Kristina Young
@kristinayoung.bsky.social
Incoming Asst Prof of Climate Change Ecology at U of Wisconsin-Madison. Researching dryland ecosystems & their responses to global change🏜️🌎
Founder: sciencemoab.org
Founder: sciencemoab.org
Pinned
List of the wonderful people working with biocrust. Let me know if you want in on the fun. All biocrust enthusiasts are invited!
Reposted by Kristina Young
Here's a great new article from a Stanford University publication about the growing threat of Valley fever in the West. Several of my colleagues and I were interviewed for it.
andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/buried-...
andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/buried-...
Buried in the soil or drifting on the wind, Valley fever fungus spreads further around the Southwest
“The West’s Lyme disease” gets less attention as cases rise – even while drastically undercounted. Climate change and land development are worsening the picture.
andthewest.stanford.edu
October 27, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Here's a great new article from a Stanford University publication about the growing threat of Valley fever in the West. Several of my colleagues and I were interviewed for it.
andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/buried-...
andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/buried-...
Grateful to see this beautiful #biocrust on a trip through Canyonlands National Park in the Maze District. It is always a gift to see such intact crust in these remote places
October 20, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Grateful to see this beautiful #biocrust on a trip through Canyonlands National Park in the Maze District. It is always a gift to see such intact crust in these remote places
Reposted by Kristina Young
Attention publishers: Announcing the Guidelines for Indigenous Data Governance in Scholarly Publishing
Join this session to learn more about the recently published Guidelines and how you can help!
nisoplusglobalonline.cadmore.media/Home
Join this session to learn more about the recently published Guidelines and how you can help!
nisoplusglobalonline.cadmore.media/Home
NISO Plus Global Online
nisoplusglobalonline.cadmore.media
September 2, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Attention publishers: Announcing the Guidelines for Indigenous Data Governance in Scholarly Publishing
Join this session to learn more about the recently published Guidelines and how you can help!
nisoplusglobalonline.cadmore.media/Home
Join this session to learn more about the recently published Guidelines and how you can help!
nisoplusglobalonline.cadmore.media/Home
Reposted by Kristina Young
Happy to share a new lab @jgrbiogeo.bsky.social paper: "Drought Response in Three Conifer Species Detected by Sap Flow and Proximal Thermal Remote Sensing" led by the amazing Daphna Uni w/ @mostafaj.bsky.social others @uarizona.bsky.social agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
September 2, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Happy to share a new lab @jgrbiogeo.bsky.social paper: "Drought Response in Three Conifer Species Detected by Sap Flow and Proximal Thermal Remote Sensing" led by the amazing Daphna Uni w/ @mostafaj.bsky.social others @uarizona.bsky.social agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Reposted by Kristina Young
New paper out in the American Journal of Botany with some of my science role models, @michalaphillips.bsky.social @ecology-awesome.bsky.social @kristinayoung.bsky.social and also Cara Lauria and Ana Giraldo-Silva.
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Navigating the possibilities and pitfalls of biocrust recovery in a changing climate
Biological soil crusts are complex communities composed of lichens, mosses, bacteria, and cyanobacteria that create a living skin on the soil surface across drylands worldwide. Although small in size...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 21, 2025 at 11:19 PM
New paper out in the American Journal of Botany with some of my science role models, @michalaphillips.bsky.social @ecology-awesome.bsky.social @kristinayoung.bsky.social and also Cara Lauria and Ana Giraldo-Silva.
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Reposted by Kristina Young
Reposted by Kristina Young
Happy to share our recent paper using Ecological Site Groups to better understand plant community changes &their relationship with wildfire & drought on the Colorado Plateau. Part of a fantastic project working with land managers & scientists alike.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
August 8, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Happy to share our recent paper using Ecological Site Groups to better understand plant community changes &their relationship with wildfire & drought on the Colorado Plateau. Part of a fantastic project working with land managers & scientists alike.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Reposted by Kristina Young
Happy to share a new lab @newphyt.bsky.social
paper, Fangyue Zhang et al., "Temporal repackaging of rainfall magnifies negative impacts of vapor pressure deficit on semiarid ecosystem productivity" @uarizona.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/KYZDXV...
paper, Fangyue Zhang et al., "Temporal repackaging of rainfall magnifies negative impacts of vapor pressure deficit on semiarid ecosystem productivity" @uarizona.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/KYZDXV...
August 5, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Happy to share a new lab @newphyt.bsky.social
paper, Fangyue Zhang et al., "Temporal repackaging of rainfall magnifies negative impacts of vapor pressure deficit on semiarid ecosystem productivity" @uarizona.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/KYZDXV...
paper, Fangyue Zhang et al., "Temporal repackaging of rainfall magnifies negative impacts of vapor pressure deficit on semiarid ecosystem productivity" @uarizona.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/KYZDXV...
Fantastic paper by Scott Ferrenberg & others exploring the role of nurse plant shading vs soil fertility for dryland plant recruitment and diversity👇 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Nurse plant shading is more important than soil fertility for dryland plant recruitment and diversity
The significant influence of shading highlights the role of environmental factors in shaping plant communities of this dryland system, while the evidence of seed depletion combined with the influence....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 5, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Fantastic paper by Scott Ferrenberg & others exploring the role of nurse plant shading vs soil fertility for dryland plant recruitment and diversity👇 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Kristina Young
August 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Don't miss it! 👇!
Way excited for Savannah's defense next week!
If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉)
Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉)
Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
July 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Don't miss it! 👇!
Reposted by Kristina Young
Way excited for Savannah's defense next week!
If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉)
Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉)
Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
July 22, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Way excited for Savannah's defense next week!
If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉)
Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉)
Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
When we tell people that #biocrust can be a dominant form of ground cover in drylands, it can be hard to picture. Here's a perfect example from Canyonlands National Park in Utah showing how extensive biocrust cover can be!
July 15, 2025 at 10:25 PM
When we tell people that #biocrust can be a dominant form of ground cover in drylands, it can be hard to picture. Here's a perfect example from Canyonlands National Park in Utah showing how extensive biocrust cover can be!
Our new review is out led by @michalaphillips.bsky.social examining #biocrust recovery amidst climate change 👇
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Navigating the possibilities and pitfalls of biocrust recovery in a changing climate
Biological soil crusts are complex communities composed of lichens, mosses, bacteria, and cyanobacteria that create a living skin on the soil surface across drylands worldwide. Although small in size...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Our new review is out led by @michalaphillips.bsky.social examining #biocrust recovery amidst climate change 👇
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Kristina Young
Climate change could shift the geographical distribution of biocrusts in the Qaidam Basin 📊🌏
Uses high-resolution biocrust maps to establish a monitoring & management baseline. Results underscore the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity 🌐🧪
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
Uses high-resolution biocrust maps to establish a monitoring & management baseline. Results underscore the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity 🌐🧪
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
June 17, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Climate change could shift the geographical distribution of biocrusts in the Qaidam Basin 📊🌏
Uses high-resolution biocrust maps to establish a monitoring & management baseline. Results underscore the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity 🌐🧪
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
Uses high-resolution biocrust maps to establish a monitoring & management baseline. Results underscore the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity 🌐🧪
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
Reposted by Kristina Young
Land is life.
But with 2 billion hectares of land degraded globally, restoring ecosystems & building drought resilience has never been more urgent.
On #DesertificationandDroughtDay find out how we can restore land.
Together, we can be #UNited4land: www.unep.org/gef/focal-ar...
@unccd.bsky.social
But with 2 billion hectares of land degraded globally, restoring ecosystems & building drought resilience has never been more urgent.
On #DesertificationandDroughtDay find out how we can restore land.
Together, we can be #UNited4land: www.unep.org/gef/focal-ar...
@unccd.bsky.social
June 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Land is life.
But with 2 billion hectares of land degraded globally, restoring ecosystems & building drought resilience has never been more urgent.
On #DesertificationandDroughtDay find out how we can restore land.
Together, we can be #UNited4land: www.unep.org/gef/focal-ar...
@unccd.bsky.social
But with 2 billion hectares of land degraded globally, restoring ecosystems & building drought resilience has never been more urgent.
On #DesertificationandDroughtDay find out how we can restore land.
Together, we can be #UNited4land: www.unep.org/gef/focal-ar...
@unccd.bsky.social
"Now, there is only a trickle of water following the driest winter in decades."
Rippling effects of #globalchange in #drylands
Rippling effects of #globalchange in #drylands
After a dry winter, Syria adds a severe water crisis in the capital to its many troubles, report @apnews.com’s Omar Sanadiki and Ghaith al-Sayed.
apnews.com/article/syri...
apnews.com/article/syri...
Syria's driest winter in nearly 7 decades triggers a severe water crisis in Damascus
Syria's capital, Damascus, is suffering from its worst water shortages in years as a result of the lowest rainfall in more than six decades.
apnews.com
May 25, 2025 at 1:34 PM
"Now, there is only a trickle of water following the driest winter in decades."
Rippling effects of #globalchange in #drylands
Rippling effects of #globalchange in #drylands
Our newly published paper was really exciting to work on because it uses models to help determine how effective a restoration action might be at meeting a goal (in our case wind erosion reduction) BEFORE costly efforts are implemented onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Optimizing the effectiveness of connectivity modifiers to reduce dryland degradation
Dryland degradation from unsustainable land use and increasing aridity often manifests as bare, interconnected areas that facilitate the loss or redistribution of resources (soil, seeds, and nutrient...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Our newly published paper was really exciting to work on because it uses models to help determine how effective a restoration action might be at meeting a goal (in our case wind erosion reduction) BEFORE costly efforts are implemented onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Kristina Young
Nice new paper out by @kristinayoung.bsky.social This was one of her dissertation chapters and some offshoot work from our fungal loop project.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Biocrust Mosses and Cyanobacteria Exhibit Distinct Carbon Uptake Responses to Variations in Precipitation Amount and Frequency
This study investigates carbon uptake in biological soil crusts (biocrusts) under varying precipitation regimes, testing pulse-response strategies in moss- and cyanobacteria-dominated crusts. The res...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 16, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Nice new paper out by @kristinayoung.bsky.social This was one of her dissertation chapters and some offshoot work from our fungal loop project.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Kristina Young
Excellent piece by @kristinayoung.bsky.social on the critical threat facing the USGS's Southwest Biological Science Center. We must rally and fight this senseless attack on science!!
Voices: Research on dust in Utah has never been more important. Trump’s proposed cuts put our economy and public health at risk.
“The loss of this science doesn’t just mean fewer data points,” writes Kristina Young. “It means fewer tools to protect water supplies, fewer insights to guide wildfire mitigation and fewer answers wh...
www.sltrib.com
April 30, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Excellent piece by @kristinayoung.bsky.social on the critical threat facing the USGS's Southwest Biological Science Center. We must rally and fight this senseless attack on science!!
Reposted by Kristina Young
For those interested in the history of ecology: a nice Earth Day piece on the scientific legacy of the Desert Laboratory in Tuscon and the role that Carnegie Science played in supporting early ecological research. 🧪🌐🌍🌎🌏🌵
carnegiescience.edu/news/desert-...
carnegiescience.edu/news/desert-...
The Desert Laboratory: Carnegie Science's Pioneering Role in American Ecology
Carnegie Science's Desert Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona served as an intellectual hub where pioneering ecologists helped transform the emerging discipline of ecology from descriptive natural history i...
carnegiescience.edu
April 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
For those interested in the history of ecology: a nice Earth Day piece on the scientific legacy of the Desert Laboratory in Tuscon and the role that Carnegie Science played in supporting early ecological research. 🧪🌐🌍🌎🌏🌵
carnegiescience.edu/news/desert-...
carnegiescience.edu/news/desert-...
Science is still happening! Hopeful that our new paper can serve as a resource for those seeking or making digital seed-based restoration tools: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Send me a message if you need access @coleoptara.bsky.social @restorecal.bsky.social @magdagarbowski.bsky.social
April 18, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Science is still happening! Hopeful that our new paper can serve as a resource for those seeking or making digital seed-based restoration tools: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Send me a message if you need access @coleoptara.bsky.social @restorecal.bsky.social @magdagarbowski.bsky.social
Reposted by Kristina Young
Biocrusts—tiny communities of fungi, bacteria, and algae on dryland soils—have fascinated scientists for decades A new review in @cambridgeup.bsky.social #CPDrylands by Rosentreter & Eldridge explores key trends in biocrust research in North America doi.org/10.1017/dry....
April 15, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Biocrusts—tiny communities of fungi, bacteria, and algae on dryland soils—have fascinated scientists for decades A new review in @cambridgeup.bsky.social #CPDrylands by Rosentreter & Eldridge explores key trends in biocrust research in North America doi.org/10.1017/dry....
Reposted by Kristina Young
Soil #biodiversity is critical for the health of humans, animals & the environment. However, global change threatens our soil ecosystems. This Essay discusses the importance of soil biodiversity in the face of global stressors & the major knowledge gaps precluding its conservation🧪
▶️ plos.io/4hSbLUa
▶️ plos.io/4hSbLUa
March 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Soil #biodiversity is critical for the health of humans, animals & the environment. However, global change threatens our soil ecosystems. This Essay discusses the importance of soil biodiversity in the face of global stressors & the major knowledge gaps precluding its conservation🧪
▶️ plos.io/4hSbLUa
▶️ plos.io/4hSbLUa