in mountainous watersheds and their response to perturbation. In June 2018, the NEON (National Ecological

Owing to sex-specific reproductive strategies, the mean and variance in annual offspring production may differ between the sexes. In addition, there may be sex-specific changes in reproductive performance with age (e.g. senescence). We used 20 and 50 years of longitudinal data on male and female yel

A growing body of work examines the direct and indirect effects of climate change on ecosystems, typically by using manipulative experiments at a single site or performing meta-analyses across many independent experiments. However, results from single-site studies tend to have limited generality. Al

Abstract Species that hibernate live longer than would be expected based solely on their body size. Hibernation is characterized by long periods of metabolic suppression (torpor) interspersed by short periods of increased metabolism (arousal). The torpor-arousal cycles occur multiple times during hi

Herbivorous insects are extraordinarily diverse, yet are found in only one-third of insect orders. This skew may result from barriers to plant colonization, coupled with phylogenetic constraint on plant-colonizing adaptations. The plant-penetrating ovipositor, however, is one trait that surmounts ho

The interactions between ants and certain sap-feeding insects in the order Hemiptera are classic examples of food-for-protection mutualisms. In these associations, herbivorous hemipterans use a highly specialized, straw-like mouthpart to consume sap directly from plant phloem and xylem and, as a res

Climate change is affecting species and their mutualists and can lead to the weakening or loss of important interspecific interactions. Through independent shifts in partner phenology and distribution, climatic stress can separate mutualists temporally or spatially, leading to alterations in partner

Research on floral volatiles has grown substantially in the last 20 years, which has generated insights into their diversity and prevalence. These studies have paved the way for new research that explores the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of different types of variation in floral

AbstractPremiseGenetic variation influences the potential for evolution to rescue populations from impacts of environmental change. Most studies of genetic variation in fitness‐related traits focus on either vegetative or floral traits, with few on floral scent. How vegetative and floral traits comp

Investigating individual-based habitat settlement decisions is a central theme in ecology, yet studies that quantify density-dependent habitat selection or tie fitness to resource selection decisions remain rare. We quantified habitat selection in golden-mantled ground squirrels ( Callospermophilus

Anaerobic methane oxidation exerts a key control on greenhouse gas emissions 1 , yet factors that modulate the activity of microorganisms performing this function remain poorly understood. Here we discovered extraordinarily large, diverse DNA sequences that primarily encode hypothetical proteins thr

Individuals respond to predators through an array of anti-predator behaviors that can be influenced by their social environment, specifically through protection from predators or by altering risk-resource trade-offs through competitive exclusion from resources. While social effects like group size a

Abstract. Soil thickness plays a central role in the interactions between vegetation, soils, and topography, where it controls the retention and release of water, carbon, nitrogen, and metals. However, mapping soil thickness, here defined as the mobile regolith layer, at high spatial resolution rema