Related topics: tropical forests



Forest

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A 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

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Greenhouse gas carbon dioxide ramps up aspen growth

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (8) | comments 6

The rising level of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be fueling more than climate change. It could also be making some trees grow like crazy.


Sylvia atricapilla (Blackcap)

By feeding the birds, you could change their evolutionary fate

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 5

Feeding birds in winter is a most innocent human activity, but it can nonetheless have profound effects on the evolutionary future of a species, and those changes can be seen in the very near term. That's ...


Limestone leaf warbler: New bird species discovered

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A diminutive, colorful bird living in the rocky forests of Laos and Vietnam has been discovered by a team of scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Lao PDR Department of Forestry, Swedish University ...


New report underlines multiple benefits but also new challenges to biodiversity-rich sites

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

An agreement in Copenhagen to fund reduced emissions from deforestation may generate multiple environmental and economic benefits if investments simultaneously target sites that are both carbon and biodiversity-rich.


NASA, Google offer more precise emissions tracking (AP)

NASA, Google offer more precise emissions tracking

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- The question is a potential deal-killer: If nations ever agree to slash greenhouse gas emissions, how will the world know if they live up to their pledges?


Surveying bird biodiversity from space?

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A fundamental rule of wildlife ecology says that diverse habitats foster greater biodiversity: The Amazon has far more species than Greenland. But how do habitat and biodiversity relate in a state like Wisconsin, ...


Climate projections underestimate CO2 impact

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 2.8 / 5 (16) | comments 2

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.


Researchers learn why invasive plants are spreading rapidly in forests

Researchers learn why invasive plants are spreading rapidly in forests

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Invasive plants are advancing into Eastern forests at an alarming rate, and the rapid spread has been linked by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences to forest road ...


Breakthrough in monitoring tropical deforestation announced in Copenhagen

Breakthrough in monitoring tropical deforestation announced in Copenhagen

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Tropical forest destruction accounts for some 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But quantifying these emissions has not been easy, particularly for tropical nations. New technology, developed by a team ...


Elevated CO2 levels may mitigate losses of biodiversity from nitrogen pollution

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (7) | comments 2

Rising levels of carbon dioxide may overheat the planet and cause other environmental problems, but fears that rising CO2 levels could directly reduce plant biodiversity can be allayed, according to a new study by a University ...


Carbon and oxygen in tree rings can reveal past climate information

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

The analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes embedded in tree rings may shed new light on past climate events in the Mackenzie Delta region of northern Canada.


Forest deal at Copenhagen must avoid creating 'carbon refugees'

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Forest dwellers must be included in the design of the upcoming forest deal at Copenhagen in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis, according to a scientist at the University of Leeds.


Study finds logging effects vary based on a forest's history, climate

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A Smoky Mountain forest's woodland herb population has shown that climate may play a role in how forest understories recover from logging, according to Purdue University research.


Forests take center stage at Copenhagen

Forests take center stage at Copenhagen

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

As the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen approaches its conclusion, negotiations are focusing on the role of forests in mitigating climate change. The new 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest ...


First phase of pan-tropical forest mapping debuting at COP15

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Tropical forest loss accounts for an estimated 17% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. As part of a strategy to reduce these greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere, the UNFCCC's Conference of the Parties 15 in Copenhagen ...