Related topics: tropical forests
Forest
hideA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface (or 30% of total land area) in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earth's biosphere. Although a forest is classified primarily by trees a forest ecosystem is defined intrinsically with additional species such as fungi. A woodland, with more open space between trees, is ecologically distinct from a forest.
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News tagged with forest
Forests could flip from sink to source of CO2: study
Apr 17, 2009 |
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Forests that today soak up a quarter of carbon pollution spewed into the atmosphere could soon become a net source of CO2 if Earth's surface warms by another two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), cautions ...
Beetles, wildfire: Double threat in warming world
Aug 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A veil of smoke settled over the forest in the shadow of the St. Elias Mountains, in a wilderness whose spruce trees stood tall and gray, a deathly gray even in the greenest heart of a Yukon summer.
Study reveals potential to amass more carbon in eastern North American forests
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 06, 2009 |
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With climate change looming, the hunt for places that can soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is on.
Tropical lizards can't take the heat of climate warming
Mar 03, 2009 |
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From geckos and iguanas to Gila monsters and Komodo dragons, lizards are among the most common reptiles on Earth. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. One even pitches car insurance in TV ads. ...
Researchers say popular fish contains potentially dangerous fatty acid combination
Jul 08, 2008 |
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Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research from Wake ...
Earthworm activity can alter forests' carbon-carrying capabilities
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 27, 2008 |
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Earthworms can change the chemical nature of the carbon in North American forest litter and soils, potentially affecting the amount of carbon stored in forests, according to Purdue University researchers.
State may have brief window to slow loss of working forests to development
Mar 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Today's slumping economy and housing market may reduce, temporarily, the insistent economic forces on Washington's private forestland owners to give up the cycle of harvesting and replanting ...
Trees evolved camouflage defense against long extinct predator: First evidence of camouflage defense in plants
Jul 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Many animal species such as snakes, insects and fish have evolved camouflage defences to deter attack from their predators. However research published in New Phytologist has discovered that t ...
Ancient Maya Practiced Forest Conservation -- 3,000 Years Ago
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jul 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As published in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practi ...
First ever worldwide census of caribou and reindeer reveals a dramatic decline
Jun 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Caribou and reindeer numbers worldwide have plunged almost 60 per cent in the last three decades.
Scientists Discover New Bird Species
Biology /
Aug 15, 2008 |
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Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution have discovered a new species of bird in Gabon, Africa, that was, until now, unknown to the scientific community. Their findings were published in the international ...
Climate change poker: The barriers which are preventing a global agreement
Aug 05, 2009 |
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As the world's environment ministers, government officials, diplomats and campaigners prepare to attend the COP15 conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 to unite in the battle against climate change in ...
Climate projections underestimate CO2 impact
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2009 |
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The climate may be 30-50 percent more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide in the long term than previously thought, according to a recent study published in Nature Geoscience.
The search for 'green' gold in the Amazon rain forest
Oct 01, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a hunt for plants in the Amazon rain forest that have potential to be used for sustainable light-weight construction beams, electronic cases or other high-performance materials, Cornell ...
Nanoscopic screening process to speed drug discovery
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 06, 2008 |
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Researchers at Wake Forest University are using nanotechnology to search for new cancer-fighting drugs through a process that could be up to 10,000 times faster than current methods.
