Desert dust alters ecology of Colorado alpine meadows
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - 09:49
in Earth & Climate
Accelerated snowmelt - precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains - changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to results of a new study reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These results indicate that global warming may have a greater influence on plants' annual growth cycles than previously thought...