This summer, biology major Kelly Meinert, Class of 2024, planted herself at the Temple Ambler Field Station. Thanks to the College of Science and Technology Research Scholars Program, Kelly had the opportunity to work on an independent research project about small invasive plants that can thrive under taller trees’ canopies at Temple Forest Observatory (TFO). Since a
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IMAGE: Tropical forests in Panama are threatened due to agriculture, mining, development, and climate change. Reforestation is an important strategy to protect the tropical carbon sink. Nitrogen-fixing trees are known to. view more
Credit: Credit: Sarah Batterman.
A new study, published this week in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that nitrogen-fixing trees play an underrecognized role in recovering tropical forests by enriching nutrient-poor soils with scarce elements such as phosphorus and molybdenum.
Coauthor Sarah Batterman, a tropical forest ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, explains, We ve long known that nitrogen-fixing trees work with soil microbes to make atmospheric nitrogen available to plants. Our study found that nitrogen fixers also play a vital role in unlocking other nutrients by weathering rocks beneath their roots. These nutrients include things like phosphorus, which is very limited in tropical fo