Researchers arming farms to halt increases in greenhouse gases
...o the atmosphere as they are burned. Also, cutting forests can cause an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as carbon that was held in the trees is released. Carbon can be released from the soil into the atmosphere when it combines with oxygen. This can happen when a carbon-based fuel, such as gaso...Historic U.S.-Peru debt-for-nature swap
...t some of the most biologically rich tropical rain forests on Earth. This is the first time three leading conservation groups have joined forces with the U.S. government to advance a debt-for-nature swap. Peru's Ambassador to the United States, Allan Wagner, and Treasury Department Under Secretary for Int...Clover strip-cropping in cotton provides critical habitat for threatened songbirds
...ing -- even to pine plantations. In South America, forests are being bulldozed to make way for non-sustainable forms of agriculture such as cattle farms and sun-grown coffee. None of these habitats provide the diverse combination of natural woodlands, open grasslands and shrubby areas the birds need to feed ...Two new monkey species discovered
...he dense understory of the South American tropical forests in small family groups of a mated pair and their offspring. Twenty-eight species, each with unique and colorful fur patterns, are now known to occur over a large part of the Amazon basin and the Atlantic forest of eastern Brazil....Preserving options: Short-term action required to avoid long-term climate damage
... atmosphere is reabsorbed and rendered harmless by forests and other natural systems. Rapid cutbacks in emissions beyond 2020 would only be possible if this reabsorption remains strong, the researchers found. It is not clear how strong this effect will be in coming decades. "It makes a big difference," said ...Had your morning coffee? Thank a killer bee
... were the major pollinators of coffee growing near forests at 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) above sea level. To test the idea suggested by his first work in 1997 that maximum yield occurs at young coffee shrubs near forest Roubik studied 50, two-year-old plants in Panama in 2001, keeping the pollinators away ...Doubt cast on theory of tropical forest diversity
...all into question a popular theory of why tropical forests show such extraordinary diversity of tree species....d to explore other underlying reasons why tropical forests have many more tree species than temperate ones. And, their findings suggest that preserving tropica...Research shows how pollutants affect tree growth
...The study also is providing insights into the role forests may play in global climate change. The scientists...r birch and sugar maple -- major components of the forests that blanket almost half of Wisconsin -- will respond to the levels of carbon dioxide and ozone expe...Expeditions find no evidence of ivory-billed woodpecker
...erwise, from 12 different positions throughout the forests of the Pearl River drainage, where they had been d...ilable or aged beyond use. The bottomland hardwood forests of the lower Pearl River are extensive, and they are in better condition to support large woodpecker...Large volcanic eruptions affect the 'greener greenhouse'
...ole in rising global temperatures. If the northern forests are greening, they may already be absorbing more carbon -- a process that can impact global temperature changes. The computer simulations, directed by Wolfgang Lucht of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, were produced using the Lund-...Soil's love affair with carbon viewed with millimeter resolution
...ges in land-based carbon in fields, rangelands and forests has been difficult, until the application of LIBS." The benefits of knowing the exact soil composition of any particular piece of land could be multifold, Ebinger notes. For one, large tracts of arid land or once-productive farmland lacking in carbo...Warming temperatures may freeze North American timber industry
...ees.Rather, a rise in temperature will cause their forests to undergo ashift in species. Temperate forests in Canada and the northernUnited States and Europe typically produce hardwoods such ascherry, oak an......ed in the U.S., notably in western national parks, forests and monuments. However, Louda and O'Brien reanalyzed the 1990 results and found that the weevil fed equally on Canada and native thistles in laboratory tests. While doing another study, Louda and O'Brien unexpectedly found that the weevil also feeds ...End of 'free ride' on ecosystem CO2 absorption
...ver, natural systems such as the regrowing Eastern forests are currently taking up that extra carbon dioxide, so we're really getting a free ride now. "Many of us, myself included, believe that this free ride won't continue to the same extent that it has, because the incremental benefits of the extra CO2 ge...People and fire at Florida's wildland-urban interface
...here prescribed fire is used extensively to manage forests and to prevent wildfires. A large portion of the s...usually used in intensely managed government-owned forests that may provide fewer aesthetic and recreation benefitsand more exposure to smoke. Nearby land tend...WCS launches new program aimed at reducing unsustainable hunting overseas
...the single greatest threat to wildlife in tropical forests today. The program, already active in 22 tropical ...ed "bushmeat") was coming out of Africa's tropical forests each year.According to WCS, a further part of the dilemma is that tropical forest peoples across the...Expedition to explore remarkable deep-sea mountain
...es. They may be home to vast fields of sponges and forests of centuries-old corals, deep-water relatives of the tropical corals. But by and large, little is known about what lives on the slopes of these ancient undersea volcanoes. Beginning Friday, May 17, the secrets of one seamount will be revealed. A team...Planning could preserve urban forests for future enjoyment
...ournal. Loeb compared the histories of undeveloped forests within parks in the New York City area with an old...s on the forest began. Fires in the New York City forests have contributed to an increased tree density of specific species. "When a fire occurs in the thousa...Origin of bipedalism seems most closely tied to environmental changes
...ods of cooling and drying, which thinned out dense forests and produced mosaics of forests, woodlands and grasslands, it seems likely that some apes maintained a forest-oriented adaptation, while others may have begun to exploit forest margins and grassy woodlands, said paleoanthropologist Brian Richmond, le......s 403-406. It was previously proposed that boreal forests accommodate increasing amounts of atmospheric CO2....heir CO2 consumption. Given that large portions of forests are stressed by increasing amounts of atmospheric pollutants, the global response might equate to a ...