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.
Queensland is widely known as the land clearing capital of Australia. But what's not so well known is many of the cleared trees can grow back naturally.
Environment
Apr 16, 2025
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21
California's national forests are on the chopping block—literally—in the wake of the Trump administration's April 5 order to immediately expand timber production in the United States.
Environment
Apr 14, 2025
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49
The U.S. Forest Service will not log in designated wilderness areas like the Boundary Waters, federal officials clarified Tuesday evening, days after issuing an emergency order intended to boost logging on national forest ...
Environment
Apr 10, 2025
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136
With their ability to store carbon, forests are often considered the lungs of the Earth, but they are vulnerable to the world's ills, too. A new study, using NASA laser technology from the International Space Station, reveals ...
Environment
Apr 7, 2025
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56
The European Union's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 aims to halt biodiversity loss and restore ecosystems, but what does this mean for Europe's wood supply? In a new study, researchers examine how different modes of implementing ...
Environment
Apr 5, 2025
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35
In the past, intact forests absorbed 7.8 billion metric tons of CO2 annually—about a fifth of all human emissions—but their carbon storage is increasingly at risk from climate change and human activities such as deforestation.
Earth Sciences
Mar 27, 2025
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63
Siberia, a province located in Russia, is a significant geographical region playing a crucial role in the world's carbon cycle. With its vast forests, wetlands, and permafrost regions (permanently frozen grounds), Siberia ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 25, 2025
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25
Recent studies have shown that carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems are increasing, mitigating around 30% of the CO2 emissions linked to human activities.
Earth Sciences
Mar 20, 2025
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218
Over the past decade, extreme events such as heat, drought, storms and pests have taken a heavy toll on Swiss forests. In order for forests to continue to fulfill their functions for people and the environment in the future, ...
Environment
Mar 19, 2025
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29
It is commonly assumed that as forest ecosystems age, they accumulate and store (sequester) more carbon. A study based at the University of Michigan Biological Station has untangled carbon cycling over two centuries and found ...
Environment
Mar 18, 2025
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