Mapping the first family tree for tropical forests

More than 100 researchers have collaborated to classify the world's tropical forests according to their evolutionary history, a process that will help researchers predict the resilience or susceptibility of different forests ...

Cause for hope: Secondary tropical forests put on weight fast

How fast tropical forests recover after deforestation has major consequences for climate change mitigation. A team including Smithsonian scientists discovered that some secondary tropical forests recover biomass quickly: ...

Amazon carbon sink threatened by drought

The Amazon is surprisingly sensitive to drought, according to new research conducted throughout the world's largest tropical forest. The 30-year study, published today in Science, provides the first solid evidence that drought ...

How plants survive droughts and extreme rainfall

Tropical ecosystems are constantly navigating between prolonged drought and extreme rainfall, but little research has been done to understand why some plants are able to survive these swings in climate.

Benefits of cacao farms for birds and bats

Cacao farms not only provide us with the pleasure of chocolate, but also offer potential advantages for biodiversity-friendly agriculture. The benefits to biodiversity have been widely studied in tropical rainforests, but ...

Online tool helps to protect tropical forests

A new tool maps the threats to the tropical dry forests in Peru and Ecuador. Bioscience engineers at KU Leuven combined data on possible threats to these forests—including fires and overgrazing—with data on the vulnerability ...

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