Forest ecosystems are complex, multiscale ecological systems dominated by tree communities and structured by vertical stratification (canopy, understory, forest floor) that regulate energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, and habitat availability. They integrate interactions among primary producers, heterotrophs, decomposers, and abiotic factors such as climate, soils, and hydrology, resulting in distinct successional dynamics and disturbance regimes (e.g., fire, windthrow, pest outbreaks). Forest ecosystems play central roles in carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and water regulation, exhibit high spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity, and are key model systems for studying resilience, feedbacks between vegetation and climate, and anthropogenic impacts such as fragmentation, land-use change, and altered disturbance frequencies.
Africa needs its forests for sustainable development, poverty reduction, food security, and to make the continent more resilient to climate change. They take up 23% of the continent. At 674 million hectares in extent, these ...
Environment
Jun 4, 2025
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Forests in the Peruvian Amazon aren't growing back after gold mining—not just because the soil is damaged by toxic metals, but because the land has been depleted of its water. A common mining method known as suction mining ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 2, 2025
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A short walk beneath the dense Amazon canopy, the forest abruptly opens up. Fallen logs are rotting, the trees grow sparser and the temperature rises in places sunlight hits the ground. This is what 24 years of severe drought ...
Environment
May 29, 2025
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Forests once hailed as reliable carbon sinks are rapidly becoming "super‑emitters" as record‑breaking wildfires sweep boreal, Amazonian, and Australian landscapes. Today's climate policies and voluntary carbon markets ...
Earth Sciences
May 22, 2025
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The Amazon Basin lost about 27,000 square kilometers of forest each year from 2001 to 2016. By 2021, about 17% of the basin had been deforested.
Earth Sciences
May 19, 2025
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Forests play a crucial role in promoting health and well-being, but not all forests provide the same benefits. A large-scale international study, co-led by the University of Surrey and the University of Ghent, demonstrates ...
Environment
May 19, 2025
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Forests without top predators (such as tigers) risk being overgrazed by large herbivore prey, depleting vegetation carbon stocks and their capacity to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, an essential ecosystem function ...
Environment
May 7, 2025
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As the new Biomass satellite settles into life in orbit following its launch on April 29, ESA has released its most extensive satellite-based maps of above-ground forest carbon to date. Spanning nearly two decades, the dataset ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2025
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The effects of climate change are complex, especially on the water cycle. As we seek to better understand human-driven climate changes, long-term baselines for environmental data are essential.
Environment
Apr 30, 2025
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ESA's Biomass satellite, designed to provide unprecedented insights into the world's forests and their crucial role in Earth's carbon cycle, has been launched. The satellite lifted off aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe's ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 29, 2025
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