Trees News

April 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Tropical Forests Can't Recover Naturally Without Fruit-Eating Birds

Apr. 15, 2024 — Natural forest regeneration is hailed as a cost-effective way to restore biodiversity and sequester carbon. However, the fragmentation of tropical forests has restricted the movement of large birds limiting their capacity to disperse seeds and ...

Integrated Dataset Enables Genes-to-Ecosystems Research

Apr. 8, 2024 — A new dataset bridging molecular information about the poplar tree microbiome to ecosystem-level processes has been released. The project aims to inform research regarding how natural systems function, their vulnerability to a changing climate, and ...

Tracing the Largest Solar Storm in Modern Times from Tree Rings in Lapland

Apr. 4, 2024 — A research group was able to measure a spike in radiocarbon concentration of trees in Lapland that occurred after the Carrington flare. This discovery helps to prepare for dangerous solar ...

New Sunflower Family Tree Reveals Multiple Origins of Flower Symmetry

Apr. 3, 2024 — A new sunflower family tree used skimmed genomes to increase the number of species sampled, revealing that flower symmetry evolved multiple times independently, a process called convergent evolution, among the members of this large plant ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:52pm EDT

We've Had Bird Evolution All Wrong

Apr. 1, 2024 — Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of ...

Older Trees Help to Protect an Endangered Species

Apr. 2, 2024 — The oldest trees in the forest help to prevent the disappearance of endangered species in the natural environment, according to a new study. This is the case of the wolf lichen -- threatened ...

Computational Tools Fuel Reconstruction of New and Improved Bird Family Tree

Apr. 1, 2024 — Using cutting-edge computational methods and supercomputing infrastructure, researchers have built the largest and most detailed bird family tree to ...

Combination of the Climate Crisis and Continued Deforestation May Result in Significant Damage to the Animal World

Mar. 27, 2024 — A new study states that the combination of global warming and extreme heat events, alongside the continued expansion of deforestation in the world, ...

Why Do Tree Frogs Lay Their Eggs on the Ground?

Mar. 15, 2024 — A curious aspect of tree frogs is that they often lay their eggs on the ground where the risk of predation by natural enemies is greater than in the trees where they live. A research team suggested ...

New Maps Help Decision-Makers Factor Albedo Into Tree-Planting Decisions

Mar. 26, 2024 — A new study provides a global analysis of where restoration of tree cover is most effective at cooling the global climate system, considering not just the cooling from carbon storage but also the ...

Giant Sequoias Are a Rapidly Growing Feature of the UK Landscape

Mar. 12, 2024 — Imported giant sequoia trees are well adapted to the UK, growing at rates close to their native ranges and capturing large amounts of carbon during their long lives, finds a new ...

Researchers Can Reveal Illegal Timber Exports

Mar. 14, 2024 — A new method of timber analysis can confidently identify the location in which the tree was harvested. The method has been developed with the aim of combating illegal timber imports from Russia and ...

Summer Solstice Triggers Synchronized Beech Tree Reproduction Across Europe

Mar. 13, 2024 — A new study has found that the summer solstice acts as a 'starting gun' to synchronize beech tree reproduction across vast distances in Europe, affecting ecosystem ...

Rainforest's Next Generation of Trees Threatened 30 Years After Logging

Mar. 12, 2024 — Rainforest seedlings are more likely to survive in natural forests than in places where logging has happened -- even if tree restoration projects have taken place, new research ...

Researchers Find Energy Development and Tree Encroachment Impact Wyoming Pronghorn

Mar. 26, 2024 — While Wyoming is home to some of North America's most abundant populations of pronghorn that have largely been stable in recent years, a new analysis shows that many herds are experiencing ...

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Species Diversity Is Directly Correlated With Productivity in Eastern U.S. Forests

Mar. 25, 2024 — When officials make tough calls on which areas to prioritize for conservation, biodiversity is often their top consideration. But there are several types of diversity, and not all of them overlap ...

Mapping the Future's Sweet Spot for Clean Energy and Biodiversity

Mar. 8, 2024 — A new study of Joshua trees, kit foxes and solar energy developments highlights the need to consider climate-induced range shifts for species as we expand clean ...

Earth's Earliest Forest Revealed in Somerset Fossils

Mar. 7, 2024 — The oldest fossilized forest known on Earth -- dating from 390 million years ago -- has been found in the high sandstone cliffs along the Devon and Somerset coast of South West ...

8 in 10 Lizards Could Be at Risk Due to Deforestation

Mar. 5, 2024 — These reptiles move around tree trunks to seek warmth or shade. With trees disappearing, they would have trouble controlling their body temperature, a new study ...

An Inside Look at Beech Tree Disease

Mar. 4, 2024 — A new study found differences at the cellular level of leaves from infected Beech trees -- variations that may account for tree ...

In Wake of Powerful Cyclone, Remarkable Recovery of Pacific Island's Forests

Mar. 2, 2024 — After one of the most intense cyclones in world history tore through the Pacific island of Tanna in Vanuatu, new research showed the resilience of the island's ...

Creepy Crawlies Protect Apples When Flowers Are Planted on Farms

Feb. 28, 2024 — Bugs including hoverflies, lacewings and ladybirds play an important role in keeping Britain's apples healthy, a new study has ...

Modeling Tree Masting

Feb. 21, 2024 — The effects of a phenomenon called tree masting on ecosystems and food webs can be better understood thanks to new theoretical models validated by real world ...

Reforestation Programs Could Threaten Vast Area of Tropical Grasslands

Feb. 15, 2024 — New research reveals the scale of inappropriate reforestation projects across Africa. A new study reveals that an area the size of France is threatened by forest restoration initiatives, such as the ...

Scientists Are Unravelling the Secrets of Red and Grey Squirrel Competition

Feb. 15, 2024 — Researchers have identified significant differences between the diversity of gut bacteria in grey squirrels compared to red squirrels which could hold the key to further understanding the ability of ...

Is the Amazon Forest Approaching a Tipping Point?

Feb. 14, 2024 — Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse. New research has identified the ...

Ancient Pollen Trapped in Greenland Ice Uncovers Changes in Canadian Forests Over 800 Years

Feb. 8, 2024 — The Greenland ice sheet lies thousands of miles from North America yet holds clues to the distant continent's environmental history. Nearly two miles thick in places, the ice sheet grows as snow ...

Complex Tree Canopies Help Forests Recover from Moderate-Severity Disturbances

Feb. 6, 2024 — Extreme events wipe out entire forests, dramatically eliminating complex ecosystems as well as local communities. Researchers have become quite familiar with such attention-grabbing events over the ...

Rare 3D Fossils Show That Some Early Trees Had Forms Unlike Any You've Ever Seen

Feb. 2, 2024 — In the fossil record, trees typically are preserved with only their trunks. They don't usually include any leaves to show what their canopies and overall forms may have looked like. In a new ...

Increased Temperature Difference Between Day and Night Can Affect All Life on Earth

Feb. 1, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a change in what scientists already knew about global warming dynamics. It had been widely accepted since the 1950s that global temperature rises were not consistent ...

Asparagus and Orchids Are More Similar Than You Think

Jan. 30, 2024 — How is a beech leaf constructed? What determines the appearance of an asparagus? A new 'encyclopaedia' helps us learn more about the building blocks of plants. The encyclopaedia, probably ...

Do Tree-Planting Campaigns Follow Best Practices for Successful Forest Restoration?

Jan. 29, 2024 — New research reviewed publicly available information for 99 different organizations that coordinate large-scale tree-planting programs around the globe to see if these organizations seemed to be ...

Back from the Dead: Tropical Tree Fern Repurposes Its Dead Leaves

Jan. 29, 2024 — Plant biologists report that a species of tree fern found only in Panama reanimates its own dead leaf fronds, converting them into root structures that feed the mother plant. The fern, Cyathea ...

Soap Bark Discovery Offers a Sustainability Booster for the Global Vaccine Market

Jan. 26, 2024 — A valuable molecule sourced from the soapbark tree and used as a key ingredient in vaccines, has been replicated in an alternative plant host for the first time, opening unprecedented opportunities ...