http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/rainforests/ Rain Forest News. Current science articles on rainforest animals, rainforest plants, and ecosystems of old-growth forests. en-us Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:05:01 EST Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/rainforests/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202859.htm The lush, tropical Congo Basin was much different 150 million to 200 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed Gondwana, the single continent formed by Africa and South America. Geochemical analysis of rare ancient soils from Central Africa suggests the land was arid, with a small amount of seasonal rainfall, and few bushes or trees. There's very little data for the paleoclimate of the Late Jurassic, but it's important because climate determines plant communities. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202859.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171750.htm Fossil plants provide clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Identifying fossil plants can be tricky, however, when plant organs fail to be preserved. Researchers recently discovered abundant fossilized specimens of a conifer (previously known as "Libocedrus" prechilensis) found in Argentinean Patagonia. Characteristics of these fossils match those currently found only in tropical, montane New Guinea and the Moluccas. This discovery helps to explain the remarkable plant and insect diversity found in Eocene Patagonia. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171750.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106111214.htm Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to a paper published in the journal Science. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106111214.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106102954.htm In foods, soil samples or customs checks, plant fragments sometimes need to be quickly identified. The use of DNA "barcodes" to itemize plant biodiversity was proposed during the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Summit. Researchers have now tested this method in the tropical forest. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106102954.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103112249.htm Researchers found that removing all of the trees from a section of the forest had a negative effect on amphibians during their later life cycles, but had some positive effects during amphibians' aquatic larva stages at the beginning of their lives. To lessen the negative effects during the later life stage, scientists recommend partial or selection cuts to forests rather than completely removing trees from an area. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103112249.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102085819.htm Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102085819.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121456.htm A recent assessment finds some positive trends among indicators of biodiversity loss in China -- notably, growth in forest coverage and improvements in marine ecosystems. However, other indicators, such as the rate of discovery of invasive species, are worsening. Many animals are under growing threat. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121456.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192613.htm Fire is often thought of something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors. The study says that positive feedback loops between fire and trees associated with savannas can make fires more likely in these ecosystems. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192613.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016093913.htm Experts have revealed jaw-dropping dollar values of the "ecosystem services" of biomes like forests and coral reefs -- including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016093913.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027111451.htm Surveys have confirmed that the finest montane forests in Timor-Leste, and possibly the whole island of Timor, are to be found on the inaccessible Mount Mundo Perdido -- literally, "Lost World." With 22 of the restricted-range species of the Timor and Wetar Endemic Bird Area found so far, Mount Mundo Perdido has been recognized as Timor-Leste's seventeenth Important Bird Area. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027111451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020094054.htm Logged rainforests can support as much plant, animal and insect life as virgin forest within 15 years if properly managed, new research has found. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020094054.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019163020.htm Global warming in the next century could cause a significant increase in the productivity of high-elevation forests of the Pacific Northwest, a new study suggests. However, forests at lower elevations -- which in recent years have accounted for more than 80 percent of the region's timber harvest -- could face a decline in growth. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019163020.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012230441.htm Researchers working in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine have unearthed the first megafossil evidence of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world's biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in rainforests today, indicating that rainforests flourished during warm periods. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012230441.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727191908.htm Scientists have found that orangutans move through the canopy of tropical forests in a completely different way to all other tree-dwelling primates. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727191908.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007103059.htm The role of the forests is assumed to increase in the future, as an important buffer of climate change and increasing carbon dioxide concentrations. So-called Earth system models, computer systems making predictions for the globe, estimate that this effect can be very large. However, new research results, based on measurements at hundreds of European forests, indicate that predicted effects by these models are overestimated because they ignore the limitation of nitrogen. It makes the current predictions by Earth system models more than twice as high as they most likely will be. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007103059.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005161126.htm A 16-year study of tropical butterfly migration links a global climate pattern, El Niño, to local increases in plant production and peak migrations. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005161126.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001164414.htm A long-term study of Africanized bee invasion of Mexico's Yucatan shows that "killer bees" may actually increase food resources for native bees. Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001164414.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923133002.htm The American chestnut was a dominant species in eastern US's forests before a blight wiped it out in the early 1900s. Today it's being returned to the landscape thanks in part to work by Tennessee forestry experts. Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923133002.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927151132.htm Unusually high temperatures in the Arctic and heavy rains in the tropics likely drove a global increase in atmospheric methane in 2007 and 2008 after a decade of near-zero growth, according to a new study. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, albeit a distant second. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927151132.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831213002.htm Research suggests that the expansion of rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) in Southern Appalachian mountain hollows may increase the likelihood of landslides during and after intense rain events. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831213002.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915140932.htm The composition of some of our nation's forests may be quite different 200 to 400 years from today according to a recent study. The study found that temperature and photosynthetic active radiation were the two most important variables in predicting what forest landscapes may look like in the future. The uncertainties became very high after the year 2200. Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915140932.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915140926.htm Ecologists have discovered that timber plantations in Hawaii use more than twice the amount of water to grow as native forests use. Especially for island ecosystems, these findings suggest that land management decisions can place ecosystems -- and the people who depend on them -- at high risk for water shortages. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915140926.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915113550.htm Researchers have sequenced DNA "barcodes" for as many as 25 hunted wildlife species, providing information that can be used to better monitor the elusive trade of wildlife products, or bushmeat. Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915113550.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909124129.htm A biologist has discovered a new species of giant rat on a filmmaking expedition to a remote rainforest in New Guinea. Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909124129.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112119.htm Investing in restoration and maintenance of the Earth's multi-trillion-dollar ecosystems -- from forests and mangroves to wetlands and river basins -- can have a key role in countering climate change and climate-proofing vulnerable economies. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112119.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090825090755.htm The world's last remaining "pristine" forest -- the boreal forest across large stretches of Russia, Canada and other northern countries -- is under increasing threat, a team of international researchers has found. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090825090755.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090820161142.htm Impoverished fishermen along the coast of tropical African countries like Mozambique and Madagascar may have only a few more years to eke out a profit from one of their nations' biggest agricultural exports. Within a few decades, they may no longer have a livelihood at all. That's because swampy mangrove forests – essential breeding grounds for fish and shellfish in these countries – are being destroyed by worsening pollution, encroaching real estate development, and deforestation necessary to sustain large-scale commercial shrimp farming. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090820161142.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804071402.htm Insect herbivore species often specialize on the host plants that they eat, evolving adaptations to use a plant's unique set of resources. However, specialization doesn't come without costs. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804071402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727080554.htm Human impact on one of the world's most threatened bird species can be beneficial rather than destructive -- and could even save it from extinction -- according to counterintuitive new findings. This critically endangered species is largely dependent on local farming practices for their survival. Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727080554.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090728102301.htm Governments must act urgently to halt loss of habitats and invading species that are posing major threats to biodiversity and causing species extinctions across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, according to a new study. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090728102301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717153951.htm It's not too often that two tropical cyclones are close enough to each other to be within a satellite's view as it tracks far above the Earth, but it happened this week with Carlos and Dolores in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717153951.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090705141721.htm Even in its native Argentina, the fire ant wins in head-to-head competition with other ant species more than three-quarters of the time. Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090705141721.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132810.htm Widely sought efforts to reduce fuels that increase catastrophic fire in Pacific Northwest forests will be counterproductive to another important societal goal of sequestering carbon to help offset global warming, forestry researchers conclude in a new report. Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708132810.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082905.htm Extinction looms for amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds restricted to declining mangrove forests. Substantial numbers of terrestrial vertebrates are restricted to mangrove forests. Many of these specialized species are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Prospects for mangrove-restricted animals are bleak, because more than two percent of mangrove forests are lost each year. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082905.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702110459.htm As flowering plants like giant trees quickly rose to dominate plant communities during the Cretaceous period, the ferns that had preceded them hardly saw it as a disappointment. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702110459.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702132825.htm The forests of the Pacific Northwest hold significant potential to increase carbon storage and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in coming years, a recent study concludes, if they are managed primarily for that purpose through timber harvest reductions and increased rotation ages. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702132825.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615171612.htm Contrary to common belief, Brazil's policy of protecting portions of the Amazonian forest from development is capable of buffering the Amazon from climate change, according to a new study. Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615171612.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611120746.htm Failing to see the forest for the trees may be causing us to overlook the declining health of Wisconsin's forest ecosystems. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611120746.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611142358.htm Clearing the Amazon rainforest increases Brazilian communities' wealth and quality of life, but these improvements are short-lived, according to new research published in Science. The study shows that levels of development revert back to well below national average levels when the loggers and land clearers move on. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611142358.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610154457.htm A new study shows that introducing a new hybrid of the American chestnut tree would not only bring back the all-but-extinct species, but also put a dent in the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere. Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610154457.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609220601.htm African bird species could struggle to relocate to survive global warming because natural features of the landscape will limit where they can move to, according to new research. Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609220601.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611065853.htm As a result of stronger winds caused by global warming, seeds and pollen are being carried over longer distances. An increase in temperature of only a couple of degrees may increase the dispersal of plants in Northern forests and the spread of plant species into forest clearings after felling or forest fires. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611065853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611111008.htm Caribou and reindeer numbers worldwide have plunged almost 60 percent in the last three decades. The dramatic revelation came out of the first ever comprehensive census analysis of this iconic species. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611111008.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611110941.htm Annual rings are acclaimed in representing natural climate archives. For the temperate latitudes it is known that the growth of these annual rings depend mainly on temperature and precipitation. In the tropics, however, with only slight seasonal variations, the correlation is not so evident. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611110941.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090612092735.htm Sophisticated sensors that measure leaf wetness, soil moisture and temperature are helping rehabilitate rainforest in the Springbrook World Heritage precinct in southeast Queensland, Australia. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090612092735.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601211429.htm Retaining a network of wildlife conservation areas is vital in helping to save up to 90 per cent of bird species in Africa affected by climate change, according to scientists. Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601211429.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604181251.htm A new report provides compelling evidence that paying to conserve billions of tons of carbon stored in tropical forests could also protect orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other wildlife at risk of extinction. The study is one of the first to offer quantitative evidence linking the drive to reduce carbon emissions from forests with the push to preserve threatened mammal biodiversity. Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604181251.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529135410.htm Tropical cyclones could be a significant source of the deep convection that carries moist air upward to the stratosphere, where it can influence climate, according to new research. Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529135410.htm