Rainforests News

November 20, 2024

Top Headlines

Mixed Forests Reduce the Risk of Forest Damage in a Warmer Climate

Nov. 20, 2024 — Forests with few tree species pose considerably higher risk of being damaged and especially vulnerable is the introduced lodgepole ...

Diverse Diets of Civets in Borneo Rainforest Allow Them to Live in Same Geographical Area

Nov. 20, 2024 — Typically, closely related animal species have difficulty coexisting because they are competing for similar resources. Despite eating the same figs, binturong, small-toothed palm, masked palm, and ...

Climate Change Threatens Rare Temperate Rainforests

Nov. 12, 2024 — Up to two thirds of the world's temperate rainforests could fall victim to climate change by the year 2100 according to a new ...

Tree Islands Restore Nature in Oil Palm Plantations

Nov. 18, 2024 — Southeast Asia's tropical forests are renowned for their biodiversity, but at the same time face significant threats from the expansion of oil palm plantations. With global demand for palm oil rising, the urgency for effective restoration strategies ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:24pm EST

Rainforest Protection Reduces the Number of Respiratory Diseases

Nov. 15, 2024 — Rainforest protection is not only good for biodiversity and the climate -- it also noticeably improves the health of humans who live in the corresponding regions. Researchers show that measures to ...

Diverse and Diverging Demands on Forests in Germany

Nov. 14, 2024 — Forests provide biodiversity, ecosystem functions, income and much more. How can these diverse and seemingly diverging demands be met? An international research team addressed this question by ...

More Evidence That Europe's Ancient Landscapes Were Open Woodlands: Oak, Hazel and Yew Were Abundant

Nov. 12, 2024 — A new study finds that the disturbance-demanding plant species oak, hazel and yew were abundant in Europe's forests before modern humans arrived, ...

Facing the Wind: How Trees Behave Across Various Forest Settings and Weather Events

Nov. 12, 2024 — A recent study on Cryptomeria japonica plots shows that trees dissipate wind energy by switching between two swaying behaviors at specific wind ...

50 Years of Survey Data Confirm African Elephant Decline

Nov. 11, 2024 — A study found large-scale declines of African elephants in the first continent-wide analysis of population survey data. Over 53 years of surveys, forest elephant populations decreased on average by ...

Nanoparticle Bursts Over the Amazon Rainforest

Nov. 8, 2024 — Atmospheric aerosol particles are essential for the formation of clouds and precipitation, thereby influencing the Earth's energy budget, water cycle, and climate. However, the origin of aerosol ...

How Gophers Brought Mount St. Helens Back to Life in One Day

Nov. 6, 2024 — When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, lava incinerated anything living for miles around. As an experiment, scientists dropped gophers onto parts of the scorched mountain for only 24 hours. The ...

Study Shows Natural Regrowth of Tropical Forests Has Immense Potential to Address Environmental Concerns

Oct. 30, 2024 — A new study finds that up to 215 million hectares of land (an area larger than Mexico) in humid tropical regions around the world has the potential ...

New Mapping Techniques Empower Bird Conservation in Colombia

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling ...

Human Actions Likely Cause Insect Color Change

Oct. 24, 2024 — New Zealand's native stoneflies have changed colour in response to human-driven environmental changes, new research shows. The study provides arguably the world's most clear-cut case of animal ...

Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Forest Fires Increase by 60 Percent

Oct. 17, 2024 — A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have surged by 60 percent globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal ...

New Temperatures in Two Thirds of Key Tropical Forest

Oct. 15, 2024 — Two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are experiencing new temperature conditions as our climate changes, research ...

Modern Mass Extinction in an Ecuadorean Cloud Forest Found to Be a Mirage

Oct. 15, 2024 — An international team of botanists finds no proof of extinctions in Centinela, but abundant evidence that Centinela's flora lives on in the scattered remaining fragments of coastal ...

Declines in Plant Resilience Threaten Carbon Storage in the Arctic

Oct. 10, 2024 — Rapid warming has impacted the northern ecosystem so significantly that scientists are concerned the region's vegetation is losing the ability to recover from climate shocks, suggests a new ...

Forest Loss Forces Langur Species to Interbreed

Sep. 27, 2024 — Research shows a threatening development for two endangered primate species in Bangladesh: Phayre's langurs (Trachypithecus phayrei) and capped langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus). In mixed groups ...

How Gaps in the Canopy of a Floodplain Influence Microclimate and Soil Biological Activity

Sep. 16, 2024 — Canopy gaps in a mixed floodplain forest have a direct effect on forest soil temperature and moisture, but only have a minor impact on soil biological ...

Ozone Pollution Reduces Tropical Forest Growth

Sep. 12, 2024 — Ozone gas is reducing the growth of tropical forests -- leaving an estimated 290 million tons of carbon uncaptured each year, new research ...

The Risk of Global Water Scarcity Is Greater When Accounting for the Origin of Rain

Sep. 2, 2024 — Securing the world's water supply is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Researchers are now presenting an alternative method for quantifying the global risk of water scarcity. Results ...

Study Finds Salamanders Are Surprisingly Abundant in Northeastern Forests

Aug. 26, 2024 — Two recent amphibian-focused studies shed light on the ecological importance of red-backed salamanders, while confirming that proactive measures would prevent costly impacts from a wildlife disease ...

Less Severe Forest Fires Can Reduce Intensity of Future Blazes

Aug. 19, 2024 — Low- and moderate-severity forest wildfires can reduce the intensity of future fires, according to new research on ...

Forest Loss Intensifies Climate Change by Increasing Temperatures and Cloud Level, Which Leads to Decrease of Water

Aug. 19, 2024 — Researchers report that deforestation during the last two decades induced a higher warming and cloud level rise than that caused by climate change, which threatens biodiversity and water supply in ...

Forest Restoration Can Boost People, Nature and Climate Simultaneously

Aug. 12, 2024 — Forest restoration can benefit humans, boost biodiversity and help tackle climate change simultaneously, new research ...

Mature Forests Vital in Frontline Fight Against Climate Change

Aug. 12, 2024 — Mature forests have a key role to play in the fight against climate change -- extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and locking it into new ...

A New Way of Thinking About the Economy Could Help Protect the Amazon, and Help Its People Thrive

Aug. 6, 2024 — To protect the Amazon and support the wellbeing of its people, its economy needs to shift from environmentally harmful production to a model built around the diversity of indigenous and rural ...

New Research Sheds Light on Relationships Between Plants and Insects in Forest Ecosystems

Aug. 2, 2024 — Researchers have published new findings on how leaf-eating insects affect forest ecosystems worldwide. Researchers are aware of how large herbivores cycle nutrients in forests. They know much less, ...

Mixed Approach to Reforestation Better Than Planting or Regeneration Alone

July 24, 2024 — Reforestation in low- and middle-income countries can remove up to 10 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at lower cost than previously estimated, making it a potentially more effective ...

Trees Reveal Climate Surprise -- Bark Removes Methane from the Atmosphere

July 24, 2024 — Tree bark surfaces play an important role in removing methane gas from the ...

Heat-Sensitive Trees Move Uphill Seeking Climate Change Respite

July 23, 2024 — Trees in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest are migrating in search of more favourable temperatures with species in mountain forests moving uphill to escape rising heat caused by climate ...

Using Forest Resources Strengthens Food Security

July 22, 2024 — Forests can reduce hunger in rural households while also capturing carbon and advancing sustainability goals for low- and middle-income countries, according to new ...

Tropical Plant Species Are as Threatened by Climate Change as Widely Feared, Study Confirms

July 22, 2024 — Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive ...