University of Arizona researchers, in conjunction with an international team, are hoping to learn how a hotter, drier future will alter tropical rain forest ecosystems.
Drought will soon descend on the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 rain forest, and an international research team will be ready with an array of instruments to record what unfurls under the glass.
The drought is part of a four-month-long experiment known as Water, Atmosphere and Life Dynamics. Dubbed WALD, which is German for “forest,” the study is expected to shed light on how tropical ecosystems will fare under the stress of a hotter, drier shift in climate.
Biosphere 2 has closed the rain forest to the public for the duration of the research, but visitors are still invited to explore other biomes under the glass.
“We’re broadly curious about an ecosystem’s response to drought, and we’re measuring it in a way that’s unparalleled,” said Laura Meredith, the rain forest science director for Biosphere 2 and one of three leads on this international project. “We get to control when the drought happens, and we’re ready with instruments. This is helpful for testing models to predict what happens with global tropical forests under climate change.”
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