2008 OCT 20 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to a study from Stuttgart, Germany, "Information about the annual carbon fluxes of fen and meadow ecosystems in alpine environments is rare. We studied the influence of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), plant green area index (GAI), soil temperature, and water-filled pore space (wfps) on the net CO2 emission at four alpine sites (one meadow and three fen sites) differing in water balance and plant community. ...read more

  2008 SEP 1 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to recent research from Le Rheu, France, "The high arctic aphid Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum Heikinheimo is endemic to Svalbard and has developed a shortened life cycle to cope with harsh environmental conditions prevailing in this archipelago. Previous studies in the 1990s showed that contrarily to Sitobion calvulum, a species which is also restricted to Svalbard and displays a two-generation life cycle, A. svalbardicum can produce a third generation that, on average, should complete its development and reproduction once every 28 years. ...read more

  2008 AUG 18 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "We investigated changes in vascular plant species richness in nine summit floras in the central part of the Fennoscandian mountain range compared to historical data from 1950. We revisited the summits (defined as the top 50 altitudinal meters of each mountain) in 2002, and recorded all species," scientists in Umea, Sweden report.

  "The changes in species richness were tested against both species and mountain characteristics. Species richness had declined on eight of the nine summits. Five of the species were new since the 1950s, while 17 species were lost from the summits. However, species turnover was even higher: 57 of our recorded species occurrences had established on at least one mountain since the 1950s, while we could not find 132 of the recorded occurrences in 1950 on one or more mountains. Temperature had increased since 1950 by about 1 degrees C and precipitation by 12%. The reindeer population has more than doubled. No correlations between plant responses, plant characteristics, and mountain characteristics were found, suggesting individualistic and mountain-specific responses. We conclude that climate changes may be responsible for an increased establishment and reindeer trampling for increased mortality of established individuals," wrote J. Moen and colleagues, Umea University ...read more