Tharayil estimates that kudzu invasion results in the release of 4. 8 metric tons of carbon annually equal to the amount of carbon stored in 11.8 million acres of U s. forest.
#Tropical countries growing wealth may aid conservationwhile inadequate funding has hampered international efforts to conserve biodiversity in tropical forests a new Duke university-led study finds that people in a growing number of tropical countries
and Thailand also contain nearly 80 percent of the world's primary tropical forests which play a major role in carbon storage.
This could make a big difference in protecting tropical biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
To test these findings the researchers conducted a case study on forest conservation in the remote Belum-Temengor forest of Malaysia's northernmost state Perak.
But the Perak state government which has jurisdiction over the forest has protected only a third of it.
The rest of the forest remains open to logging and under state law even the area currently protected could be reopened for logging a major revenue source in Perak.
Vincent is the Clarence F. Korstian Professor of Forest Economics and Management at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Sanford School of Public Policy.
He conducted the new study with researchers from the University of California (UC) San diego UCLA UC Riverside UC Berkeley the University of South australia the Forest Research Institute Malaysia and PE Research.
Primary funding came from the Global Environmental Facility through the UN Development Programme with additional support from Malaysia's Ministry of Natural resources and Environment and the Forest Research Institute Malaysia.
The clearing of tropical forests to plant oil palm trees releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas fueling climate change.
Converting diverse forest ecosystems to these single-crop monocultures degrades or destroys wildlife habitat. Oil palm plantations also have been associated with dangerous and abusive conditions for laborers.
and team leader Lisa M. Curran a professor of ecological anthropology at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
Home to the world's third-largest tropical forest the country is also one of the principal emitters of greenhouse gases due to the rapid conversion of carbon-rich forests and peatlands to other uses.
and forests in and around Gunung Palung National park a federally protected area that Curran was instrumental in establishing in 1990.
They found that water temperatures in streams draining recently cleared plantations were almost 4 degrees Celsius (more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than forest streams.
Yet Carlson said Our findings suggest that converting logged forests and diverse smallholder agricultural lands to oil palm plantations may be almost as harmful to stream ecosystems as clearing intact forests.
Very few protections for such non-intact forest ecosystems exist. According to Curran extensive land conversion to oil palm plantations could lead to a perfect storm combining the crop's environmental effects with those from a massive El Niã o-associated drought.
One is predicted this fall. This could cause collapse of freshwater ecosystems and significant social and economic hardships in a region Curran said.
while conducting a life cycle assessment of the flowering tree'Forest Pansy'(Cercis canadensis L.)The study incorporated partial budgeting modeling procedures to measure the sensitivity of related costs
Ajayan is Rice's Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical engineering and Materials Science and of chemistry and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering.
The findings are extremely important for assessing the resistance of tropical forests to climate change and reforestation.
Consequently there are grave concerns that the rainfall patterns altered by climate change could trigger a forest decline on a global scale.
As different trees display a different mortality due to aridity the impact of a forest decline triggered by climate change is cushioned O'brien is convinced.
These new insights are also significant for reforestation: The planting of species that store more carbohydrates can be favored to boost the forests'resistance to the drier climates predicted by the climate change models.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Zurich. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The challenge for Brazil lies in identifying optimal lands for expanding sugarcane while still meeting demands for food crops and conserving native forests and savannas.
which includes using degraded pastures for a combination of reforestation expansion of biofuel and food crops and intensification of cattle production.
As a consequence heat-related deaths could reach about 200000 the cost of river flood damages could exceed â0 billion and 8000 km2 of forest could burn in southern Europe.
The report also includes a pilot study on habitat suitability of forest tree species. Connie Hedegaard European Commissioner for Climate Action said:
In roughly ten-year cycles the larvae of this moth occur in high densities occasionally so high that it results in widespread defoliation growth reduction and sometimes death of the birch forest.
During the last 15 years a third moth species the rare umber moth (Agriopis aurantiaria) has invaded the coastal regions of North Norway and established itself as a serious pest in the coastal birch forest.
During the major outbreak of the 2000s researchers know that all three moth species attacked the mountain-birch forest.
Using satellite photography the researchers have mapped the progress of the defoliation of the forest and provided a deeper understanding of the extent and duration of the moth outbreaks and
what type of forest is most vulnerable. During the most recent major outbreak the autumnal moth struck first continues Dr Jepsen.
So the forest was defoliated twice in effect an unusually long-lasting attack which resulted in more pressure on the forest compared to previous outbreaks.
This explains why so many trees died. Changing vegetationthe researchers have studied also the impact of these moth invasions on the northern birch forest ecosystem.
On the Varanger Peninsula (the northeastern tip of Norway) we have mapped the vegetation before and after the outbreak and across a range of outbreak severities and found that dense birch forests survive far better than sparse ones says Dr Jepsen.
Moth attacks in sparse woods cause extensive changes in ground vegetation--the dwarf shrub heath disappears
and grass takes over. Researchers explain this change with two phenomena: fertilisation and sunlight. Sparse birch forests grow in nutrient-poor locations.
Moth outbreaks cause large amounts of larvae excrement and dead larvae to fall to the ground which fertilises the soil and promotes the growth of grass.
But this change is occurring to a greater extent in low and high-Arctic tundra areas and less so in subarctic forests.
In many subarctic forested areas in fact the opposite has been observed--a browning--as the forest becomes less green.
We believe this may be increased related to pressure on the forest in certain areas explains Dr Jepsen.
Hill and Egan also worked with Glenn E. Stauffer a postdoctoral scholar in forest resources and Duane R. Diefenbach adjunct professor of wildlife ecology both of Penn State.
#Protecting and connecting the Flathead National Forest in Montanaa new report from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) calls for completing the legacy of Wilderness lands on the Flathead National Forest in Montana.
Located in northwest Montana adjacent to Glacier national park the 2. 4 million-acre Flathead Forest is a strategic part of the stunning and ecologically diverse Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.
In his report Conservation Legacy on a Flagship Forest: Wildlife and Wild Lands on the Flathead National Forest Montana WCS Senior Scientist Dr. John Weaver notes that these protections may not be enough in the face of looming challenges such as climate change.
For example warmer winters will reduce mountain snow cover and suitable habitat for the rare wolverine--a species highly adapted to persistent snow pack.
In total Weaver recommends 404208 acres of roadless area on the Flathead Forest for Congressional designation as National Wilderness
and decisions about future management on the Flathead National Forest said Weaver. These spectacular landscapes provide some of the best remaining strongholds for vulnerable fish and wildlife and headwater sources of clean water.
and wildlands on this crown jewel of the National Forest system for people today and generations yet to come.
#Lopwood, brushwood make high-grade charcoalwhen the forestry machines have finished extracting timber what is left are tops and branches--waste
Branches tops lopwood and brushwood that are left in felled areas after the timber has been extracted are now set to become more than just an irritation to hikers and berry-pickers.
We're trying to find the optimum conditions for making charcoal from forestry waste. What kinds of pressures and temperatures deliver the best result and the best possible quality?
which will spend four years not only creating high-grade charcoal from cheap forestry waste but also developing profitable ways of manufacturing the new product.
It is produced there using the old-fashioned method with a low utilisation ratio of the energy in the timber used to make the charcoal.
The forest grows again. Yet our domestic wood-processing industry is struggling. This innovation means that we may also be looking at making charcoal from broadleaved trees
and trees of a quality that would normally be used to make paper. Quality fuel The other important area of application would be as a fuel in the form of briquettes pellets or finely crushed powder.
That would increase sales of Norwegian forestry resources and would also increase the number of local jobs.
and other farm tools while spurring rapid deforestation of timber used in iron refining. Widespread erosion in the river's upper regions caused it to carry incredibly heavy loads of sediment downstream where deposits gradually raised the river bed above levees and surrounding fields.
Cornelison's research is funded by the U s. Forest Service and Bat Conservation International. Story Source:
#Iconic Minnesota conifers may give way to more broad-leafed forest in the next centuryover the next 100 years Minnesota's iconic boreal forest
and deep snow may change into a deciduous forest with winters warm enough for some precipitation to fall as rain according to a new U s. Forest Service assessment of the vulnerability of Minnesota forests to climate change.
Minnesota Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment and Synthesis was published by the U s. Forest Service's Northern Research Station
and forest vulnerabilities in a 23.5-million-acre region of forest in northeastern Minnesota. Tree species that are already at the southern end of their range such as balsam fir quaking aspen white spruce
By planning ahead foresters and other decision-makers can begin now to manage for resilient landscapes
and ensure that the benefits that forests provide are sustained into the future said Michael T. Rains Director of the Northern Research Station and the Forest Products Laboratory.
Forest Service science is delivering information and new technology that will help managers in Minnesota
What might these changes mean for forests? There are so many variables that will affect the future of forests in northern Minnesota forest managers will probably always have to deal with some amount of uncertainty said Stephen Handler lead author of the vulnerability assessment
and a climate change specialist with the Northern Institute for Applied Climate Science (NIACS). But we already know enough right now to begin planning for a range of possible futures.
The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Northern Research Station. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Surprising spread of spring leaf-out timesdespite conventional wisdom among gardeners foresters and botanists that woody plants all leaf out at about the same time each spring a new study organized by a Boston
As a result forests will have flushes of new leaves over an extended period which adds to the beauty of spring growth
but it also has implications for insect survival and for carbon dioxide absorption by forests. Leaf-out phenology affects a wide variety of ecosystem processes
and spend more time guarding their goods. This is according to work performed by researchers from Trinity college Dublin's School of Geography who say that communities near the edge of tropical forests are experiencing a lack of'dietary diversity
Despite the positive actions taken by affected farmers working around the Gishwati Forest fragment in western Rwanda the shifts in farming practice are having a cumulative negative effect on their communities.
The chimps are basically imposing a'natural tax'on farmers growing crops near the nutrient-rich soils of the forest said Shane Mcguinness lead author on the research
Although their numbers are small in this forest chimpanzees are protected an internationally species and have the potential to generate substantial amounts of tourism-driven revenue.
Sylvain Nyandwi of the Great apes Trust of Iowa (the organisation currently charged with conserving the forest) said that 19 chimps had been identified
and promoting reforestation might be the best solution. Those are the findings of a new University of Michigan study that surveyed vacant lots in several Detroit neighborhoods for ragweed counting the number of ragweed plants
Regardless of whether people think that reforestation of vacant lots is a good or bad thing overall it will have the benefit of reducing ragweed pollen exposure.
Results of the Detroit vegetation survey were published online June 16 in the journal Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.
Although reforestation is controversial it is advocated by the Detroit Future City Strategic Framework a collaboration between the city of Detroit the Kresge Foundation and the Detroit Economic growth Corp. among others.
#Conserving remnants of West african tropical forestthe Upper Guinean forests once covered more than 103 million acres from southern Guinea into Sierra leone through Liberia and southern CÃ'te d'Ivoire
Rapid population growth and expansion of agriculture has fueled deforestation of more than 80 percent of the original forest cover according to doctoral student Francis Dwomoh of the Geographic Information science Center of Excellence at South dakota State university.
and fire on the Upper Guinean forests during the last 40 years and look at how fires may impact the remaining forest fragments.
The Ghana native who began his doctoral work in 2012 is the 10th Geographic Information science Center of Excellence doctoral student to receive this award.
Protecting diversity hotspotthe forests are home to 2800 plant species and a diverse range of birds reptiles amphibians and mammals with some only found in this region making it
His study will focus on the remaining forest sections which are concentrated in Sierra leone Liberia CÃ'te d'Ivoire and Ghana.
Most of the fragments are confined to protected areas including forest preserves under government control. Dwomoh will use Landsat imagery to track deforestation
and conservation groups determine how best to conserve these tropical forest remnants. It will also provide a better understanding of the risks posed to tropical forests worldwide as climatic
and population pressures increase Wimberly said. Changing landscape climatean estimated 70 percent of the world's cocoa supply is produced in West Africa.
Climatically the Upper Guinean forests experience the highest temperatures and the longest dry season among tropical ecosystems worldwide Dwomoh explained.
That increases the vulnerability of the forest fragments and leads to more frequent and intense fires according to Dwomoh who worked as a research scientist for the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana for eight years.
His research will help ascertain whether these forest fragments may reach a tipping point at
which they cannot recover from forest fires. Already some sections have been reduced to grassland littered with shrubs he noted.
and cabbage said Steve Strauss co-author and distinguished professor of forest biotechnology at OSU. This is the first time a gene that controls the timing of bud break in trees has been identified.
As a result forest health may decline trees may disappear from places they are currently found
The results of the study by Thomas Newsome and William Ripple in the Oregon State university Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society were published in the Journal of Animal Ecology by The british Ecological Society.
Red pandas live in the cool temperate bamboo forests in parts of China Nepal and northern Myanmar.
But researchers in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life sciences have found an effective way to kill poison ivy using a naturally occurring fungus that grows on the fleshy tissue surrounding the plant's seed potentially giving homeowners and forest managers the ability to rid
Kasson whose research is funded by the U s. Department of agriculture Forest Service believes it would be relatively simple to develop a soil granular to spread on top of poison ivy-infested areas in yards
and other large perennials offers new opportunities for accelerating breeding cycles for sustainable biomass productivity and optimal wood quality noted Grattapaglia.
In addition insights into the trees'evolutionary history and adaptation are improving our understanding of their response to environmental change providing strategies to diminish the negative environmental impacts that threaten many species. We have a keen interest in how wood is formed said ORNL's Jerry Tuskan.
While native to Australia eucalyptus trees are planted worldwide mostly for the value of its wood; for the Department of energy their energy-rich cellulosic biomass makes them one of the principal candidate biomass energy crops.
and excellent wood and fiber properties Eucalyptus trees are grown in 100 countries across six continents and account for over 40 million acres.
These trees appear to be a very interesting alternative for the forestry sector in view of the modifications ecosystems are undergoing
and SCION--the New zealand Forest Research Institute--have developed a system of somatic embryogenesis in the hybrid species of Pinus radiata X Pinus attenuata a pine species with a proven tolerance to a lack of water.
which could be used for reforestation purposes in Spain and New zealand. Current advances in forestry biotechnology in somatic embryogenesis in particular have opened up the possibility of increasing forest productivity and raising the quality of wood-based products.
Apart from being a highly productive method somatic embryogenesis is a very valuable tool in forestry biotechnology.
The countries that are advanced in the forestry sector like Canada use this technique to optimise genetic improvement programmes
and to preserve elite genotypes. For all these reasons somatic embryogenesis is contributing in a very positive way to the restoration and sustainable management of forests.
Economic viability the aimthe project being run by Neiker-Tecnalia and SCION apart from contributing towards forestry management
and sustainability has set itself the aim of economic viability. The growing demand for land for agriculture and urban development often means that commercial forests are planted in marginal dry mountainous locations.
This location and the cases of extreme meteorological phenomena are creating an environment in which hybrid trees could be a valuable commercial resource for the future owing to their capacity to withstand water stress and adverse climate conditions.
In Canada the National Network of Somatic Embryogenesis Laboratories (NNSEL) has been set up within the Canadian Forestry Service for the purpose of effectively transferring the advances in biotechnology to the forestry sector.
#Forest loss starves fish: Forest debris that drains into lakes is important to freshwater food chainsresearch shows forest debris that drains into lakes is an important contributor to freshwater food chains--bolstering fish diets to the extent that increased forest
cover causes fish to get'fat'and sparse forest leaves smaller underfed fish. Debris from forests that washes into freshwater lakes supplements the diets of microscopic zooplankton
and the fish that feed off them--creating larger and stronger fish new research shows.
The researchers warn that as forests are eroded through human activities such as logging the impacts will be felt in aquatic as well as terrestrial food chains.
This enabled scientists to study Yellow perch fish from different parts of a lake that has varying degrees of surrounding forest coverage.
Carbon from forest debris has a different elemental mass than carbon produced by algae in the aquatic food chain.
By analysing the young Perch that had been born that year scientists were able to determine that at least 34%of the fish biomass comes from vegetation increasing to 66%in areas surrounded by rich forest.
Essentially the more forest around the edge of the lake the fatter the fish in that part of the lake were.
Scientists say that the young fish in lake areas with scant forest cover were much smaller
a vast subarctic climate system that rings round most of the top of the Northern hemisphere--full of huge ancient forests vital to the carbon cycle of Earth.
When these fast-moving streams--full of detritus from forest foliage--hit the slow-moving lake the debris falls out of suspension
but the new research builds on previous work that showed they also feed on bacteria from forest matter drained into lakes.
Where you have dissolved more forest matter you have more bacteria more bacteria equals more zooplankton;
and rock instead of the once lush forest. The young fish in these parts of the lake were considerably smaller due to less available food.
Forest loss is damaging aquatic food chains of which many humans are a part. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Cambridge.
Now imagine that you manage acres of old-growth forest--or another natural resource like some fish in the ocean.
or forests in the United states. In assigning natural capital monetary value the approach will have widespread implications for policymakers
Fenichel assistant professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. This approach to valuation is forward-looking and inherently interdisciplinary added Fenichel.
The researchers hope to apply the method to measure the value of all U s. fish stocks as well as other natural assets like groundwater and forests.
Conferred by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation the prize recognizes European scientists for innovative and exemplary research approaches in the areas of nature conservation agriculture and forestry and related sciences.
Despite the increase in production the rate at which Amazon forestland in the state was cleared to make room for new farmland slowed significantly in the second half of the last decade.
The inventory of forestland in Mato grosso that is ideal for conversion to agriculture is starting to dwindle.
Using a measure called the Enhanced Vegetation Index--essentially a measure of greenness in land cover--the researchers are able to distinguish between forestland
Forestland remains green all year. Land used for agriculture displays spikes in greenness that correspond with growing seasons.
Among those transformations was a dramatic expansion of agriculture on newly cleared forestland. In 2001 3. 3 million hectares of mechanized agriculture were cultivated in Mato grosso.
Later in the decade--after about 2006--clearing of forestland slowed and the intensification of farming on existing farmland increased.
They found that the forestland cleared for agriculture over the decade tended to be similar in those characteristics to the land developed at the beginning of the study period.
while maintaining the precious forests of the Amazon. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Brown University.
Sarah Nelson assistant research professor with the Senator George J. Mitchell Center and cooperating assistant research professor in Watershed Biogeochemistry in the UMAINE School of Forest Resources;
In the first study of its kind scientists have calculated the amount of carbon absorbed by the world's tropical forests
They found that tropical forests absorb almost two billion tonnes of carbon each year equivalent to one-fifth of the world's carbon emissions by storing it in their bark leaves and soil.
Peat fires in forests add significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers estimate that if all human-related deforestation of the tropics were to stop the forests could absorb more carbon than at present equivalent to one-fifth of global emissions.
Researchers say carbon emissions from tropical forests will increase as the climate warms as rising temperatures accelerate the decay of dead plants
and trees giving off more CO2. Global temperatures are forecast to rise by two degrees by the year 2099 which is predicted to increase annual carbon emissions from the forest by three-quarters of a billion tonnes.
Scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Leeds analysed data from multiple previous studies including satellite studies to determine the amount of carbon absorbed
and emitted by the world's tropical forests in South and Central america equatorial Africa and Asia.
If we limit human activity in the tropical forests of the world this could play a valuable role in helping to curb the rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Preventing further losses of carbon from our tropical forests must remain a high priority. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Edinburgh.
#For forests, an earlier spring: Climate change leads to increased growing season and allows forests to store more carbon dioxideevery spring as the weather warms trees in forests up and down the east coast explode in a bright green display of life as leaves fill their branches
and every fall those same leaves provide one of nature's great color displays of vivid yellow orange and red.
Over the last two decades spurred by higher temperatures caused by climate change Harvard scientists say forests throughout the Eastern U s. have experienced earlier springs and later autumns than ever before.
and Andrew Richardson associate professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology along with colleagues from 7 different institutions found that forests throughout the eastern US are showing signs of spring growth earlier than ever
That expanded growing season they say has enabled forests to store as much as 26 million metric tons more CO2 than before.
What we find in this paper is an increase in the growing season of forests in the eastern U s. due to recent climate change Keenan said.
This has been beneficial for forests in the past but we do not expect the response to continue unchecked in the future.
Though the fact that forests can store more carbon is a good thing both Keenan
If forests weren't storing additional carbon in this manner we would be even worse off in terms of atmospheric CO2 levels so at the moment it's a good thingâ
#so in the future an earlier spring might not help forests take up more carbon if they end up running out of water in midsummer.
By collecting data across three different scales Richardson said Keenan was able to capture both a region-wide picture of the eastern forest
Ground observations made every three to seven days at the Harvard Forest in Petersham and a long-term research site in New hampshire provided direct information about the state of the buds leaves and branches.
Another important finding Richardson said is that the research identifies a significant source of error in existing computer models of how forest ecosystems work.
and how they simulate how forests will work under future climate scenarios. The real power of the findings
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