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.
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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Few states in the eastern U.S. are home to more national forestry lands than Georgia.
Environment
Apr 28, 2025
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Major economies are overstating how much carbon their forests can absorb in a climate accounting fudge that could allow them to use even more fossil fuels, new research said Thursday.
Environment
Apr 24, 2025
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Like farmland in Australia, native forests struggle with drought and flooding, so future management decisions need more sophisticated systems to monitor and manage their water needs.
Environment
Apr 24, 2025
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The Sinú River in northwestern Colombia is a kind of bloodstream from which life emanates. Its heart lies within Paramillo National Park, where the river begins, moving through tropical rainforests and tropical dry forests ...
Environment
Apr 23, 2025
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