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.
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
A forest fire sweeps everything in its path. It drastically alters the soil environment, causing extreme temperatures, reduced moisture, spikes in pH, the release of inorganic nitrogen, a sharp decline in organic matter and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 7, 2025
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17
Most trees in the Amazon (90%), the Atlantic Forest (90%), or the Cerrado, the Brazilian savanna-like biome (60%), depend on animals to disperse their seeds, ensure their reproduction, and keep the forest standing. Birds, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2025
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39
Forests play a central role in the global carbon cycle as trees store carbon in their trunks, branches, roots and leaves. However, climate change and human activities can change the ability of forests to absorb carbon and ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 1, 2025
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245
Forests cover about 40% of the EU's land area. Between 1990 and 2022, they absorbed around 10% of the continent's man-made carbon emissions. However, the carbon dioxide absorption capacity of forests, also known as carbon ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 1, 2025
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75
The top-line findings of a massive analysis of the growth rate of more than 20,000 tropical trees in more than 30 countries may at first seem reassuring: that droughts over the past century have had a minimal effect on their ...
Ecology
Aug 1, 2025
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41
For decades, scientists and conservationists have been using aboveground plant biodiversity as a metric for conserving ecosystems. Now, a new study finds that there is a major mismatch between aboveground plant diversity ...
Ecology
Jul 31, 2025
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89
The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by European forests has reduced dramatically in recent years putting the EU's climate targets at risk, researchers said Wednesday, calling for urgent action to halt the decline.
Environment
Jul 30, 2025
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19
Forests in the Brazilian Amazon damaged by fire remain about 2.6°C (4.7°F) hotter than neighboring intact or selectively logged stands, and the extra heat can linger for at least 30 years, according to a new study published ...
Environment
Jul 28, 2025
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28
Climate change is significantly affecting forest ecosystems through rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to these ...
Ecology
Jul 26, 2025
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32
