October 2022

The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum: weaving science into landscape

The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum is comprised of woody plants located on the nearly 400 acre main campus in the heart of Tucson, AZ. Many of those woody plants are the product of Land-Grant research addressing state needs: initially addressing the 19th century need for an agricultural base to the Arizona Territory and later, responding to the 20th century need for resource-conscious landscapes as a result of increased urbanization and environmental concern.

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Human securities, sustainability, and migration in the ancient U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest

In the US Southwest and Mexican Northwest, tens of thousands of people were on the move in the 1200s through 1400s CE. By the end of the 1400s, regional-scale population levels had declined by about 50%. What conditions led to this pulse of migration and depopulation? Here we show, through a Southwest/Northwest scale meta-analysis of sub-regional archaeological studies, the spatial distribution, intensity, and variation in social and environmental conditions within eight culture areas, prior to depopulation.

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Influence of Viscum album on the growth of Pinus sylvestris in Poland and Central Europe

The growing intensity of climate change combined with increased urbanization is causing a modification of weather patterns in Central Europe, specifically the rising temperature and precipitation distribution and intensity in recent decades. These phenomena adversely affect groundwater levels, indirectly affect forest ecosystems, and contribute to declining in tree health. For example, this affects their susceptibility to external pathogens (i.e. insects, fungi, parasites, etc.) that can lead to tree mortality.