The eastern U.S. has more trees and shrubs than three decades ago. This growth, driven by processes such as tree and understory infilling in unmanaged forests, is helping fuel wildfires, contributing to changing fire regimes in the...
Climate and land use change have and will continue to alter streamflow regimes and water quality through the 21st century, with consequences for drinking water treatment costs, flood protection, and other ecosystem services, according to...
Scientists have today announced the discovery of a species of lipstick vine completely new to science, from the depths of the Philippine rainforest. The team of botanists made the discovery during an expedition to the remote Barangay...
While trees can cool some cities significantly during the day, new research shows that tree canopies can also trap heat and raise temperatures at night. The study aims to help urban planners choose the best combinations of trees and...
Fast-growing and small-seeded tree species are dominating Brazilian forests in regions with high levels of deforestation and degradation, a new study shows. This has potential implications for the ecosystem services these forests...
New research has revealed less than a quarter of the remaining tropical rainforests around the globe can safeguard thousands of threatened species from extinction.
When a forest is lost to development, some effects are obvious. Stumps and mud puddles across the landscape, a plowed field or houses a year after that. But deforestation isn't just a loss of trees; it's a loss of the countless benefits...
The rainforest in the Amazon basin transpires vast amounts of gaseous isoprene. Until now, it was assumed that this molecule is not transported far up into the atmosphere, as it rapidly declines when exposed to light conditions. The...
Coconut palms are king throughout the tropics, serving as the foundation for human lives and cultures across the Pacific Ocean for centuries. However, 200 years of planting by colonial interests transformed the palm from the revered...
Why are there so many newly formed aerosol particles in the upper troposphere over tropical regions such as the Amazon? Tropical forests play an important role in global climate regulation; however, the high concentrations of new...
Plant species can fulfill different functions within an ecosystem, even if they are closely related to each other. This surprising conclusion was reached by a global analysis of around 1.7 million datasets on plant communities. The...
Deforestation has remained a significant issue globally, with primary forests contributing to 16 per cent of the total tree cover loss in the last two decades, driven by climate change and intensive human activity. This threatens natural...
Typically, closely related animal species have difficulty coexisting because they are competing for similar resources. Despite eating the same figs, binturong, small-toothed palm, masked palm, and common palm civets do coexist together....
Climate change is a persistent and growing challenge to plant life on our planet. Changes to the environment that plants are unaccustomed to affect how they grow, putting much at risk. Increasingly, plant scientists are trying to...
Southeast Asia's tropical forests are renowned for their biodiversity, but at the same time face significant threats from the expansion of oil palm plantations. With global demand for palm oil rising, the urgency for effective...
An international group of authors who developed the science behind net zero demonstrate that relying on 'natural carbon sinks' like forests and oceans to offset ongoing CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use will not actually stop global...
Rainforest protection is not only good for biodiversity and the climate -- it also noticeably improves the health of humans who live in the corresponding regions. Researchers show that measures to combat slash-and-burn techniques...
Forests provide biodiversity, ecosystem functions, income and much more. How can these diverse and seemingly diverging demands be met? An international research team addressed this question by analyzing the effects of enriching beech...
A recent study on Cryptomeria japonica plots shows that trees dissipate wind energy by switching between two swaying behaviors at specific wind speeds, offering insights that may help in improved forest management to minimize damage...
A new study finds that the disturbance-demanding plant species oak, hazel and yew were abundant in Europe's forests before modern humans arrived, strengthening the argument that ancient vegetation was not the shady closed-canopy forests...
Researchers have found evidence that mangrove forests -- which protect tropical and subtropical coastlines -- are drowning in the Maldives. Their finding indicate that rising sea level and a climate phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean...
Roughly 90 million years ago, climatic conditions in Antarctica were suitable for resin-producing trees. Researchers have now made the southernmost discovery of amber in the world.
Atmospheric aerosol particles are essential for the formation of clouds and precipitation, thereby influencing the Earth's energy budget, water cycle, and climate. However, the origin of aerosol particles in pristine air over the Amazon...
Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees' ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, an international group of scientists argue that tree planting at...
When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, lava incinerated anything living for miles around. As an experiment, scientists dropped gophers onto parts of the scorched mountain for only 24 hours. The benefits from that single day were...
A new study details how climate change transforms coastal wetlands in North Carolina from forest to marshland or even open water, and how satellite imagery may help better direct conservation efforts to preserve those areas.
Scientists and environmental activists have consistently called for drastic reductions in meat production as a way to reduce emissions and, in doing so, combat climate change. However, a new analysis concludes that a smaller reduction,...
Ancient cultural burning practices carried out by Indigenous Australians limited fuel availability and prevented high intensity fires in southeastern Australia for thousands of years, according to new research.
A research team conducted perhaps the first long-term observation of CO2 budget in a permafrost forest. During the 20 years from 2003-2022, the team uncovered intriguing findings in the interior of Alaska.
A new study finds that up to 215 million hectares of land (an area larger than Mexico) in humid tropical regions around the world has the potential to naturally regrow. That much forest could store 23.4 gigatons of carbon over 30 years...
Worldwide, deforestation and farming practices are responsible for the degradation of vital ecosystems. While there is a significant amount of interest in climate mitigation by restoring those degraded lands with forests and other...
New Zealand's native stoneflies have changed colour in response to human-driven environmental changes, new research shows. The study provides arguably the world's most clear-cut case of animal evolution in response to change made by humans.
Plants the world over are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought, according to a new assessment. The research is expected to improve Earth system simulations that scientists use to predict the future climate, and...
A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have surged by 60 percent globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal forests.
An international team of botanists finds no proof of extinctions in Centinela, but abundant evidence that Centinela's flora lives on in the scattered remaining fragments of coastal Ecuador's forests.
A study in the Cascade Range in Oregon of a tiny, elusive skunk found the animal can cover more ground than deer and is sensitive to climate change, particularly severe winter weather.
Rapid warming has impacted the northern ecosystem so significantly that scientists are concerned the region's vegetation is losing the ability to recover from climate shocks, suggests a new study.
Research shows a threatening development for two endangered primate species in Bangladesh: Phayre's langurs (Trachypithecus phayrei) and capped langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus). In mixed groups of these two species, hybrids have been...
The European Green Deal will bring the emission of greenhouse gases in the European Union down, but at the same time causes a more than a twofold increase in emissions outside its borders.
Canopy gaps in a mixed floodplain forest have a direct effect on forest soil temperature and moisture, but only have a minor impact on soil biological activity.
Climate change will move and reduce the land suitable for growing food and timber, putting the production of these two vital resources into direct competition, a new study has found.
Two recent amphibian-focused studies shed light on the ecological importance of red-backed salamanders, while confirming that proactive measures would prevent costly impacts from a wildlife disease spreading across Europe that has not...
The soils of northern forests are key reservoirs that help keep the carbon dioxide that trees inhale and use for photosynthesis from making it back into the atmosphere.
Researchers report that deforestation during the last two decades induced a higher warming and cloud level rise than that caused by climate change, which threatens biodiversity and water supply in African montane forests.