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Forests

Camera-trap image of a leopard chasing a porcupine in The Udzungwa mountains of Tanzania.

Protected habitats: Biodiversity at risk

Models show tropical species are impacted by far-off threats on the landscape.

Examples of foraging sign left by Andean bears on terrestrial bromeliads in Peru.

Protecting Andean Bears and their habitats

Bears forage for young bromeliad plants in Peru’s puna grasslands, but prefer to avoid cattle.

Oil spill still contaminating sensitive Mauritius mangroves three years on.

Oil spills still contaminating Mauritius mangrove ecosystem nearly three years on

Oil is still present in an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest.

Composite skeleton of fallow deer.

Exploring Southern Europe’s climate history through fossils

Fossils found the oldest known evidence of the straight-tusked elephant and the red deer in Europe.

Aerial image of farmland for dairy cattle next to a surviving forest patch.

Ecuadorean cloud forest’s recent mass extinction found to be a mirage

Many of Centinela's plants are still on the brink of extinction.

LiDAR remote sensing has emerged as a powerful tool for capturing detailed terrain features and three-dimensional vegetation structures. In this figure, we focus on the Mississippi Delta region in the United States, where a 1-meter resolution vegetation canopy height model was derived from airborne LiDAR data.

Spaceborne satellites can help with more accurate forest monitoring

Information like forest canopy height can be helpful in assessing the health of a forest.

Close-up of termites on tree trunk

An effective way to eliminate termites

Impact of wealth and surfaces on insects in community garden.

Calamophyton forest

The oldest fossilized forest found along the Devon and Somerset coast

Earth’s earliest forest revealed in Somerset fossils.

new millipede species

A new genus and five new species of ‘alien-faced’ multi-legged forest dwellers discovered

These new species did not appear in earlier collecting of millipedes from the same area.

fractal forest

Simple mathematical rules can’t explain the complexity of forests

The way trees grow together do not resemble how branches grow on a single tree.

coastal area on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington

Pacific kelp forests have a much older origin than previously believed

The unique underwater kelp forests support a varied ecosystem.

Preventing the destruction of Eucalyptus forest plantations

Pathogenic fungi infecting the Eucalyptus snout beetle in Eucalyptus forest

Way to develop a bio-pesticide for controlling the beetle.

Image showing Kruger National Park, South Africa.

How capturing carbon in savannas can reduce global warming?

Grasses play an important role in capturing carbon in tropical savannas.

Image showing tropical forest

Balancing Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Food: A Trifecta

Scientists identify ways landowners in rural Brazil can find win-win situations, with biodiversity and farming.

purple-blooming Dipteryx oleifera

Tropical trees rely on social distancing to preserve biodiversity

A key characteristic of the spatial distribution of adult trees.

Image showing monkeys.

Monkeys and pigs overrun Southeast Asia, posing health risks

Overpopulation of wild animals poses a dual threat to humans and the environment.

palm tree

Rare palm species discovered that they flower underground

Palm family (Arecaceae) to flower and fruit almost entirely underground.

Image showing modest moss.

Modest moss can store billions of tons of carbon

Plant life absorbs & transforms greenhouse gases to combat climate change..

Forest thinning treatments can generate massive piles of wood residues that are often burnt or left to decay, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (UC Berkeley photo by Bodie Cabiyo)

Carbon beneficial forest management using innovative wood

Innovative wood use can enable carbon-beneficial forest management in California

The map of undiscovered life

The map of undiscovered life

Yale scientists have launched an even more ambitious and perhaps important project.

Climate change is altering forest structure, making forests less of a carbon sink

Climate change is altering forest structure, making forests less of a carbon sink

There are general observations of increasing tree mortality due to changing climate and land use, as well as observations of growth stimulation of younger...

Antarctica had rainforests 90 millions years ago

Antarctica had rainforests 90 million years ago

Antarctica, which is entirely covered by ice sheets, was home to rainforests almost 90 million years ago, according to a new study by a...

Deforestation is changing the way monkeys communicate

Deforestation is changing the way monkeys communicate

New evidence on the impact of deforestation on animal communication.

'Archaeopteris' root system at the Cairo fossil forest site at first discovery. Image Credit: Charles Ver Straeten.

Scientists discovered the world’s oldest forest

Modern trees emerged earlier than previously believed, new research reveals.

Logging in the rainforest of Kalimantan Credit: Greenpeace / Kate Davison

Degraded soils mean tropical forests may never fully recover from logging

Continually logging and re-growing tropical forests to supply timber is reducing the levels of vital nutrients in the soil, which may limit future forest...

A leaf and flower of tulip-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), the tallest documented tree in the eastern US. Fast-growing and productive, this species is important for both forest products and the carbon cycle. Photos: Neil Pederson

New tree rings analysis method may open insights to past climate

Accounting for both climate change and natural disturbances—which typically result in greenhouse gas emissions—is necessary to begin managing forest carbon sequestration. Gaining a complete...

In the photo: Heli Peltola.

Sustainable use of forests mitigates climate change in many ways, study

Economical utilization of woodlands and biodiversity protection have a long-haul and far-reaching outcome for the fate of our planet. What is the ideal measure...

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