https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Researchers have identified 6.5 million hectares of previously unrecorded oil palm growing wild, semi-wild and in gardens, across Africa—an area three times larger than all African commercial plantations combined. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-satellite-reveals-million-hectares-hidden.html Environment Tue, 09 Sep 2025 12:40:02 EDT news676640077 Analysis of independent satellite data shows a decrease in the efficiency of palm oil plantations in Malaysia after they received sustainability labels. This could have negative repercussions for the environment. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-sustainability-certificates-palm-oil-plantations.html Agriculture Wed, 23 Apr 2025 12:20:06 EDT news664629278 Indonesia's plan to convert millions of hectares of forests for food and energy use is "environmentally illogical and destructive," and risks irreversible environmental and biodiversity loss, activists warned Monday. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-activists-slam-destructive-indonesia-forest.html Environment Mon, 20 Jan 2025 13:10:02 EST news656598172 A research team led by the University of Oxford has carried out the most comprehensive assessment to date of how logging and conversion to oil palm plantations affect tropical forest ecosystems. The results demonstrate that logging and conversion have significantly different and cumulative environmental impacts. The results were published 10 January in Science. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-conversion-tropical-forests-oil-palm.html Plants & Animals Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:00:03 EST news655641701 Southeast Asia's tropical forests are renowned for their biodiversity, but at the same time face significant threats from the expansion of oil palm plantations. With global demand for palm oil rising, the urgency for effective restoration strategies in these landscapes has become critical. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-tree-islands-nature-oil-palm.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 Nov 2024 13:18:04 EST news651158281 There's little else in the food world that brings about as much social turbulence as the durian. This so-called "king of all fruits" is considered a delicacy across its native Southeast Asia, where durian season is currently in full swing. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-stinky-durian-king-fruits.html Agriculture Sat, 20 Jul 2024 11:30:02 EDT news640600194 Researchers have analyzed data from 127 studies to reveal 'thresholds' for when logged rainforests lose the ability to sustain themselves. The results could widen the scope of which forests are considered 'worth' conserving, but also show how much logging degrades forests beyond the point of no return. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-forests-ecological.html Plants & Animals Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:00:01 EDT news640425961 Malaysia plans to gift orangutans to major economic partners, as a way of improving its international image and building alliances. The "orangutan diplomacy" plan was confirmed by the nation's plantation and commodities minister, Johari Abdul Ghani, at a biodiversity conference in early May. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-orangutan-diplomacy-malaysia-scheme-criticism.html Economics & Business Thu, 30 May 2024 12:07:04 EDT news636289621 The global demand for palm oil—the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick—is driving worldwide tropical deforestation. While many studies have shown the loss of biodiversity when rainforests are converted to oil palm plantations, researchers at the University of Massachusetts of Amherst are the first to show far-reaching and wide-ranging disturbances to the watersheds in which such plantations occur. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-oil-palm-plantations-massive-downstream.html Environment Thu, 02 May 2024 15:54:04 EDT news633884042 Forests are key to mitigating climate change through carbon absorption. Research supports forest management, like reforestation, for carbon sequestration. Yet, the impact of managed forests on soil diversity and carbon storage is debated. Understanding forest patterns globally is vital but complex due to spectral similarities in imagery, highlighting the need for detailed forest management mapping. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-green-revolution-forests-planet.html Environment Fri, 15 Mar 2024 12:42:03 EDT news629725321 The conversion of rainforest into plantations erodes and restructures food webs and fundamentally changes the way these ecosystems function, according to a new study published in Nature. The findings provide the first insights into the processing of energy across soil and canopy animal communities in mega-biodiverse tropical ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-rainforest-plantation-impacts-food-webs.html Ecology Tue, 20 Feb 2024 09:23:04 EST news627643382 Frequent visits to oil palm plantations are leading to a sharp increase in mortality rates among infant southern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) in the wild, according to a new study published in Current Biology. In addition to increased risk from predators and human encounters, exposure to harmful agricultural chemicals in this environment may negatively affect infant development. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-plantations-primate-infants.html Plants & Animals Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:07:04 EST news623956021 Older tree plantations can be more attractive to animals who are looking for a new home than younger plantations, according to a new study from the University of Surrey. In the tropics, older plantations also welcome a greater variety of different plants and animals—though sadly, Christmas tree plantations do not become more biodiverse over time. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-tree-plantations-age-habitats.html Ecology Wed, 20 Dec 2023 13:20:11 EST news622300809 An eruption of Papua New Guinea's tallest volcano that raised regional tsunami fears subsided Tuesday, but thick ash still billowed into the sky and coated roofs and palm trees nearby. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-eruption-papua-guinea-volcano-subsides.html Environment Tue, 21 Nov 2023 04:02:25 EST news619761741 Agriculture is one of the hardest human activities to decarbonize; people must eat, but the land-use practices associated with growing crops account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions evaluate a new solution to this problem, one that eliminates farms altogether. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-team-ways-climate-crisis.html Earth Sciences Mon, 06 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news618485858 The rapid spread of oil palm plantations and associated high use of fertilizer raises concerns about the emission of nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas. A new study by an international research team led by the University of Göttingen shows that oil palms' photosynthesis and their response to meteorological and soil conditions play an important but still widely unexplored role in the amount of N2O produced by oil palm plantations. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-greenhouse-gases-oil-palm-plantations.html Ecology Wed, 04 Oct 2023 14:20:03 EDT news615648001 Wallacea is a fascinating region of both land and sea. Spanning approximately 338,000 square kilometers within Indonesia, it is home to a rich diversity of animals and plants, with hybrid species from both Asia and Australia/Papua regions. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-wallacea-laboratory-earth-evolution-wildlife.html Environment Fri, 11 Aug 2023 11:04:18 EDT news610970652 Palm oil is found in half the products sold in supermarkets and in biofuels. Around 50 percent of the world's supply is grown in Indonesia, mostly on massive plantations. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-palm-oil-myth-corporate-plantation.html Agriculture Fri, 28 Jul 2023 11:55:04 EDT news609764101 Cheap, versatile and easy to grow, palm oil is the world's most consumed vegetable oil and is found in roughly half of all packaged supermarket products, from bread and margarine to shampoo and toothpaste. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-palm-oil-plantations-deforestation-guatemala.html Ecology Thu, 20 Jul 2023 10:59:11 EDT news609069546 Islands of trees in oil palm plantations can significantly increase farm biodiversity within five years without reducing productivity. This has been shown by a long-term project in Indonesia as part of the collaborative research center "EFForTS" at the University of Göttingen, a project in which the University of Hohenheim and the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig were also involved. The scientists created experimental areas of trees on the island of Sumatra to counteract the species depletion caused by the intensive cultivation of oil palms. The results appeared in the current issue of the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-islands-trees-oil-palm-plantations.html Ecology Thu, 25 May 2023 10:58:03 EDT news604231081 Soil animal communities in the tropics are driven by plant roots and the resources derived from them. This is the main finding of a new study of a research team led by the University of Göttingen, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-reveals-roots-fuel-tropical-soil.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Mar 2023 14:57:03 EST news597423421 Researchers have shown how sounds recorded by low-cost microphones could be used to help track infectious disease risks in the rainforest and in other rapidly changing landscapes. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-low-cost-microphones-track-infectious-disease.html Ecology Mon, 27 Feb 2023 12:57:04 EST news596725022 Sometime this spring or summer, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a case ruling that will legally define whether federal protections should be extended to wetlands outside of navigable waters. The justices might consider reading a new Stanford-led study that finds, although wetlands remain threatened in many parts of the world—including the U.S., which accounts for more losses than any other country—global losses of wetlands have likely been overestimated. Published Feb. 8 in Nature, the study's findings could help better explain the causes and impacts of wetland loss, enabling more informed plans to protect or restore ecosystems crucial for human health and livelihoods. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-global-wetlands-losses-overestimated-high.html Environment Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:00:06 EST news595058668 Each year, New Zealand imports about 2 million tons of palm kernel expeller (PKE), a by-product of palm-oil processing in Indonesia and Malaysia, to feed dairy cows, at a cost of NZ$800 million. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-palm-kernel-product-imported-dairy.html Veterinary medicine Fri, 23 Dec 2022 11:40:03 EST news591018001 A chocolate treefrog that looks like a Freddo. Burrowing frogs which live in trees. Long-nosed frogs named after Pinocchio. Frogs which go straight from egg to froglet without stopping at tadpole. And large treefrogs which can glide from tree to tree. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-gliding-treefrogs-mini-males-burrowing-frogs.html Plants & Animals Wed, 09 Nov 2022 13:51:16 EST news587224263 What we thought we knew about carnivorous plants was swiftly called into question after scientists discovered a new species in the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. Nepenthes pudica is what scientists call a pitcher plant—it has modified leaves known as pitfall traps or pitchers, where it captures its prey. In a strategy so far unknown from any other species of carnivorous plant with pitfall traps, this one operates underground, catching its prey in the soil. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-underground-carnivore-species-pitcher-dine.html Plants & Animals Wed, 29 Jun 2022 12:53:39 EDT news575726013 Mangroves ring the shores of many of Indonesia's more than 17,000 islands. But in the most populated areas, the world's largest mangrove forests have been steadily whittled away, and with them, the ability to store blue carbon. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-decades-loss-world-largest-mangrove.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jun 2022 10:40:01 EDT news575111700 A team of scientists from EPFL and Switzerland's WSL research institute has studied the conversion of savannas into oil palm plantations as a deforestation-free way of growing these plantations. What's more, if improved management practices are adopted at the plantation scale, then the net carbon balance could be enhanced and a great leap could be made towards reducing the environmental impact of palm oil. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-deforestation-free-carbon-negative-alternatives-palm-oil.html Ecology Mon, 24 Jan 2022 09:26:11 EST news562238768 A critically endangered Sumatran orangutan in New Orleans has given birth to a healthy male baby, but his twin brother died in the womb, officials at the Audubon Zoo said Monday. https://phys.org/news/2021-12-endangered-orangutan-orleans-healthy-baby.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Dec 2021 05:47:36 EST news559892835 How can we understand the activity of wild bats? Mostly soundless, flying in the dark, bats feed at night and evade our senses. Many bats can use echolocation to hunt and can avoid the traditional nets used to capture them; those that do not "echolocate" cannot be detected by ultrasound bat detectors. Now, an international research team led by the University of Göttingen has developed a new method ("bat point counts") by combining modern sensing technologies—thermal, ultrasonic and near-infrared—to detect, identify and count all bats flying around in a certain range. This new non-invasive method allows scientists to better understand bat behavior and populations, which should lead to better informed conservation science. The results were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution. https://phys.org/news/2021-12-technologies-elusive.html Plants & Animals Fri, 03 Dec 2021 09:56:01 EST news557747758