Highlights FORMIND model reproduces the miombo woodlands structure in Niassa Special Reserve. Fires may reduce the miombo capacity to mitigate the effects of climate change. Effective fire management is key to sustaining the miombo woodlands. There is great potential for…
Tag: Tropical Forests
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.
NAU scientists contribute to critical global study showing ‘best of the last’ tropical forests urgently need protection to mitigate climate change, safeguard human well-being
Professor Scott Goetz, research professor Patrick Jantz and research associate Pat Burns of Northern Arizona University contributed to the study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, that found world’s “best of the last” tropical forests are at significant risk of being lost,

TROPICAL FOREST LOSS
A new study from the University of Delaware finds that tropical forest loss is increased by large-scale land acquisitions and that certain kind investment projects—including tree plantations and plantations for producing palm oil and wood fiber—are “consistently associated with increased forest loss.”
Shedding light on how much carbon tropical forests can absorb
New research sheds light on how much tropical forests’ ability to take up and store carbon differ between forests with high versus low species richness, aiming to enhance our ability to predict tropical ecosystems’ strength as global carbon sinks.

Scientists Discover New Antibiotic in Tropical Forest
Scientists from Rutgers University and around the world have discovered an antibiotic produced by a soil bacterium from a Mexican tropical forest that may help lead to a “plant probiotic,” more robust plants and other antibiotics. Probiotics, which provide friendlier bacteria and health benefits for humans, can also be beneficial to plants, keeping them healthy and more robust. The new antibiotic, known as phazolicin, prevents harmful bacteria from getting into the root systems of bean plants, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Nature Communications.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Indonesian Fires Threatening Orangutans
New Brunswick, N.J. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Erin R. Vogel, an expert on endangered orangutans, is available to comment on tropical forest fires threatening the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station in the Mawas Conservation Area on the…