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.
As tropical forests experience chronic drying and more extreme droughts due to climate change, some plants are adapting by growing longer root systems to reach water deep within soils, according to a study published in November ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 4, 2025
0
0
Farmers plant or preserve riparian buffers for various reasons, such as improving water quality, controlling erosion, or maintaining hunting habitat. Now, a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign underscores ...
Ecology
Dec 3, 2025
0
64
A research team led by the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with multiple domestic and international research institutions, has made progress in investigating forest diversity ...
Ecology
Dec 2, 2025
0
0
The cost of forest restoration is a considerable obstacle, sparking discussions in recent years about how to make it economically viable. Since native wood management, carbon credits, and payment for ecosystem services are ...
Ecology
Dec 1, 2025
0
0
Researchers from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have revealed the mechanism behind the dieback of natural Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) forests on sandy land. ...
Ecology
Dec 1, 2025
0
5
Australia has the largest intact savannas on Earth. Savannas are an ever-changing mosaic of ecosystems—from the sparse grasslands to dense woodlands, forests and wetlands.
Ecology
Nov 25, 2025
0
3
A study conducted at the University of São Paulo (USP) by researchers from the Nucleus of Analysis and Synthesis of Nature-Based Solutions (BIOTA Synthesis), a FAPESP Science Center for Development (SCD), identified approximately ...
Ecology
Nov 25, 2025
0
3
Researchers at Northern Arizona University and the Smithsonian found an unconventional method to understand how rainforests will survive with climate change—making tea with living leaves at the top of the rainforest canopy.
Ecology
Nov 22, 2025
0
83
The Feanedock Oak stands out so clearly in Derbyshire's section of the National Forest, you'd think it was calling to you. Surrounded by open fields, hawthorn hedges and young beech forest, a majestic old oak like this anchors ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 20, 2025
1
2
Every spring, the familiar songs of Wood Thrushes and warblers return to the parks and backyards of eastern North America. But their journey begins far to the south—in the lush, remote forests of Central America that sustain ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 19, 2025
0
68
