News tagged with tropical trees

Forest diversity from Canada to the sub-tropics influenced by family proximity

How species diversity is maintained is a fundamental question in biology. In a new study, a team of Indiana University biologists has shown for the first time that diversity is influenced on a spatial scale ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Tree-ring science takes on the modern age

Whether it's learning how forests respond to environmental change or answering questions about the history of ancient cultures, trees continue to be a solid source of information for many kinds of researchers.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 24, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

18 endangered dolphins spotted off Borneo: WWF

Conservation group WWF said it spotted 18 critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Indonesian waters off Borneo island Tuesday and called for greater protection of the species' habitat.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Northern forests may be losing their ability to trap carbon

The northern forests of western Canada are likely absorbing less carbon dioxide because of climate change, and the decline may be making a bad situation worse, researchers from Quebec and China have concluded.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (11) | comments 17 | with audio podcast

Competition is at the root of diversity in rainforests: study

Another attractive theory falls foul of the facts. A census of trees in rainforests on three continents has confirmed that competition plays a central role in structuring communities. This contradicts the so-called neutral ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Sunlight in tropical forest driving force behind ecological niches of tree species

Not water, but sunlight is the main factor in determining the growth of the hundreds of tree species in tropical forests. The variation in physiological characteristics between tree species explains how the various species ...

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 29, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

New method can aid rainforest, help loggers

(PhysOrg.com) -- Reduced-impact logging (RIL) in an Amazon rainforest generated profits while emitting a small fraction of carbon compared with total forest clearing, a University at Albany study concludes.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 18, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Tropical forests are fertilized by air pollution

Scientists braved ticks and a tiger to discover how human activities have perturbed the nitrogen cycle in tropical forests. Studies at two remote Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory sites in Panama ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Analysis reveals malaria, other diseases as ancient, adaptive and persistent foes

One of the most comprehensive analyses yet done of the ancient history of insect-borne disease concludes for the first time that malaria is not only native to the New World, but it has been present long before ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 02, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New flavors emerge from Peruvian cacao collection trip

New cacao types with unique flavors that are distinctly Peruvian have been identified by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. These new flavors could one day be marketed like wine, by geographical provenance.

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 26, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Increased tropical forest growth could release carbon from the soil

A new study shows that as climate change enhances tree growth in tropical forests, the resulting increase in litterfall could stimulate soil micro-organisms leading to a release of stored soil carbon.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 14, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (10) | comments 55 | with audio podcast

How ants tame the wilderness: Rainforest species use chemicals to identify which plants to prune

Survival in the depths of the tropical rainforest not only depends on a species' ability to defend itself, but can be reliant on the type of cooperation researchers discovered between ants and tropical trees. ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Stranglers of the tropics -- and beyond

Kudzu, the plant scourge of the U.S. Southeast. The long tendrils of this woody vine, or liana, are on the move north with a warming climate.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 25, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Can we get more social benefits from forests and have higher biodiversity?

When local residents are allowed to make rules about managing nearby forests, the forests are more likely to provide greater economic benefits to households and contain more biodiversity, two University of Michigan researchers ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 24, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

MU researcher works to save one of the world's most endangered birds

The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds – less than 125 – lives on one ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 21, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1