Decomposition matters because the speed at which woody material are broken down strongly influences the retention of carbon in forest ecosystems
They distributed 160 blocks of pine tree wood across five sub-regions of temperate forest in the eastern U s.--from Connecticut to northern Florida
They selected similar forest types hardwood deciduous forests to focus on major differences in climate across the regional gradient.
Most people would try to make sure everything was as standard as possible said Mark A. Bradford an assistant professor of terrestrial ecosystem ecology at the Yale School of Forestry
After 13 months they measured how much wood had been lost whether to the consumption of fungi growing on the wood or to termites consuming the wood.
According to their analysis local-scale factors explained about three quarters of the variation in wood decomposition
#What a 66-million-year old forest fire reveals about the last days of the dinosaursas far back as the time of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago forests recovered from fires in the same manner
what the Cretaceous forests looked like with and without fire disturbance says Hans Larsson Canada Research Chair in Macroevolution at Mcgill University.
The researchers'discovery revealed that at the forest fire site the plants are dominated by flora quite similar to the kind that begin forest recovery after a fire today.
Ancient forests recovered much like current ones with plants like alder birch and sassafras present in early stages
and sequoia and ginkgo present in mature forests. We were looking at the direct result of a 66-million-year old forest fire preserved in stone says Emily Bamforth of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and the study's first author.
Tropical Nations Where Forest Protection and Reforestation Policies Have worked highlights successes in reducing deforestation and restoring forests while supporting economic development in 17 cases across Africa Latin america and South and Southeast asia.
While some countries highlighted in the report including Brazil are known for their forest efforts other countries including Mexico El salvador
and the six countries of Central africa emerge as surprising innovators. In the 1990s deforestation consumed 16 million hectares of forest a year
Successfully reducing deforestation is essential as forests are home to a wide range of plants and animals and vital to the livelihoods of indigenous communities.
When forests are cleared-for palm oil plantations agriculture or livestock--we lose vital resources put animals at risk of extinction
and soils said report author Doug Boucher director of UCS's Tropical forest and Climate Initiative.
What's surprising about today's report is the number of countries that are effectively protecting their tropical forests
Brazil is home to the world's largest tropical forest the Amazon. As early as 2002 the Brazilian government reduced deforestation by establishing forest protected areas
and later companies agreed to moratoriums on buying soy or beef raised on deforested land.
While these deforestation programs and policies proved effective Brazil took additional action through the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus pro-forest activities (REDD+)program in cooperation with Norway.
Today 80 percent of original Amazonian forest is still standing due to forest protections moratoriums and the REDD+program Brazil is lauded most notably for their deforestation reductions
but the report found numerous example of successfully saving forests in unexpected locations said Boucher.
Mexico has been working to protect their forests from deforestation since the 1990s but additional success came from the Payment for Environmental Services program
because participants invested in protecting forests even when not required to do so. Ninety-four percent of the program participants voluntarily spent significant portions of their allotments on forest management proving that the program was successful overall.
Yet other countries still like Guyana and Central africa exemplify how economic development socioeconomic changes are relieving pressure on forests.
Guyana's case is unusual in that its deforestation rate is nearly zero and forest policies are focused on preventing deforestation entirely.
Like Brazil Guyana formed a partnership with Norway through the REDD+program. But Guyana's program focuses on promoting economic growth while still keeping deforestation low.
In Central africa forest management plans were adopted in the 1990s and over time these plans have grown to cover a large portion of the region's forests.
In addition to these policies the development of oil and mineral resources led to rapid urbanization which drew people from the rural areas to pursue jobs in larger cities.
Increasing imports of agricultural products minimized the competition for rural lands as well as the need for expansion into forest lands.
and forest area simultaneously and Costa rica's well protected forests attract millions of ecotourists each year.
Further forest management policies should combine environmental policy with socioeconomic development as well as establish moratoriums to increase effectiveness.
#Environmental one-two punch imperils Amazonian forestsone of the world's longest-running ecological studies has revealed that Amazonian forests are being altered by multiple environmental threats--creating even greater perils for the world's largest rainforest.
The fragmented forests they found change rapidly. Lots of trees have died while vines which favor disturbed forests proliferate rapidly said Jose Luis Camargo of Brazil's National Institute for Amazonian Research.
But the biggest surprise is undisturbed that nearby forests which were also being studied carefully changed as well.
Trees there grew and died faster and the vines also multiplied. These changes might be driven by increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere said Thomas Lovejoy of George Mason University In virginia USA who initiated the long-term study.
and when it increases the forest evidently becomes more unstable and dynamic as long as the soils have enough nutrients.
The investigators say a key implication is that many forests are being affected not only by land-use changes such as habitat fragmentation
In some cases different drivers reinforce one another increasing their impacts on forests. A big implication is that it's going to be harder to predict future changes to ecosystems
and it's evidently affecting even the remotest forests On earth said Laurance. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by James Cook University.
#Current trends for forest biomass for energy in EUTHE EU aims to get 20%of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
These ambitious targets set in the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) have led to concerns about the levels of woody biomass from forests
on current trends in forest biomass for energy in Europe carbon balance and the sustainable potential.
EFI presented two alternative mobilizations of forest biomass. The reference mobilization was based on a dynamic response to Renewable Energy Directive targets with increasing infrastructure and mechanization and stronger forest owner groups to 2020 and beyond.
In this case meeting climate and energy targets would be the main driver. The negative environmental effects of intensified use of forest resources would be weighed against
and considered less important than the negative effects of continued reliance on fossil fuels. This mobilization would see a potential availability of 880 million m3 of woody biomass by 2020.
The low mobilization assumed much stricter environmental constraints on forest biomass removal such as prohibition of stump removal no fertilizer use to replace nutrients lost
when forest material was removed and an increase in the area of protected forests and retained trees.
When compared with the reference this mobilization resulted in a 33%lower availability of total biomass from forests in 2020 to 583 million m3.
To place this in context approximately 470 million m3 of woody biomass was harvested from European forests in 2010.
The amount of forest-derived and woody biomass was estimated then that could be supplied sustainably for energy uses without compromising material uses of wood.
Overall the study found that the lower mobilization of forest resources would be sufficient to meet woody material demands
The above story is provided based on materials by European Forest Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
because there are so many more options for treating acne said Sarah Taylor M d. a dermatologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical center.
Over-the-counter products can work in many cases said William Huang M d. another Wake Forest Baptist dermatologist.
Research studies some conducted at Wake Forest Baptist have found that tools such as Web-based surveys email reminders
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Origin of biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest of Brazilthe Atlantic Forest of Brazil is one of the world's most important biodiversity hot spots;
and levels of land planarians (Cephaloflexa bergi) in 11 site localities in and out the Serra do Mar biological corridor in the Atlantic Forest.
The study is focused on a geographic region of the Atlantic Forest which is damaged severely by human activities.
According to the new study extant biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil originated and has been shaped by complex interactions between ancient geological events
By applying Bayesian inference methods (Approximate Bayesian Computation ABC) two scenarios proposed to explain the biodiversity of Southern Atlantic Forest region were evaluated.
Experts found little evidence of a recent colonization of Brazilian Atlantic forest localities. Nevertheless some populations might result from very recent secondary contacts;
when the Serra do Mar was a continuous forest landscape. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Universidad de Barcelona.
#New look at old forests: Future growth of U s. forests expected to declineas forests age their ability to grow decreases a new study by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) scientists
and colleagues has determined. Since most U s. forests are maturing from regeneration that began about 100 years ago
when extensive clear-cutting occurred the study suggests the future growth of U s. forests will decline.
All forests are in succession: They get old die (due to fire insects hurricane etc. and regenerate.
This paper improves on a fundamental theory in ecosystem development: How a forest evolves over time.
It demonstrates that when a forest gets old its ability to grow decreases because it takes up less carbon dioxide
and sunlight and respires less just like an animal or human being says lead author Jianwu (Jim) Tang an assistant scientist in the MBL Ecosystem Center.
when a forest gets old it would respire more and use more energy. But Tang and colleagues found both energy production (photosynthesis) and energy consumption (respiration) decrease with age resulting in an overall decrease in growth rates.
Forests are also big carbon sinks that offset in part human-induced carbon emissions. Our finding also suggests the forest carbon sink may decrease in the U s. because of the slowdown in forest growth Tang says.
In some other countries young forests could grow faster and take up more carbon dioxide. To mitigate human-induced climate change
and global warming we may either plant more forests in non-forested lands decrease use of fossil fuels
or do both. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Marine Biological Laboratory.
#Supply of woody biomass for energy from privately owned forests in Europe overestimatedthe European commission expects the use of biomass for energy in the EU to increase significantly to meet a legally binding target of at least 20%of the EU's total energy use
In response to the increased demand the EU member states have estimated the direct supply of biomass from their forests to increase by 45%on a volume basis between 2006 and 2020.
A new study led by Kristina Blennow from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) shows for the first time that European private forest owners are not as ready to increase the supply of woody biomass for energy as assumed.
Fifty percent of the forest area in Europe is owned privately. The private forest owners'attitudes towards supplying biomass for energy
so that the targets can be met and the related economic policy instruments are extremely important. Considering the beliefs and desires of the land owners in designing land-use policies is crucial for their effectiveness.
This study shows that the future supply of woody biomass for energy from privately owned forests in Europe
and the effectiveness of economic policy instruments to mobilise woody biomass from them have been overestimatedan international team of scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences the European Forest Institute the Technical University of Lisbon (Portugal)
and The swiss Federal Research Institute WSL base their report on survey data from 800 private forest owners operating across Europe.
although the forest owners generally asserted strong belief in a persistent and strong demand for woody biomass for energy use their readiness to change the management objective to woody biomass for energy in forest stands currently managed for stemwood is low
This shows that the attitudes of those who make decisions at the local level strongly influence the supply of woody biomass for energy from the European forest sector.
Only one respondent in ten representing 12%of the forest area reported a weakly positive
or strongly positive attitude to convert to producing woody biomass for energy at a profit in forest stands currently managed for stemwood.
and that the respondents represent the European private forest owners in general only 12%of the privately owned forest land will be available for providing stemwood for energy generation.
Hence a conservative estimate of the harvest level of stemwood for energy in privately owned forests in Europe is 12%of the maximum.
The results are based on responses to a questionnaire among private forest owners in Sweden Germany and Portugal.
In addition to size of forest holding the survey addressed three main questions: how strongly do forest owners believe in a persistent demand for woody biomass for energy how likely is it that forest owners continue to manage the forest for stemwood
or convert to producing bioenergy for energy generation if it can be made at profit and how willing are the forest owners to convert land used for pasture agriculture
and other purposes to forest and convert forest land to land for cultivation of energy crops?
The findings of the team of researchers have strong implications for meeting the forest biomass share of the legally binding 2020 target for renewable energy in the EU and for the design of effective renewable energy policy.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by European Forest Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Insect repellents more important than ever as tropical tourism increasesholidaymakers are being urged to use insect repellent to protect themselves against bites
The findings underscore a key limitation of using aggregated data across wide geographic areas to predict future climate change said Mark A. Bradford an assistant professor of terrestrial ecosystem ecology at the Yale School of Forestry
To better assess the importance of those local effects the researchers distributed 160 blocks of pine tree wood across five sub-regions of temperate forest in the eastern United states--from Connecticut to northern Florida
They selected similar forest types in order to focus on major differences in the effect of climate across the regional gradient.
versus regional factors on decomposition and capture the variability found in forest environments. Most people would try to make sure everything was as standard as possible Bradford said.
whether absorbed by the microbes growing on the wood or directly into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
The above story is provided based on materials by Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The original article was written by Kevin Dennehy.
and promoting growth of new forests could tie up as much as 1. 3 gigatons of carbon in plant material annually the team calculated.
and potentially as effective as improving forestry practices the approach and its potential impacts are understood not well enough for widespread use the team concluded.
while still providing forest cover and wildlife habitat worked equally as well as more intensive treatments in allowing for the protection of homes during the 2011 Wallow Fire a study published in the journal Forest Ecology
and qualitative observations during the Wallow Fire suggest previously implemented treatments did said just that Morris Johnson a research fire ecologist with the U s. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station
This management history gave researchers an unexpected opportunity to study how effective two alternative fuel treatments were in reducing the fire's severity particularly in the WUI a critical area on the landscape where a forest
but of maintaining pockets of dense forest cover and associated wildlife habitat. To characterize fire severity the researchers established linear transects through each of these three study areas a year after the Wallow Fire.
The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Pacific Northwest Research Station. Note:
Native grasslands forests and wetlands may be converted into croplands tree plantations residential areas and commercial developments. Those conversions can in turn diminish the health of natural ecosystems
and three policy alternatives designed to encourage forest cover and the preservation of natural landscapes as well as the reduction of urban expansion.
The 1990s Trend baseline scenario assumes land-use trends will continue as they did during the 1990s resulting in less cropland pasture and rangeland and more forests and urbanization.
forest incentives natural habitats and urban containment. The first policy provides incentives for reduced deforestation
and for afforestation--moving land into forest whether by converting cropland to natural forest or by establishing commercial timber operations.
Because forests clean rivers climate regulation and other ecosystem services are freely available to everyone landowners often receive nothing for actions they take on their own land that contribute to the pool of ecosystem services.
#Vines choke a forests ability to capture carbontropical forests are a sometimes-underappreciated asset in the battle against climate change.
As abandoned agricultural land in the tropics is taken over by forests scientists expect these new forests to mop up industrial quantities of atmospheric carbon.
and may even cause tropical forests to lose carbon. In the first study to experimentally demonstrate that competition between plants can result in ecosystem-wide losses of forest carbon scientists working in Panama showed that lianas
or woody vines can reduce net forest biomass accumulation by nearly 20 percent Researchers called this estimate conservative in findings published this month in Ecology.
This paper represents the first experimental quantification of the effects of lianas on biomass said lead author Stefan Schnitzer a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
As lianas increase in tropical forests they will lower the capacity for tropical forests to accumulate carbon.
Previous research by Schnitzer and others demonstrated that lianas are increasing in tropical forests around the globe.
Lianas climb trees to reach the forest canopy where their leaves blot out the sunlight required for tree growth.
They account for up to 25 percent of the woody plants in a typical tropical forest but only a few percent of its carbon.
After collecting eight years of data comparing liana-free plots with naturally liana-filled plots in the same forest they quantified the extent to which lianas limited tree growth hence carbon uptake.
and diversity are determined largely by forest gaps which is not the case for tropical trees.
and young forests may dramatically reduce tropical tree regeneration --and nearly all of the aboveground carbon is stored in trees said Schnitzer.
If lianas continue to increase in tropical forests they will reduce the capacity for tropical forests to uptake carbon
damage forests crops and lakes; and harm fish and wildlife. This according to a first-of-its-kind study released today by scientists at Syracuse University
#Wood-waste biofuel to cut greenhouse gas, transform shipping industrya sustainable biofuel made from Norwegian forest wood waste could help transform the shipping industry
and unmerchantable wood left in forests after logging has occurred to produce new biofuels. Via the process of fast pyrolysis where material is heated in the absence of oxygen the wood will be converted into crude pyrolysis oil.
Compared to petroleum-based oil however crude pyrolysis oil cannot be used for direct use in diesel engines as it is too unstable.
All of the wood sourced will be from Norwegian forests which represent a significant resource for bioenergy production.
while Swedish packing firm Billerud received รข2m from the European commission to build a new biofuel plant based on forest residues.
or heat treatment of wood pallets and crates to prevent the inadvertent import of new wood boring insect pests in shipping materials.
and colleagues estimate that the economic benefits of slowing the introduction of wood boring insect pests will accumulate a net benefit of $11. 7 billion taking into account benefits minus costs through 2050.
Economists often focus on the costs of infestation for the forestry industry. But the expense of removing
line city streets and fill agricultural windbreaks throughout much of North america--38 million landscape trees in the 25 states surrounding Detroit according to US Forest Service estimate.
Ash species are important constituents of native forest ecosystems particularly the hardwood forests of the east
and ash wood is popular for bows baseball bats firewood and electric guitar bodies. Sometimes you don't have a choice to manage pests once they're here.
A new view of forest fungithe so-called symbiotic relationship between trees and the fungus that grow on their roots may actually work more like a capitalist market relationship between buyers
Recent experiments in the forests of Sweden had brought into a question a long-held theory of biology:
These fungi including many edible mushrooms are particularly common in boreal forests with scarce nutrients.
Although doing business with fungi is a good deal from each tree's own point of view it traps the whole forest in nutrient limitation he says.
Understanding boreal forest nutrient cycles is incredibly important for modeling climate change because it influences how much carbon dioxide these regions can absorb as well as how they are influenced by the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
or even reversing the expected CO2 fertilization effect in boreal forest. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by International Institute for Applied Systems analysis.
--when entire forests are chopped down. This is the largest ever study estimating above and belowground carbon loss from selective logging and ground level forest fires in the tropics based on data from 70000 sampled trees and thousands of soil litter and dead wood samples from 225 sites
in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The forest degradation often starts with logging of prized trees such as mahogany and ipe.
The felling and removal of these large trees often damages dozens of neighbouring trees. Once the forest has been logged the many gaps in the canopy means it becomes much drier due to exposure to the wind
and sun increasing the risk of wildfires spreading inside the forest. The combination of selective logging and wildfires damages turns primary forests into a thick scrub full of smaller trees and vines which stores 40%less carbon than undisturbed forests.
So far climate change policies on the tropics have effectively been focusing on reducing carbon emissions from deforestation only not accounting for emissions coming from forest degradation.
Lead researcher Dr Erika Berenguer from Lancaster University said: The impacts of fire and logging in tropical forests have always been overlooked largely by both the scientific community
and policy makers who are concerned primarily with deforestation. Yet our results show how these disturbances can severely degrade the forest with huge amounts of carbon being transferred from plant matter straight into the atmosphere.
The research to be published in Global Change Biology on June 3 was carried out by 10 researchers from 11 universities and research institutions in Brazil and the UK.
The second author Dr Joice Ferreira from Embrapa in Brazil said: Our findings also draw attention to the necessity for Brazil to implement more effective policies for reducing the use of fire in agriculture as fires can both devastate private property
and escape into surrounding forests causing widespread degradation. Bringing fire and illegal logging under control is key to reaching our national commitment to reducing carbon emissions.
Natalie Mladenov assistant professor of civil engineering and Rhonda Janke associate professor of horticulture forestry and recreation resources are the faculty leaders of the project
and a sea anemone that lives under an Antarctic glacier are among the species identified by the SUNY College of Environmental science and Forestry's (ESF) International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) as the top 10 species discovered last
and a wide-eyed teddy bear lives secretively in cloud forests of the Andes mountains in Colombia and Ecuador.
Its apparent dependence on cloud forest habitat means deforestation is a threat. Kaweesak's Dragon tree:
Native to rain forests and rocky habitats this gecko is a bit of a night owl. It is found on the vertical surfaces of rocks
Surveys of similar habitat near the area where this species was found did not reveal additional populations so this may be a rare species. The gecko was discovered on rocky terrain in isolated rain forests of the Melville Range of eastern Australia.
The new species was collected by sweeping vegetation in secondary growth forest at Laselva Biological Station in Costa rica.
The above story is provided based on materials by SUNY College of Environmental science and Forestry. The original article was written by Claire B. Dunn and Karen B. Moore.
#Oil, gas development homogenizing core-forest bird communitiesconventional oil and gas development in northern Pennsylvania altered bird communities and the current massive build-out of shale-gas infrastructure may accelerate these changes according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural
The commonwealth's Northern Tier--one of the largest blocks of Eastern deciduous forest in the entire Appalachian region--is an important breeding area for neotropical migrant songbirds.
and winter in Central and South america contribute greatly to the health of forests. But they are being affected negatively in areas where there are high densities of shallow oil
and gas wells says Margaret Brittingham professor of wildlife resources who conducted a study of bird communities in the Allegheny National Forest.
The national forest on the extensively forested Allegheny Plateau in northwestern Pennsylvania has more than 14000 active oil and gas wells.
and pipelines create networks of disturbance that fragment forests changing songbird communities Brittingham explained. The cumulative effect of many small-scale disturbances within the forest is resulting in the homogenization of bird communities with species that inhabit the interior forest such as black-throated blue warblers ovenbirds
and Blackburnian warblers being pushed out and species that prefer living in edge habitat and near people and development such as robins blue jays and mourning doves moving in she said.
The study done in collaboration with the U s. Department of agriculture's Northern Forest Research Station took place over three years.
or absence of different songbird species in a range of landscapes including undisturbed forest low-density oil and gas development and high-density development.
which spanned two types of forest--northern hardwood and oak. We wanted to find out what the well pads roads pipelines
and diversity of birds near well sites to bird communities in reference sites far away from disturbances in the big woods and
Forest interior species declined in proximity to the wells and at a rate that was roughly proportional to the intensity of gas development.
and gas development than within undisturbed forest--potentially displacing the forest specialists. The expansive development of Marcellus Shale gas which began within the core forests of northcentral Pennsylvania around 2007 is increasing exponentially.
Deep horizontal shale gas wells differ substantially from shallow conventional oil and gas wells in many ways.
but the forests on top of it are providing clean water clean air climate regulation and a host of other ecological values.
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