#Researchers find forests with bigger potential for carbon creditusing satellite images researchers at the Center of Geography
and Geomatics (Centrogeo) estimate the quantity of carbon that Mexican forests store and identify the species that best serve as a reservoir.
and enterprises have for giving as an incentive economic resources to countries with preserved forest zones (payment scheme of environmental services).
The specialist at Centro Geo indicated that satellite images allow to monitor different biophysical variables including forest biomass.
Additionally field work was carried also out to measure the trunk's diameter the height and specific weight of the wood besides comparing it to model information and data from satellite images.
rdenas explained that currently the most popular method for measuring trees biomass is by field sampling by the Forest National Commission
and monitoring system that determines the current state of the national forest resources. Story Source:
and diversity of fruit consumed by primates in neotropical forests of South and Central america. The team compiled data from 290 primate dietary studies spanning 42 years of research across 17 countries.
Having a good understanding of nonhuman primate diets in the wild is very important for the conservation planning of threatened and area-demanding species with forest habitat loss and severe forest degradation a major concern
This is also critical to evaluate the roles of primates within forest food webs particularly as seed dispersers for tropical forest plants.
study findsreplacing forests with snow-covered meadows may provide greater climatic and economic benefits than if trees are left standing in some regions according to a Dartmouth College study that for the first time puts a dollar value on snow's ability to reflect the sun's energy.
and timber productivity is low. Such a scenario could involve including snow cover/albedo in existing greenhouse gas exchanges like the Kyoto protocol or a cap-and-trade program or ecosystem services market in
and produce timber rather than conserve forests and store carbon. Previous studies have put a price on many ecosystem services
The findings contrast with the dominant paradigm that including forest climate mitigation services such as carbon storage on compliance markets will lead to the conservation of forests.
if you want to use forests for climate-related purposes. The findings will be presented Dec 12th at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting in San francisco in the Global Environmental Change High Profile Topics session.
Climate change mitigation projects such as the Kyoto Protocol encourage reforestation because growing forests take up carbon dioxide
but previous studies have suggested the cooling aspect of surface albedo could counterbalance the benefits of forest growth.
The Dartmouth researchers placed an economic value on timber through wood prices as well as on albedo and carbon by using a sophisticated model of the climate
and economy called an integrated-assessment model. They then examined the potential impact of these values on hardwood and softwood forest rotations in the White Mountain National Forest in New hampshire.
A rotation period begins when new trees are planted and ends when most of the trees are harvested.
Their results suggest that including the value of albedo can shorten optimal forest rotation periods significantly compared to scenarios where only timber
The researchers attributed this to the low timber productivity and substantial snowfall in the White Mountain National Forest.
and forest productivity is low valuing albedo may mean the optimal forest size is near zero.
The researchers note that increased timber harvesting may harm biodiversity and other ecosystem services so they recommend forest managers take those factors into account as they try to maximize the flow of timber carbon storage and albedo in mid-and high-latitude temperate and boreal forests.
The study was funded through the New hampshire Experimental Program to Stimulate Cooperative Research (EPSCOR) from the National Science Foundation.
In gallery forests near rivers ring-tailed lemurs regularly sleep high in the canopies of tall trees.
But in spiny forests most of the trees with woody stems are covered in rows of spines making them uncomfortable as well as dangerous sleeping sites
The new study documents their cave sleeping behavior in the dry spiny forest habitat adjacent to limestone cliffs.
One of the early clues to the cave sleeping by the lemurs was their presence on limestone cliffs adjacent to spiny forest trees
#Development near Oregon, Washington public forestsprivate development along the edges of most public forests in Oregon and Washington more than doubled
since the 1970s a new study conducted by the U s. Forest Service Pacific's Northwest (PNW) Research Station has found.
The study which used aerial photography to inventory structures at the fringes of public forests is the first to look at development trends in the two states before and after the enactment of land use laws.
The findings are reported in Changes in Development Near Public Forest Lands in Oregon and Washington 1974-2005:
Although public forests are not necessarily directly subject to development they still face management issues at their edges because of indirect development pressure said David Azuma a research forester at the station who led the study.
In Oregon and Washington about half of all forest lands are owned publicly and managed by the Forest Service bureau of Land Management Oregon Department of Forestry and Washington Department of Natural resources.
Using a fine-scale grid of points on air photos across the two states Azuma
The work can help agencies that manage public forests to better plan for management options at the edges of their land.
The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Pacific Northwest Research Station. Note:
and power according to a team of forestry researchers. The conversion to wood-powered burners would make the most sense for larger commercial
and industrial operations in areas that have access to large timber resources and a friendly regulatory environment said Charles Ray assistant professor of wood products operations Penn State.
Wood is a renewable resource that could help contribute to the nation's energy needs for an indefinite period according to Ray.
Theoretically if we manage timber according to sustainable criteria you could maintain it forever said Ray.
although wood is currently uncompetitive with natural gas-powered boilers in certain states it could compete with other fuel sources such as oil propane and coal.
Those kinds of operations would have both the money to invest in that size of project as well as would have the resources for handling the wood said Ray.
If all of the boilers would be converted to wood-burning ones they would consume about three times the wood available in the area
but the remaining paper mills consume far less wood now Ray said. That availability makes wood more accessible for other purposes including power
and heat generation. Ray worked with Li Ma a doctoral candidate in forestry resources Penn State;
Thomas Wilson and Daniel Wilson both of Wilson Engineering Services; and Lew Mccreery and Janice Wiedenbeck both forest products technologists U s. Forest Service.
The U s. Forest Service supported this work. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Penn State.
The original article was written by Matthew Swayne. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Precipitation declines in Pacific Northwest mountainsrecent Forest Service studies on high-elevation climate trends in the Pacific Northwest United states show that streamflow declines tie directly to decreases
Research Hydrologist Charlie Luce with the Rocky mountain Research Station's Aquatic Sciences Laboratory in Boise Idaho along with cooperators at the University of Idaho and the US Forest Service Northern Region
and forest management compared to preparing for increased temperature alone he said. According to Luce this may present important implications for changes in mountain precipitation and future water availability for other areas as well.
The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Rocky mountain Research Station. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Reforestation in Lower Mississippi Valley reduces sedimenta modeling study by U s. Forest Service researchers shows that reforesting the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley can significantly reduce runoff from agricultural lands
The journal Ecological Engineering recently published the results of the study by Forest Service Southern Research Station scientists Ying Ouyang Ted Leininger and Matt Moran.
One of the largest coastal and river basins in the world the area is also one of the most affected by floods erosion and sediment deposition as a result of more than a century of converting bottomland hardwood forests to agricultural lands.
Forest buffers reduce runoff and sediment load from flooded agricultural lands; in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley the frequently flooded agricultural land in the batture (land that lies between a river
and its levees pronounced batch-er) seems a prime site to start reforestation efforts. The U s. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) commissioned the study and co-funded it with Forest Service State and Private Forestry.
This study provides further evidence of the key role forests play in flood control and in reducing sediment flow from agricultural lands into our watersheds notes Carlton Owen president and CEO of the Endowment.
The new forest areas would also provide regional economic and environmental benefits by not only improving water quality but also wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.
The researchers chose two Lower Mississippi river Alluvial Valley watersheds--the large Lower Yazoo River Watershed
and the smaller Peters Creek Watershed--to model the effects of reforestation in or near the battures on water outflow and sediment load (the amount of solid material carried by a river or stream).
and sediment load without reforestation the second to project over 10 years the potential impacts of converting different levels--25 50 75 and 100 percent--of the land to forest in or near the battures.
Comparing simulation results with and without reforestation showed that converting agricultural lands close to streams into forests would greatly lessen water outflow
For the Lower Yazoo River watershed a twofold increase in forest land area would result in approximately a twofold reduction in the annual volume of water outflow
The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service#Southern Research Station. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Relevance in the timber industry and cancer researchpodocarpaceae constitute the second-largest conifer family. They grow mainly in mountainous regions in the Southern hemisphere.
The timber of many of the 198 species is of great economic interest because of its excellent insect and fungus resistance.
and forest lossthe most detailed range-wide assessment of the bonobo (formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee) ever conducted has revealed that this poorly known and endangered great ape is quickly losing space in a world with growing human populations.
The loss of usable habitat is attributed to both forest fragmentation and poaching according to a new study by University of Georgia University of Maryland the Wildlife Conservation Society ICCN (Congolese Wildlife Authority
and remote sensing imagery the research team found that the bonobo--one of humankind's closest living relatives--avoids areas of high human activity and forest fragmentation.
The entire range of the bonobo lies within the lowland forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo the largest country in Sub-saharan africa
The group then tested a number of factors that addressed both ecological conditions (describing forests soils climate
and hydrology) and human impacts (distance from roads agriculture forest loss and density of forest edge)
A recent study led by Dr. Jianwei Zhang research forester at the U s. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station considered
The study which appears in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research also considered if the relationship between density and mortality varies with site quality as ponderosa pine stands developed.
and plantations from 1944 to 1988 and 59 additional ponderosa pine plots measured by the Forest Service's Forest Inventory
If the stand has experienced high mortality caused by bark beetles it can be thinned more heavily without sacrificing timber biomass or volume increment and plant diversity.
These findings provide useful information for managers in their stand treatment projects within National Forest and private forestlands.
The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Pacific Southwest Research Station. Note:
and so could potentially reduce the pressure to destroy additional rain forest. Increased harvest frequency also holds potential for mitigating risk under a changing climate.
and frequently colonizes many plants important to agriculture and forestry. Glomeromycota also called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a vital role in how phosphorus
which are probably responsible for its large appetite for phosphorus said Francis Martin one of the senior authors on the paper and lead for the Cluster of Excellence Advanced Research on the Biology of Tree and Forest Ecosystems (ARBRE
Pioneering excavations within the sacred Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini Nepal a UNESCO World Heritage site long identified as the birthplace of The buddha uncovered the remains of a previously unknown sixth-century B c. timber structure
Laid out on the same design as those above it the timber structure contains an open space in the center that links to the nativity story of The buddha himself.
To determine the dates of the timber shrine and a previously unknown early brick structure above it fragments of charcoal
Coningham and his colleagues postulate that the open space in the center of the most ancient timber shrine may have accommodated a tree.
Brick temples built later above the timber shrine also were arranged around the central space which was unroofed.
Lost and overgrown in the jungles of Nepal in the medieval period ancient Lumbini was rediscovered in 1896 and identified as the birthplace of The buddha on account of the presence of a third-century B c. sandstone pillar.
According to research by the National Institute of Forest Agricultural and Livestock Research (INIFAP) not treating the colonies infested by Varroa can lead to a 65 per cent less production in comparison to colonies where the acari is controlled.
The latest weapon in combatting climate changeas U n. climate talks continue in Warsaw soon a flying insect-like robot developed by scientists at Wake Forest University will give an unprecedented look at Peru's tropical cloud
Once we build a better understanding of why the forest is behaving in a certain way we can start making decisions about how do we conserve this region
Researchers received funding from the National Science Foundation and Wake Forest's Center for Energy Environment and Sustainabilitydrones Deliver a Bird's eye Viewone of the researchers'robots a copter drone relies on eight small propeller units
Drone Data Provides New Insightto date data about the forest canopy composed of 390 billion trees is hard to come by.
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
The stingy-haired tree in fact is known only from cloud forests in the Sierra de Juarez in Oaxaca southern Mexico.
Grazed mixed open woodlands have been transformed into dense forests and domestic grazers have been relocated from woodlands to arable fields and semi-natural grasslands.
Hay and silage harvest now start much earlier in the season which reduces the time available for larval development.
which is now killing not only lodgepole pine forests but also jack pine in Alberta. Nadir Erbilgin associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Forest Entomology in the U of A's Department of Renewable Resources has been investigating pheromones--airborne chemical compounds that trigger a social response among individuals
of the same species--emitted by the pest in North america's lodgepole and jack pine forests.
The compounds are providing insight into how the beetles swarm in destructive numbers in the Canadian boreal forest including Alberta.
The mountain pine beetle has killed lodgepole pine forests in the Western United states British columbia the Northwest territories and Alberta and according to other U of A research could spread east to the Maritimes.
and Erbilgin's research focuses on developing a bait that can be used potentially to monitor beetle activity specifically in jack pine forests in Alberta and other provinces.
That information may help forest managers decide where to focus their beetle containment efforts Erbilgin said.
The mountain pine beetle is the most damaging forest insect in North america and climate change has allowed the current epidemic to spread from lodgepole pine to jack pine a tree species that was thought to be unsuitable for beetle survival in Alberta.
The bait tested in Grande Prairie lodgepole forests works by attracting the beetles to traps.
The U of A team's work is focused on fine-tuning baits currently being used in jack pine forests in an effort to get ahead of beetle infestations.
Right now we don't know how efficient currently available commercial baits will be in catching beetles in jack pine forest as they were developed to catch the beetle in lodgepole pine forests Erbilgin said.
Understanding the role of pheromones in beetle invasion also allows for quicker monitoring of the insect's activities in jack pine forests Erbilgin said.
Most species of Lepidosperma occur in open forests woodlands and heath and some in swamps but L. monticola is restricted essentially to alpine vegetation.
and disease outbreaks in trees and forests across the world has been increasing. The review The consequences of Tree Pests and Diseases for Ecosystem Services by scientists from the universities of Southampton Cambridge Oxford and St andrews is published today (15 november) in the journal Science.
Trees and forests provide a wide variety of ecosystem*services in addition to timber food and other provisioning services such as carbon sequester
and storage reducing flood risk and leisure use. The researchers say that new approaches to pest
Many of the benefits from woodlands and forests for example carbon storage maintenance of biodiversity and recreational use are enjoyed uncosted
Plant pathologists Dr Joan Webber from Forest Research the research agency of the Forestry Commission and Professor Clive Brasier found that the defence mechanisms which the Chalara fraxinea (C. fraxinea) fungus
The above story is provided based on materials by Forest Research. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and boreal forest of North america he said. This population follows the barren ground-caribou caribou during their thousand-kilometer migration.
When these wolves return from the tundra to the boreal forest during the winter they do not reproduce with resident wolves there that never migrate.
#First detailed map of global forest changea University of Maryland-led multi-organizational team has created the first high-resolution global map of forest extent loss and gain.
and naturally-induced forest changes and the local to global implications of these changes on environmental economic and other natural and societal systems members of the team say.
In a new study the team of 15 university Google and government researchers reports a global loss of 2. 3 million square kilometers (888000 square miles) of forest between 2000 and 2012
and a gain of 800000 square kilometers (309000 square miles) of new forest. Their study published online on November 14 in the journal Science documents the new database including a number of key findings on global forest change.
For example the tropics were the only climate domain to exhibit a trend with forest loss increasing by 2101 square kilometers (811 square miles) per year.
Brazil's well-documented reduction in deforestation during the last decade was more than offset by increasing forest loss in Indonesia Malaysia Paraguay Bolivia Zambia Angola and elsewhere.
This is the first map of forest change that is globally consistent and locally relevant says University of Maryland Professor of Geographical Sciences Matthew Hansen team leader and corresponding author on the Science paper.
Losses or gains in forest cover shape many important aspects of an ecosystem including climate regulation carbon storage biodiversity
and water supplies but until now there has not been a way to get detailed accurate satellite-based
and readily available data on forest cover change from local to global scales Hansen says.
To build this first of its kind forest mapping resource Hansen UMD Research Associate professor Petr Potapov
and five other UMD geographical science researchers drew on the decades-long UMD experience in the use of satellite data to measure changes in forest and other types of land cover.
and Science (EROS). More than 650000 Landsat images were processed to derive the final characterization of forest extent and change.
Hansen and his coauthors say their mapping tool greatly improves upon existing knowledge of global forest cover by providing fine resolution (30 meter) maps that accurately
and consistently quantify annual loss or gain of forest over more than a decade. This mapping database which will be updated annually quantifies all forest stand-replacement disturbances whether due to logging fire disease or storms.
and measurements while previous efforts at national and global assessments of forest cover have been largely dependent on countries'self-reported estimates based on widely varying definitions and measures of forest loss and gain.
For example subtropical forests were found to have the highest rates of change largely due to intensive forestry land uses.
The disturbance rate of North american subtropical forests located in the Southeast United states was found to be four times that of South american rainforests during the study period;
more than 31 percent of U s. southeastern forest cover was lost either or regrown. At national scales Paraguay Malaysia and Cambodia were found to have the highest rates of forest loss.
Paraguay was found to have the highest ratio of forest loss to gain indicating an intensive deforestation dynamic.
The study confirms that well-documented efforts by Brazil --which has long been responsible for a majority of the world's tropical deforestation--to reduce its rainforest clearing have had a significant effect.
Brazil showed the largest decline in annual forest loss of any country cutting annual forest loss in half from a high of approximately 40000 square kilometers (15444 square miles) in 2003-2004 to 20000
square kilometers (7722 square miles) in 2010-2011 Indonesia had the largest increase in forest loss more than doubling its annual loss during the study period to nearly 20000 square kilometers (7722 square miles
Hansen and colleagues say the global data sets of forest change they have created contain information that can provide a transparent sound
and consistent basis to quantify critical environmental issues including the causes of the mapped changes in the amount of forest;
the status of world's remaining intact natural forests; biodiversity threats from changes in forest cover;
the carbon stored or emitted as a result of gains or losses in tree cover in both managed and unmanaged forests;
and the effects of efforts to halt or reduce forest loss. For example Hansen says that
while their study shows the efforts of Brazil's government to slow loss of rainforest have been effective it also shows that a 2011 Indonesian government moratorium on new logging licenses was followed actually by significant increases in deforestation in 2011 and 2012.
Now with our global mapping of forest changes every nation has access to this kind of information for their own country and the rest of the world.
This trade increasingly the domain of large global criminal syndicates has been responsible for the loss of some 76 percent of all African forest elephants in the past decade.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and Colorado State university used a computer model to demonstrate that providing forest conservation measures are in place the Amazon rainforest may be more able to withstand periods of drought than has been estimated by other climate models.
because they don't take into account the moisture that the forest itself can recycle in times of drought.
and found that the moisture that is recycled by the forest is sufficient to reduce the intensity of drought conditions.
This study suggests that forests are not only more able to withstand droughts than we had thought previously
but it is the response of the forest itself that can reduce the intensity or length of the drought.
Moisture recycling works best in large areas of undisturbed forest so it is essential that measures to protect the Amazon rain forest are in place to ensure that that this natural process can be maintained in
Moisture recycling is an important source of rainfall over the Amazon forest; about one-third of the annual rainfall in the southern Amazon forest can originate from moisture recycling.
The process relies heavily upon the ability of plants to access soil moisture. During particularly severe droughts trees reach a limit in their ability to access
This acts to reduce the water stress felt by the forest plants. The researchers took this dry season moisture recycling into account in their new model.
and forest conservation can help to mitigate the consequences. Large areas of undisturbed forest are more able to maintain moisture recycling during dry periods
and are better able to recycle rainfall. Disturbed areas of forest including those bordering pasture are less able to maintain moisture recycling
and as a result are less able to withstand drought. Moisture recycling does not make the forest immune to drought
but it can make the impacts of drought less severe. The optimum conditions for moisture recycling occur during the unstable climatic fluctuations at the end of the dry season.
and guide stream restorationsediment behind milldams in Pennsylvania preserved leaves deposited just before European contact that provide a glimpse of the ancient forests according to a team of geoscientists who note that neither the forests nor the streams were
Understanding the past forest makeup may provide a way to help get a successful and useful reconstruction.
and cataloged the leaves reveal the makeup of the forest near the water's edge before milldams were builtand forests were cleared.
which Elliott then compared to the modern forest makeup. The researchers found that the precontact forest was overwhelmingly American beech red oak
But box elder and another maple dominate the current forest that grows above the stream. It was intriguing to see samples from American chestnut which isn't around anymore because of the chestnut blight said Elliott.
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