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UrduSevere droughts and wildfires, invasive species, and large insect outbreaks are straining national forests and surrounding lands. A new report outlines a new approach to forest stewardship that “braids together” Indigenous knowledge and Western science to conserve and restore more resilient forestlands in the U.S.
Tag: Forests
61% of the world’s lost forests can be restored to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions
An international collaboration of scientists with the participation of a RUDN ecologist has for the first time assessed the natural potential of the world’s forests to retain carbon. The results can be called hopeful – those regions where forests can still be restored have great potential and will help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases.
Ancient pollen trapped in Greenland ice uncovers changes in Canadian forests over 800 years
The Greenland ice sheet lies thousands of miles from North America yet holds clues to the distant continent’s environmental history.
Wildfires threaten environmental gains in climate-crucial Amazon
Despite steps toward decreasing deforestation, uncontrolled wildfires are threatening environmental gains in Brazilian Amazonia, one of the world’s most critical carbon sinks and a region of high biological and cultural diversity.
More and more emerging diseases threaten trees around the world
Diseases are among the major causes of tree mortality in both forests and urban areas. New diseases are continually being introduced, and pathogens are continually jumping to new hosts, threatening more and more tree species.
Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell
It’s an Ice Age mystery that’s been debated for decades among anthropologists: Exactly when and how did the flow of Homo sapiens in Eurasia happen? Did a cold snap or a warming spell drive early human movement from Africa into Europe and Asia?
To Cut Global Emissions, Replace Meat and Milk with Plant-Based Alternatives
Replacing 50% of meat and milk products with plant-based alternatives by 2050 can reduce agriculture and land use related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 31% and halt the degradation of forest and natural land, according to new research in Nature Communications journal.
REBURN: A new tool to model wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and beyond
A new tool, REBURN, can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies.
Restoring Degraded Forests: An Under-Appreciated Climate Solution
A new study mapping the potential scale of forest restoration globally shows that prioritizing 1.5 billion hectares of degraded forest – an area almost the size of Russia – could significantly boost effectiveness of meeting climate and biodiversity goals.
Why trees outcompete shrubs to shift upward?
Climatic warming is altering the structure and function of alpine ecosystems, including shifts of vegetation boundaries. The upward shift of alpine treelines, the uppermost limit of tree growth forming the boundary between montane forest and alpine communities, is strongly modulated by shrub-tree interactions. But little is known on the responses of such coexisting life forms to a warmer climate.
Smartphone Use Goes Up in City Parks, But Down in Forests
New research shows that smartphone activity actually increases during visits outdoors to city parks—a finding that contradicts popular notions. Thanks to two years of unparalleled access to 700 study participants’ smartphone data, the study is the first to show that young adults now spend far more time on their smartphone screens than in nature. The study finds that people who visit forests or nature preserves experience significant declines in screen time, compared to visits to urban locations for the same duration.
US forests face an unclear future with climate change
Climate change might compromise how permanently forests are able to store carbon and keep it out of the air. In a new study, researchers found that the regions most at risk to lose forest carbon through fire, climate stress or insect damage are those regions where many forest carbon offset projects have been set up. The authors assert that there’s an urgent need to update these carbon offsets protocols and policies.
Forest growing season in eastern U.S. has increased by a month
The growing period of hardwood forests in eastern North America has increased by an average of one month over the past century as temperatures have steadily risen, a new study has found.
Study Confirms Norway-Sized Swath of Mountain Forest Lost Between 2001-2018
A WCS-coauthored study reveals that global mountain forests – critically important to wildlife – are vanishing at an accelerating rate with an area twice the size of Norway lost between 2001-2018.
Flower power: Research highlights the role of ants in forest regeneration
Ants play a key role in forest regeneration, according to a new paper from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Forest resilience linked with higher mortality risk in western US, study finds
A forest’s resilience, or ability to absorb environmental disturbances, has long been thought to be a boost for its odds of survival against the looming threat of climate change.
15 ways to reforest the planet
Scientists are calling for a ‘decade of global action’ to reforest the planet, following the overnight publication of a themed international journal led by researchers from Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast.
Monitoring soil moisture to protect forest and wildland systems
Symposium will feature presentations about modeling and coordinating soil moisture information in the United States
Climate change is turning the trees into gluttons
Trees have long been known to buffer humans from the worst effects of climate change by pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now new research shows just how much forests have been bulking up on that excess carbon.
The first trees: Preserving ‘the world’s oldest forest’ in Upstate New York
Researchers from Binghamton University are working to preserve the world’s oldest forest, located in researchers from Binghamton UniversityCairo, N.Y.
UCI study: California’s trees are dying, and might not be coming back
The State of California is banking on its forests to help reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But that element of the state’s climate-change solution arsenal may be in jeopardy, as new research from the University of California, Irvine reports that trees in California’s mountain ranges and open spaces are dying from wildfires and other pressures – and fewer new trees are filling the void.
Study reveals how climate change can significantly impact one of the world’s most important carbon-rich ecosystems
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth say a ‘one size fits all’ approach to preserving mangrove forests will not work
Human-triggered California wildfires more severe than natural blazes
Irvine, Calif., June 6, 2022 – Human-caused wildfires in California are more ferocious than blazes sparked by lightning, a team led by scientists from the University of California, Irvine reported recently in the journal Nature Communications. The research could help scientists better understand fire severity and how likely a blaze is to kill trees and inflict long-term damage on an ecosystem in its path.
STUDY WEIGHS THE RISKS OF CLIMATE GEOENGINEERING
To slow down the accelerating pace of climate change, scientists are working on radical geoengineering technologies like space mirrors, ocean iron fertilization, and cirrus cloud thinning to tweak the earth’s climate system. But a new study published in the journal Risk Analysis finds that none of these human interventions are risk free. Instead, “they merely shift risk or redistribute it,” says lead author Benjamin Sovacool, professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex Business School and a professor at Aarhus University and Boston University. “These risk tradeoffs must be evaluated if some of the more radical geoengineering technologies are to be deployed.”
Environmental policy expert explores the promise of forests to alleviate poverty
Notre Dame’s Daniel C. Miller and his colleagues highlight the uneven distribution of the harmful effects that deforestation has on local people who rely on forests.
California’s climate crisis examined on UCI special report website
For the past half century, the University of California, Irvine has been home to some of the world’s leading experts on the environment, energy, oceans and atmosphere in the Golden State. To share their stories, UCI today is launching a web special report, “California’s Climate Crisis.”
California’s carbon mitigation efforts may be thwarted by climate change itself
Irvine, Calif., July 22, 2021 – To meet an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, California’s policymakers are relying in part on forests and shrublands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but researchers at the University of California, Irvine warn that future climate change may limit the ecosystem’s ability to perform this service.
Bio-based coating for wood outperforms traditional synthetic options
Researchers have used lignin, a natural polymer abundant in wood and other plant sources, to create a safe, low-cost and high-performing coating for use in construction. The coating is non-toxic, hydrofobic, it retains wood’s breathability and natural roughness while being resistant to colour changes and abrasion.
Russian forests are crucial to global climate mitigation
A new study by IIASA researchers, Russian experts, and other international colleagues have produced new estimates of biomass contained in Russian forests, confirming a substantial increase over the last few decades.
Orangutan Finding Highlights Need to Protect Habitat
Wild orangutans are known for their ability to survive food shortages, but scientists have made a surprising finding that highlights the need to protect the habitat of these critically endangered primates, which face rapid habitat destruction and threats linked to climate change. Scientists found that the muscle mass of orangutans on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia was significantly lower when less fruit was available. That’s remarkable because orangutans are thought to be especially good at storing and using fat for energy, according a Rutgers-led study in the journal Scientific Reports.
New View of Species Interactions Offers Clues to Preserve Threatened Ecosystems
Scientists from around the world have produced a new analysis—believed to be the most detailed study of specialized ecological data from global forests—that is furthering science’s understanding of species interactions and how diversity contributes to the preservation of ecosystem health.
Carbon uptake in regrowing Amazon forest threatened by climate and human disturbance
Large areas of forests regrowing in the Amazon to help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, are being limited by climate and human activity.
“Ghost Forests” Expanding Along Northeast U.S. Coast
Why are “ghost forests” filled with dead trees expanding along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast? Higher groundwater levels linked to sea-level rise and increased flooding from storm surges and very high tides are likely the most important factors, according to a Rutgers study on the impacts of climate change that suggests how to enhance land-use planning.
NASA Images Reveal Important Forests and Wetlands are Disappearing in Belize
Using NASA satellite images and machine learning, researchers with The University of Texas at Austin have mapped changes in the landscape of northwestern Belize over a span of four decades, finding significant losses of forest and wetlands, but also successful regrowth of forest in established conservation zones that protect surviving structures of the ancient Maya.
Rutgers Bat Researcher Can Discuss Iconic Halloween Animals
New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 20, 2020) – Evan Drake, a bat researcher and doctoral student at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on iconic Halloween animals and misunderstood wildlife, as well as bats and COVID-19. Halloween is known for…
Most Nations Failing to Protect Nature in COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Plans
The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reset the global economy and reverse decades of ecosystem and species losses, but most countries are failing to invest in nature-related economic reforms or investments, according to a Rutgers-led paper.
Plant-Based Spray Could be Used in N95 Masks and Energy Devices
Engineers have invented a way to spray extremely thin wires made of a plant-based material that could be used in N95 mask filters, devices that harvest energy for electricity, and potentially the creation of human organs. The method involves spraying methylcellulose, a renewable plastic material derived from plant cellulose, on 3D-printed and other objects ranging from electronics to plants, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Materials Horizons.
Rutgers Experts Can Discuss Fall Foliage Outlook in N.J.
New Brunswick, N.J. (Sept. 23, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson and tree expert Jason Grabosky are available for interviews on the outlook for the fall foliage season in the Garden State. “Seasonable temperatures, including some cool nights, and adequate rainfall during…
James Randerson, UCI professor of Earth system science, available to comment on western U.S. wildfires
Prof. Jim Randerson is a leading U.S. expert on human impacts on biogeochemical cycles, with particular empasis on climate and wildfires. A good summary of his research activities can be found here: https://sites.uci.edu/randersonlab/media/. Jim’s lab website: https://sites.uci.edu/randersonlab/. If you would…
Land Development in New Jersey Continues to Slow
Land development in New Jersey has slowed dramatically since the 2008 Great Recession, but it’s unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to fight societal and housing inequality will affect future trends, according to a Rutgers co-authored report. Between 2012 and 2015, 10,392 acres in the Garden State became urban land. That’s 3,464 acres a year – far lower than the 16,852 acres per year in the late 1990s and continuing the trend of decreasing urban development that began in the 2008 Great Recession.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Invasive Plants in N.J. and Alternatives
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Michele Bakacs is available for interviews on invasive exotic plants in New Jersey that are growing out of control, overrunning forests and other natural areas. She can discuss why this…
Mangrove Trees Won’t Survive Sea-Level Rise by 2050 if Emissions Aren’t Cut
Mangrove trees – valuable coastal ecosystems found in Florida and other warm climates – won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Science. Mangrove forests store large amounts of carbon, help protect coastlines and provide habitat for fish and other species. Using sediment data from the last 10,000 years, an international team led by Macquarie University in Australia estimated the chances of mangrove survival based on rates of sea-level rise.
Science Snapshots May 2020
World’s forests are growing younger, U.S. wind plant performance changes with age, and fungi food choices opens the door to better methods for producing bio-based products
Study: Climate Scientists Create Model for Global Forest Growth Through 2060
In a new study, researchers at the University at Albany have turned to more than a century’s worth of data (from 1901 to 2012) in NOAA’s International Tree Ring Data Bank to both analyze historical tree growth at 3,579 forests around the world and create a model for future projections (from 2045 to 2060).
Global Environmental Changes Leading to Shorter, Younger Trees
Ongoing environmental changes are transforming forests worldwide, resulting in shorter and younger trees. Researchers found that a range of factors, including rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels, have caused a dramatic decrease in the age and stature of forests.
SAS and IIASA call for crowd-driven artificial intelligence to help track deforestation
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, SAS and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis join forces to transform crowdsourced knowledge into actionable intelligence to help protect the planet.
Study synthesizes what climate change means for Northwest wildfires
Researchers synthesize how climate change will affect the risk of wildfires in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana. The study also suggests how managers and individual landowners in different ecosystems can best prepare.
Native Americans did not make large-scale changes to environment prior to European contact
Contrary to long-held beliefs, humans did not make major changes to the landscape prior to European colonization, according to new research conducted in New England featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York. These new insights into the past could help to inform how landscapes are managed in the future.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Climate Change Impacts on Land, Wildfires and Solutions
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 15, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Pamela McElwee is available for interviews on climate change impacts on land, including increasing wildfires such as in Australia and California, and solutions. She is scheduled to testify before…
Modern trees emerged earlier than previously believed, new research reveals
A research team led by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York has uncovered evidence that the transition toward forests as we know them today began earlier than typically believed.