Deforestation is the large-scale, often permanent removal of forest cover, typically through logging, burning, or land conversion for agriculture, infrastructure, or resource extraction, resulting in the reduction or fragmentation of forest ecosystems. As a research topic, it encompasses quantifying forest loss using remote sensing and geospatial analysis, assessing impacts on carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, hydrological cycles, and soil integrity, and examining social-ecological drivers such as governance, commodity markets, and land-use policies. Deforestation studies also investigate feedbacks to climate systems, resilience thresholds, and the effectiveness of interventions including protected areas, certification schemes, and zero-deforestation supply-chain commitments.
Some 52 million hectares of natural land have been lost in the Brazilian Amazon region since 1985—an area larger than Spain.
Environment
Aug 14, 2025
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74
North America has lost an estimated 3 billion birds since 1970—a nearly 30% drop across species—mostly due to habitat loss and degradation. So when a team of researchers repeated a bird population study they did 30 years ...
Ecology
Aug 7, 2025
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257
University of Queensland research shows emissions from the global chocolate industry could be reduced by growing more shade trees over farms in the region that supplies 60% of the world's cocoa.
Ecology
Aug 6, 2025
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86
Mining in Brazil does not deliver the sustained economic benefits often claimed, while informal mining is a major driver of deforestation, especially in the Amazon. A new study offers one of the most comprehensive assessments ...
Environment
Jul 28, 2025
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18
Around the world, climate change is being tackled, not just in parliaments and global summits, but also in villages and farming communities. In these local spaces, lives and livelihoods depend directly on natural resources, ...
Environment
Jul 23, 2025
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14
Researchers have conducted the world's biggest ever bird survey, recording 971 different species living in forests and cattle pastures across the South American country of Colombia. This represents almost 10% of the world's ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2025
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146
Afro-descendant peoples in four Amazon countries show remarkable achievements in environmental stewardship, according to new research from Conservation International, published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment.
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2025
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69
Clearing forests to plant crops makes good business sense in the short term for many farmers in tropical regions, where millions of people rely on healthy forests for food, fuel, and income. What if those farmers had compelling ...
Ecology
Jul 17, 2025
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22
Clear-cutting can make catastrophic floods 18 times more frequent with effects lasting more than 40 years, according to a new UBC study.
Earth Sciences
Jul 17, 2025
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102
A new study from the University of Toronto Mississauga finds that street trees are unevenly distributed across Canadian cities, with marginalized neighborhoods often seeing fewer and smaller trees and less species diversity.
Environment
Jul 10, 2025
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17
