Trees News

June 15, 2024

Top Headlines

Paleontology: New Fossil Fish Genus Discovered

June 13, 2024 — Paleontologists have identified a new genus of fossil goby, revealing evolutionary secrets of a lineage that stretches back millions of ...

New Way to Spot Beetle-Killed Spruce Can Help Forest, Wildfire Managers

June 13, 2024 — A new machine-learning system can automatically produce detailed maps from satellite data to show locations of likely beetle-killed spruce trees in Alaska, even in forests of low and moderate infestation where identification is otherwise difficult. ...

Early Life Exposure to Weed Pollen Could Increase Childhood Asthma Risk

June 10, 2024 — A study has found children who are exposed to tree and weed pollen in urban environments are at increased risk of respiratory health problems, including asthma. While green areas in urban settings decrease exposure to air pollution, allow kids to be ...

Tropical Forests Adjust Strategies to Thrive Even When Soils Are Nutrient Poor

June 6, 2024 — Tropical forests store a third of the world's carbon in their wood and soils. However, their future as a carbon sink has been uncertain. Scientists have long wondered whether nutrient-poor tropical ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:03pm EDT

Smarter Foragers Do Not Forage Smarter

May 28, 2024 — Why do primates have big brains? In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists pitted large-brained primates against smaller-brained mammals to find out who was the smartest ...

Meet the New Insect Killing Utah's Fir Trees

May 14, 2024 — The balsam woolly adelgid, a tiny nonnative flightless insect, is spreading across the American West killing subalpine fir in northern Utah's recreation-heavy mountain ranges and canyons. Rsearchers ...

Saturated Soils Could Impact Survival of Young Trees Planted to Address Climate Change

May 9, 2024 — New research has looked into the potential effects of increased rainfall in regions being earmarked for expansion of temperate rainforests. Amid ...

Diversity and Productivity Go Branch-in-Branch

Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers found that forests with higher trait diversity not only adapt better to climate change but may also thrive. The study unveiled how tree functional trait diversity plays a pivotal role in ...

Hurricanes Jeopardize Carbon-Storing New England Forests

Apr. 24, 2024 — Many American companies are relying on carbon offsets to reduce their carbon footprint, especially those who have pledged to achieve 'net-zero emissions.' Sequestering carbon in forests is an example ...

World's Chocolate Supply Threatened by Devastating Virus

Apr. 23, 2024 — A rapidly spreading virus threatens the health of the cacao tree and the dried seeds from which chocolate is made, jeopardizing the global supply of the world's most popular treat. Researchers have ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

We've Had Bird Evolution All Wrong

Apr. 3, 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 date -- an intricate chart delineating 93 million ...

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

Mar. 31, 2024 — A new study states that the combination of global warming and extreme heat events, alongside the continued expansion of deforestation in the world, may be devastating for many species of animals, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Why Do Tree Frogs Lay Their Eggs on the Ground?

Mar. 19, 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...