Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) is an important species in the Pacific Northwest including California forests. Due to the increasing need for reforestation in this region after widespread disturbances related to changes in climate (i.e., drought, megafires, beetle mortality), it is necessary to examine the factors that contribute to performance and survival of planted seedlings in reforestation projects. While most conifer planting in northern California is done in spring, fall planting is also an alternative practice used. With the recent increase in demand of seedlings for reforestation projects beyond which the current infrastructure is capable of, particularly in spring, expanding the fall planting season has potential to mitigate this and constraints to the spring labor force. Here, we studied the first-year performance of both spring and fall planted Douglas-fir seedlings for different seed sources and nursery cultural timings at a single site in northern California. We found that the fall planting can be successful in October or November, while planting earlier requires immediately favorable temperature and soil moisture conditions. Later sowing and blackout regimes also resulted in increases in height growth and bud development while also reducing damage due to spring freezes. For spring planting, early sow and blackout resulted in earlier bud break, while later sow, blackout, and lift dates benefited the first-year growth of height and diameter.

Due to the global increase in the world population, it is not possible to ensure a sufficient food supply without additional nitrogen input into the soil. About 30-50% of agricultural yields are due to the use of chemical fertilizers in modern times. However, overfertilization threatens biodiversity, such as nitrogen -loving, fast-growing species overgrow others. The production of artificial fertilizers produces nitrogen oxides, which act as greenhouse gases. In addition, overfertilization of fields also releases ammonia, which damages surface waters through acidification and eutrophication. Diazotrophic cyanobacteria, which usually form a natural, stable biofilm, can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and release it into the environment. Thus, they could provide an alternative to artificial fertilizers. In addition to this, biofilms stabilize soils and thus protect against soil erosion and desiccation. This chapter deals with the potential of cyanobacteria as the use of natural fertilizer is described. Possible partners such as plants and callus cells and the advantages of artificial co -cultivation will be discussed later. In addition, different cultivation systems for studying artificial co -cultures will be presented. Finally, the potential of artificial co -cultures in the agar industry will be discussed.

The active layer of permafrost in Ny angstrom lesund, Svalbard (79 degrees N) around the Bayelva River in the Leirhaugen glacier moraine is measured as a small net carbon sink at the brink of becoming a carbon source. In many permafrost-dominating ecosystems, microbes in the active layers have been shown to drive organic matter degradation and greenhouse gas production, creating positive feedback on climate change. However, the microbial metabolisms linking the environmental geochemical processes and the populations that perform them have not been fully characterized. In this paper, we present geochemical, enzymatic, and isotopic data paired with 10 Pseudomonas sp. cultures and metagenomic libraries of two active layer soil cores (BPF1 and BPF2) from Ny angstrom lesund, Svalbard, (79 degrees N). Relative to BPF1, BPF2 had statistically higher C/N ratios (15 +/- 1 for BPF1 vs. 29 +/- 10 for BPF2; n = 30, p < 10(-5)), statistically lower organic carbon (2% +/- 0.6% for BPF1 vs. 1.6% +/- 0.4% for BPF2, p < 0.02), statistically lower nitrogen (0.1% +/- 0.03% for BPF1 vs. 0.07% +/- 0.02% for BPF2, p < 10(-6)). The d(13)C values for inorganic carbon did not correlate with those of organic carbon in BPF2, suggesting lower heterotrophic respiration. An increase in the delta C-13 of inorganic carbon with depth either reflects an autotrophic signal or mixing between a heterotrophic source at the surface and a lithotrophic source at depth. Potential enzyme activity of xylosidase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase increases twofold at 15 degrees C, relative to 25 degrees C, indicating cold adaptation in the cultures and bulk soil. Potential enzyme activity of leucine aminopeptidase across soils and cultures was two orders of magnitude higher than other tested enzymes, implying that organisms use leucine as a nitrogen and carbon source in this nutrient-limited environment. Besides demonstrating large variability in carbon compositions of permafrost active layer soils only similar to 84 m apart, results suggest that the Svalbard active layer microbes are often limited by organic carbon or nitrogen availability and have adaptations to the current environment, and metabolic flexibility to adapt to the warming climate.

Snow cover plays a major role in the climate, hydrological and ecological systems of the Arctic and other regions through its influence on the surface energy balance (e.g. reflectivity), water balance (e.g. water storage and release), thermal regimes (e.g. insulation), vegetation and trace gas fluxes. Feedbacks to the climate system have global consequences. The livelihoods and well-being of Arctic residents and many services for the wider population depend on snow conditions so changes have important consequences. Already, changing snow conditions, particularly reduced summer soil moisture, winter thaw events and rain-on-snow conditions have negatively affected commercial forestry, reindeer herding, some wild animal populations and vegetation. Reductions in snow cover are also adversely impacting indigenous peoples' access to traditional foods with negative impacts on human health and well-being. However, there are likely to be some benefits from a changing Arctic snow regime such as more even run-off from melting snow that favours hydropower operations.