Hidden secrets in the world's most northerly rainforests

The word rainforest usually conjures up visions of brightly coloured birds and hyperactive monkeys swooping through a thick green canopy of leaves, vines and flowers. But rainforests are also found closer to the poles, in ...

Largest recorded tundra fire yields scientific surprises

In 2007 the largest recorded tundra fire in the circumpolar arctic released approximately as much carbon into the atmosphere as the tundra has stored in the previous 50 years, say scientists in the July 28 issue of the journal ...

World's forests' role in carbon storage immense, profound

Until now, scientists were uncertain about how much and where in the world terrestrial carbon is being stored. In the July 14 issue of Science Express, scientists report that, between 1990 and 2007, the world's forests stored ...

NY biologists map strategy to save spruce grouse

Genetic analysis at the state museum confirms what biologists squishing through Adirondack bogs already knew: New York's population of the spruce grouse, a chicken-like bird of the boreal forest, is nearing extinction.

Will global climate change enhance boreal forest growth?

With an increasingly warmer climate, there is a trend for springs to arrive earlier and summers to be hotter. Since spring and summer are the prime growing seasons for plants—when flowers bloom and trees increase in ...

Mountain pine beetle marching east from Alberta

A University of Alberta-led research team has determined that the mountain pine beetle has invaded jack pine forests in Alberta, opening up the possibility for an infestation that could stretch across the Prairies and keep ...

Canada's unique wetlands under threat: report

Canada, which has the world's largest intact forest, must do more to protect the one-of-a kind natural treasure, which increasingly is under threat from large-scale industrial activity, a new report said Wednesday.

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