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.
In addition to habitat loss and illegal hunting, the jaguar (Panthera onca) faces another threat that increases its risk of extinction in the South American Atlantic Forest: food scarcity. A study by Brazilian researchers ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2026
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149
Palmyra Atoll, a remote, uninhabited speck of land, coral and sea halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa, is one of the healthiest, intact atolls on the planet—so ecologically sensitive that visiting researchers freeze ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2026
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80
The bright whites of mountain snow, muted browns of the arid plains, and gem-like blues and teals of glacial lakes typically dominate the Patagonian color palette. But for a short time in the austral autumn, temperate deciduous ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 28, 2026
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12
Tropical forests are among the world's most important carbon sinks. A new study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the University of Vienna, and Brazil's National Institute for Amazonian Research suggests that even ...
Environment
Apr 28, 2026
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23
Antonio has spent the past seven years running toward fires that most others run from. A firefighter in the Brazilian Amazon since 2019, he works inside the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, one of the most biodiverse places ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 27, 2026
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Around the world, people plan to plant more than 1 trillion trees this decade in an ambitious effort to slow climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. But if the past is prolonged, many of those planted trees won't survive. ...
Ecology
Apr 25, 2026
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66
In February, mining company Alcoa was hit with a $55 million penalty for illegally clearing about 2,000 hectares of WA's Northern Jarrah Forest. About $40 million was earmarked for so-called "permanent ecological offsets," ...
Environment
Apr 24, 2026
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182
Even after fires, severe droughts, and windstorms, the vegetation in degraded Amazonian forests demonstrates a high capacity for regeneration, including tree species. However, recovery occurs under new ecological conditions, ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 24, 2026
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10
Tropical rainforests are known for their unique biodiversity, with species found nowhere else on Earth. But nearly 30% of tropical rainforest has been destroyed or has become seriously degraded since 1990. Many of these forests ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 23, 2026
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8
In the Philippines, Indigenous communities have been harvesting wild honey for centuries. A new chemical analysis of this honey now provides insights into the biodiversity of the region. "And an additional reason to protect ...
Ecology
Apr 23, 2026
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