double whammy

Plants and soils act like sponges for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but new research on the cover of this week's Nature finds that one abnormally warm year can suppress the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by some grassland ecosystems for up to two years.

The findings followed a four-year study of 12-ton containerized grassland plots at Nevada's Desert Research Institute.

Plots were extracted intact from the Oklahoma prairie and sealed inside four, living-room-sized environment chambers.

Plant-eating animals in highly seasonal environments, such as the Arctic, face two climate-related challenges in locating nutritious food.

Not only are these animals now arriving at their breeding grounds after the plants there have passed their peak nutritional value (previously published) but now animals also are less able to find good food by moving to locations where plants had been available later in the season, prior to global warming.