A new study in Costa Rica reveals that restoring relatively narrow strips of riverfront forests could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage. The analysis, shows that such buffers tend to be most beneficial in steep, erosion-prone, and intensively fertilized landscapes – a finding that could inform similar efforts in other countries.
A team of environmental scientists has written a follow-up paper to their study published last year that warned that approximately one-third of tree species around the world are in danger of extinction. In this new paper, the group explains why the loss of so many tree species is so devastating and why attempts should be made to reverse such extinctions.
Agriculture drives more than 90 percent of tropical deforestation. Halting deforestation will require a step-change in approach and to be effective measures must address underlying and indirect roles of agriculture, says a new study.
Researchers have developed a novel value chain for production of textile and bio-fuel from fast-growing poplars. By applying sustainable catalysis on these poplars grown on marginal land in Nordic climates, the demand for cotton can be reduced. Consequently, considerable areas of productive agricultural land can be converted from cotton to food production.
Over the last century, emerging diseases have progressively been recognized by the scientific community as the main threat to forest ecosystems. With increasing international trade and globalization, the introduction of non-native species into new environments has exacerbated the problems of emerging pests and diseases worldwide. Additionally, other factors, such as climate change, further complicate matters by altering host-pathogen interactions, thus promoting the spread of diseases caused by native or non-native pathogens.
A new study shows that it took more than 10 millennia from when the first spruces returned to Sweden after the glacial stage of the last Ice Age until the species became widespread. This sluggish rate of initial dispersal has surprised the researchers, since the spruce might have had good prospects of expanding its range.
A potentially invaluable resource for forest biodiversity and bioeconomy policymakers, a new data set shows current distributions of 67 European tree species and predicts their future distribution under two emissions scenarios.
Gene that promotes woody stem growth helps prevent dehydration in plants.
Preventing the re-clearing of second-growth forests is a major challenge for restoration efforts in tropical regions, according to a new study led by international researchers. The study found that a third of regenerating areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest were cut down again, most after just 4 to 8 years of regeneration.
Tropical forests are disappearing at an alarming rate through deforestation, but they also have the potential to regrow naturally on abandoned lands. This has been shown by an international study led by scientists from Wageningen University. How a forest recovers, depends on the amount of rainfall, the age of the forest, and the functional characteristics of the tree species.
