May 10, 2023 08:42 PM
How life and geology worked together to forge Earth’s nutrient rich crust
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/988840
INTRO: Around 500 million years ago life in the oceans rapidly diversified. In the blink of an eye — at least in geological terms — life transformed from simple, soft-bodied creatures to complex multicellular organisms with shells and skeletons.
Now, [research led by the University of Cambridge has shown that the diversification of life at this time also led to a drastic change in the chemistry of Earth’s crust — the uppermost layer we walk on and, crucially, the layer which provides many of the nutrients essential to life.
The researchers identified that, following the so-called Cambrian explosion, quantities of the life-giving nutrient phosphorus tripled in crustal rocks — a change that supported the continued expansion of life on Earth.
“We found that ancient life had a profound impact on its environment — even to the point of resetting the chemistry of the continental crust,” said Craig Walton, lead author of the research who is from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences... (MORE - details)
Invading insect could transform Antarctic soils
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/988854
INTRO: A tiny flightless midge which has colonised Antarctica’s Signy Island is driving fundamental changes to the island’s soil ecosystem, a study shows.
Research by experts at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey has revealed that a non-native midge species is significantly increasing rates of plant decomposition, resulting in three to five-fold increases in soil nitrate levels compared to sites where only native invertebrates occur.
The paper, published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, was part of a PhD project completed by Dr Jesamine Bartlett in Dr Scott Hayward’s lab within the School of Biosciences at Birmingham, and outlines how the midge, called Eretmoptera murphyi, is altering soil ecosystems on the island.
Dr Bartlett explained: “Antarctic soils are very nutrient limited systems because decomposition rates are so slow. The nutrients are there, but it has taken this invasive midge to unlock them on Signy Island. It is an ‘ecosystem engineer’ in a similar way to earthworms in temperate soil systems... (MORE - details)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/988840
INTRO: Around 500 million years ago life in the oceans rapidly diversified. In the blink of an eye — at least in geological terms — life transformed from simple, soft-bodied creatures to complex multicellular organisms with shells and skeletons.
Now, [research led by the University of Cambridge has shown that the diversification of life at this time also led to a drastic change in the chemistry of Earth’s crust — the uppermost layer we walk on and, crucially, the layer which provides many of the nutrients essential to life.
The researchers identified that, following the so-called Cambrian explosion, quantities of the life-giving nutrient phosphorus tripled in crustal rocks — a change that supported the continued expansion of life on Earth.
“We found that ancient life had a profound impact on its environment — even to the point of resetting the chemistry of the continental crust,” said Craig Walton, lead author of the research who is from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences... (MORE - details)
Invading insect could transform Antarctic soils
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/988854
INTRO: A tiny flightless midge which has colonised Antarctica’s Signy Island is driving fundamental changes to the island’s soil ecosystem, a study shows.
Research by experts at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey has revealed that a non-native midge species is significantly increasing rates of plant decomposition, resulting in three to five-fold increases in soil nitrate levels compared to sites where only native invertebrates occur.
The paper, published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, was part of a PhD project completed by Dr Jesamine Bartlett in Dr Scott Hayward’s lab within the School of Biosciences at Birmingham, and outlines how the midge, called Eretmoptera murphyi, is altering soil ecosystems on the island.
Dr Bartlett explained: “Antarctic soils are very nutrient limited systems because decomposition rates are so slow. The nutrients are there, but it has taken this invasive midge to unlock them on Signy Island. It is an ‘ecosystem engineer’ in a similar way to earthworms in temperate soil systems... (MORE - details)