Bannister 110

Cactus on the Altiplano of South America contain an archive of useful climate, physiological and demographic information in the isotopes of their spines. As demonstrated on saguaro cactus in Tucson, Arizona, spines emerge from the apex of the cactus, cease growth, and then are retained in time-ordered sequence on the side of the cactus as the stem continues to grow upward. Thus, time ordered sequences of spines contain diurnal, seasonal, and annual information in the oxygen and carbon isotope ratios of the robust spine tissue.

Dana Fritz will speak about her new book and exhibition, Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape. This fascinating and little-known story of the first federal tree nursery and what was once the world’s largest hand-planted forest reaches beyond Nebraska with relevance to our current challenges of climate chaos and biodiversity collapse.

See:
https://www.danafritz.com/field-guide
and
https://ltrr.arizona.edu/content/field-guide-hybrid-landscape

Forest ecosystems are particularly threatened by global change components, such as increasing frequency and severity of climate extreme events, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) and pollutants concentrations. All these factors strongly influence the capacity of forests to continue providing important ecosystem services we rely on, including climate regulation and mitigation.