Here's an exercise from a Plant Physiology class that gives a more thorough explanation of sucrose-laden sap flow through the xylem, which is only a spring phenomenon: http://employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe/biol327/lab/maple/maple-sap.htm.
As for the NPR story, I am not sure that people have always assumed that sap arises from the trunk and flows down to the tap, so I think the premise of the story was off in the first place. The rise of sap in the springtime is commonly understood. ********************************************* Don Cipollini, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Biological Sciences Director, Environmental Sciences PhD Program Wright State University Department of Biological Sciences 203 Biological Sciences Bldg. I 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway Dayton, OH 45435 Phone: 937-775-3805 Email: [email protected] Laboratory Website: http://cipollinilab.wordpress.com Environmental Sciences PhD Program website: www.wright.edu/academics/envsci -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of ECOLOG-L automatic digest system Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 12:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: ECOLOG-L Digest - 22 Feb 2014 to 23 Feb 2014 (#2014-55) There are 3 messages totalling 234 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Executive Director and Lecturer Position at Western State Colorado University 2. Postdoc opening: Experimental community ecology and restoration of post-agricultural landscapes 3. maple sap question ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 10:57:50 -0500 From: Corrie Knapp <[email protected]> Subject: Executive Director and Lecturer Position at Western State Colorado University POSITION:=20 Western=92s ENVS and Master in Environmental Management (MEM) programs se= ek a lecturer with a=20 half-time teaching reassignment to serve as the founding CSLC Executive D= irector.Responsibilities=20 include entrepreneurial development and management of the CSLC vision for= a center for=20 environmental education and cold climate sustainable living experiments, = in partnership with the=20 CSLC Board and donors; teaching two courses in the academic year in Weste= rn=92s MEM and ENVS=20 programs; recruiting an annual cohort of CSLC-relevant graduate students,= supervising CSLC- focused graduate fellowships, and mentoring master=92s projects toward ca= reer opportunities; and=20 co-facilitating an intensive residency for all MEM students each summer. = Depending upon=20 academic expertise, successful candidates would teach from a range of pot= ential MEM courses in=20 integrative land management, sustainable and resilient communities, envir= onmental science,=20 environmental policy, public lands management, or relevant undergraduate = courses.=20 Responsibilities also include: facilitating community partners across the= region to advance the=20 missions of CSLC and Western=92s Center for Environment & Sustainabil= ity; building a global network=20 of CSLC collaborators from other cold climates; and university service an= d professional activity.=20=20 Information on the MEM program can be found at http://www.western.edu/mem= . Information on=20 Western=92s Center for Environment & Sustainability, of which the MEM= programs are a part, can be=20 found at http://www.western.edu/centerenvs. Information on the Coldharbou= r Sustainable Living=20 Center can be found at http://gunnisoncoldharbour.org=20 SALARY/BENEFITS: =09 12-month salary is commensurate with qualifications, ranging from $50,000= -$60,000. Benefits=20 include an employee/employer shared contribution retirement plan and life= and health insurance.=20 Funding for the CSLC teaching reassignment is for the first four years.=20= =09 START DATE: =09 July 1, 2014 (upon hiring, will be compensated for attending MEM retreats= and for developing=20 courses throughout late spring-early summer 2014) QUALIFICATIONS: =09 Ph.D. preferred, with consideration given to Masters-level candidates wit= h excellent organizational=20 leadership and teaching skills. Candidates must demonstrate a strong com= mitment to:=20 =95=09entrepreneurial approaches to organizational development and fundra= ising =95=09collaboration among diverse stakeholder groups =95=09interdisciplinary environmental problem-solving, focused on sustain= able living=20 =95=09experiential and environmental education =95=09online and blended learning =95=09excellence in teaching and project/professional mentoring=20=20 APPLICATION: =09 To apply, please go to www.western.edu/jobs and use our online applicatio= n. Required=20 attachments to your online application include a letter of application ou= tlining your interest in the=20 position, curriculum vitae, and academic transcripts. Unofficial transcr= ipts are acceptable during=20 screening. Official transcripts are required prior to employment.=20 Send three letters of recommendation to:=20 MEM/Coldharbour Search Committee Western State Colorado University Taylor Hall 303=20 600 N. Adam Street Gunnison, CO 81231 Or have three letters of recommendation emailed to Erica Boucher at ebouc= [email protected]. Please refer all questions to the chair of the search committee, Dr. Jeff= Sellen=20 ([email protected]). Phone number: (970) 943-3162=20 =09 Screening of applications will begin March 10, 2014 and will continue unt= il the position is filled. =20 Western is a public university with an enrollment of 2,400 students who c= ome from across=20 Colorado and all fifty states. Faculty members share a strong commitment = to personalized=20 education with the liberal arts and sciences and professional training as= its core. They are student- oriented, collegial, energetic, and engaged in the campus and community. = The curriculum provides=20 professional flexibility where experiential learning and interdisciplinar= y approaches are valued. Our=20 campus is located in Gunnison, Colorado, a rural community 200 miles sout= hwest of Denver. At an=20 elevation of 7,700 feet in the southern Rocky Mountains, the Gunnison Val= ley provides spectacular=20 year-round recreational opportunities. Employees have chosen Western beca= use of the quality of=20 life combined with rewarding careers. Visit http://www.western.edu to lea= rn more about Western. Western State Colorado University is an affirmative action/equal opportun= ity educator and=20 employer. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 15:56:07 -0500 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Lars_Brudvig?= <[email protected]> Subject: Postdoc opening: Experimental community ecology and restoration of post-agricultural landscapes There is a postdoctoral opening to join a collaborative group conducting=20= large-scale experimental research to understand: 1) How agricultural=20 legacies, contemporary restoration, and their interaction structure plant= =20 communities, 2) Controls over the spatial spread of relict understory her= bs=20 from remnant woodlands into adjacent post-agricultural woodlands. We=20 particularly seek a conceptually-driven researcher excited to bring=20 interests in community assembly, species interactions, spatial ecology, o= r=20 other areas to bear on the above questions. The successful candidate wil= l=20 join Lars Brudvig=92s research group at Michigan State University=20 (brudviglab.plantbiology.msu.edu) and work in collaboration with John Orr= ock=20 at University of Wisconsin (https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jorrock/web) and = the=20 US Forest Service.=20=20 This project is being conducted at the Savannah River Site in SC, where >= 120=20 1ha patches of remnant and post-agricultural longleaf pine woodland are=20= being experimentally restored using tree thinning and prescribed fire. T= he=20 treatments were initiated in early 2012, following a year of pre-treatmen= t=20 data collection, and we are accumulating a large dataset of plant communi= ty=20 dynamics, along with numerous potential explanatory variables (e.g., soil= s,=20 woodland structure, surrounding landscape composition, small mammal=20 communities) and are also implementing a series of mechanism-oriented=20 experiments nested within these sites (e.g., seed additions, consumer=20 exclosures). The postdoc will work with these datasets and conduct new=20= research within our experiment. This position will be primarily located = at=20 Michigan State University, with field work conducted at the research site= in=20 South Carolina. An application consists of: 1) a CV, 2) <2 page cover letter describing=20= research interests, past research experiences, and ideas for research wit= hin=20 our project, and 3) names/contact information for three references. We h= ave=20 two years of funding for this position, with the second year contingent o= n=20 satisfactory progress. Applications and any inquiries should be directed= to=20 Lars Brudvig ([email protected]). Review of applicants will begin 17 March= =20 2014. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 21:00:08 -0500 From: "Jorge A. Santiago-Blay" <[email protected]> Subject: maple sap question Dear Ecolog-Listers: Basic botany question. All along I have understood that the so-called "sap" from which maple syrup is manufactured comes products transported in the xylem. Thus, the liquid is harvested as it travels upwards from the roots into the shoot as the plants begins to increase its metabolic demands late winter and early spring. Because their contents are so diluted, they needs to be boiled extensively. The link below seem to suggest that the some people in the maple syrup industry believe that the sap is flowing down (I suppose on the direction of the roots). http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/02/270204651/sap-discovery-could-turn-syrup-making-upside-down Could someone let me know the: 1. anatomical vascular tissue through which the maple sap travels? This link appears to indicate it is sapwood, in other words, xylem, http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/produc/sapflow.htm 2. direction of travel? The same site says, roots up, http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/produc/sapflow.htm Thus, how can the link below appear to indicate other wise? http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/02/270204651/sap-discovery-could-turn-syrup-making-upside-down Gracias, sincerely, Jorge Jorge A. Santiago-Blay, PhD blaypublishers.com http://blayjorge.wordpress.com/ http://paleobiology.si.edu/staff/individuals/santiagoblay.html ------------------------------ End of ECOLOG-L Digest - 22 Feb 2014 to 23 Feb 2014 (#2014-55) **************************************************************
