Rainforests News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

New Velvet Worm Species a First for the Arid Karoo

May 28, 2025 — A new species of velvet worm, Peripatopsis barnardi, represents the first ever species from the arid Karoo, which indicates that the area was likely historically more forested than at present. In the Cape Fold Mountains, we now know that every ...

Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends

May 29, 2025 — Forest-based agroforestry can restore forests, promote livelihoods, and combat climate change, but emerging agroforestry initiatives focusing only on tree planting is leading to missed opportunities to support beneficial outcomes of forest ...

Forest in Sync: Spruce Trees May Communicate During a Solar Eclipse

Apr. 29, 2025 — Regular light-dark cycles greatly affect organisms, and events like eclipses induce distinctive physiological and behavioral shifts. While well-documented in animals, plant behavior during eclipses remains largely unexplored. Scientists monitored ...

When the Forest Is No Longer a Home -- Forest Bats Seek Refuge in Settlements

May 28, 2025 — Many bat species native to Germany, such as the Leisler's bat, are forest specialists. However, as it is becoming increasingly hard for them to find tree hollows in forest plantations, so they are ...

Nordic Studies Show the Significance of Old-Growth Forests for Biodiversity

May 27, 2025 — Researchers conducted a systematic review of 99 scientific publications that compared the flora or fauna of old-growth forests, managed forests and clearcut sites in boreal Europe. The reviewed studies showed large differences in the species ...

Managing Surrogate Species, Providing a Conservation Umbrella for More Species

May 23, 2025 — A new study shows that monitoring and managing select bird species can provide benefits for other species within specific ...

Something's Fishy Here

May 21, 2025 — In nature, ecosystems are tightly linked through the flow of organisms, detritus, and nutrients across boundaries arbitrarily imagined by humans. These systems are deeply in tune with seasonal changes, fostering a harmonious ebb and flow of ...

Songbirds' Great Risk Results in Great Genetic Reward

May 21, 2025 — Songbirds who make the arduous flight from their nesting sites in northern boreal forests to warm, southern climates in the winter may be rewarded for their journey with greater genetic ...

New Study Reveals How Competition Between Algae Is Transforming the Gulf of Maine

May 22, 2025 — New research shows how rapidly proliferating turf algae are waging 'chemical warfare' to inhibit the recovery of kelp forests along Maine's warming ...

Forest Management Can Influence Health Benefits

May 20, 2025 — Forests play a crucial role in promoting health and wellbeing, but not all forests provide the same benefits. A large-scale study demonstrates how specific forest characteristics -- such as canopy density and tree species diversity -- can affect ...

Amazon Could Survive Long-Term Drought but at a High Cost

May 15, 2025 — The Amazon rainforest may be able to survive long-term drought caused by climate change, but adjusting to a drier, warmer world would exact a heavy toll, a study ...

Europe's Forest Plants Thrive Best in Light-Rich, Semi-Open Woodlands -- Kept Open by Large Herbivores

May 14, 2025 — Before Homo sapiens arrived, Europe's forests were not dense and dark but shaped by open and light-rich woodland landscapes. Researchers have analyzed 917 native forest plant species in Central and ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:23pm EDT

First Fossil Evidence of Endangered Tropical Tree Discovered

May 9, 2025 — Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of an endangered, living tropical tree species. The unprecedented find was made in Brunei, a country on the large island of Borneo, and reveals a critical ...

Just 30 Species of Tree Dominate World's Most Diverse Savanna

May 8, 2025 — Scientists have found that a mere 30 species of trees in the Cerrado -- the world's largest and most floristically diverse savanna -- account for nearly half of all its trees. The 'hyperdominance' by ...

Pioneering Research Reveals Tree-Mendous Potential of Inexpensive Drones to Help Community Forests Flourish and Unlock Restoration Funding

May 7, 2025 — New research has shown how small, inexpensive drones combined with free, open source software can be used by community forest organizations to ...

Replanted Rainforests May Benefit from Termite Transplants

May 6, 2025 — Termites -- infamous for their ability to destroy wood -- are rarely welcomed into rainforests that have been painstakingly replanted. But a new paper suggests that termite transplants may be ...

Development, Agriculture Present Risks for Drinking Water Quality

May 6, 2025 — Converting forest land to urban development or agricultural use can present risks to water quality when done near streams or river sources. This study examined data from 15 water treatment plants in ...

Invasive Rats and Rainforest Mammals Are Sharing Gut Microbes as Urban Areas Grow

May 1, 2025 — As urban development continues to creep further into Earth's oldest and most diverse rainforests, a study reveals native and invasive small mammals ...

Experiment in Floodplain Forest: Using Tree Mortality to Support Oak Regeneration

Apr. 16, 2025 — The pedunculate oaks typical of Leipzig's floodplain forest and other German oak forests are struggling to regenerate in the understorey due to a ...

Declining Insect Biodiversity in the Tropics

Apr. 8, 2025 — Ecologists are investigating the decline of insect populations in the world's tropical forests. Insects, the most abundant and diverse group of animals on Earth, are experiencing alarming declines, ...

Losing Forest Carbon Stocks Could Put Climate Goals out of Reach

Mar. 27, 2025 — In the past, intact forests absorbed 7.8 billion tons of CO2 annually -- about a fifth of all human emissions -- but their carbon storage is increasingly at risk from climate change and human ...

Blurring the Line Between Rain and Snow: Limits of Meteorological Classification

Mar. 26, 2025 — A new study uncovers a critical challenge in accurately classifying precipitation as rain or snow using surface weather data. Accurately identifying ...

Getting Hit by Lightning Is Good for Some Tropical Trees

Mar. 26, 2025 — Getting zapped with millions of volts of electricity may not sound like a healthy activity, but for some trees, it is. A new study reports that some tropical tree species are not only able to ...

How Extreme Weather Threatens Nature's Essential Services

Mar. 24, 2025 — A new model suggests that timber production in Minnesota could decrease by half as windstorms intensify with climate ...

Introduced Pacific Oysters Provide Biodiversity Benefits in Port River

Mar. 24, 2025 — The introduction of exotic species can pose significant challenges in the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems, yet researchers have found that Pacific oysters introduced to the Port River in ...

Time Is Not the Driving Influence of Forest Carbon Storage

Mar. 18, 2025 — It is commonly assumed that as forest ecosystems age, they accumulate and store, or 'sequester,' more ...

How a Hummingbird Chick Acts Like a Caterpillar to Survive

Mar. 17, 2025 — For the first time, scientists described a hummingbird chick potentially mimicking a poisonous caterpillar to avoid getting ...

Want to Preserve Biodiversity? Go Big

Mar. 12, 2025 — Large, undisturbed forests are better for harboring biodiversity than fragmented landscapes, according to recent research. Ecologists agree that habitat loss and the fragmentation of forests reduces ...

Acoustic Monitoring Network for Birds Enhances Forest Management

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new study using the largest network of microphones to track birds in the United States is providing crucial insights for managing and restoring fire-prone forests across California's Sierra ...

Boreal Forest: Taking Taiga's Temperature

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new study has introduced a powerful tool for analyzing satellite imagery of boreal forests (also known as 'Taiga' in North America), offering unprecedented insights into the health and ...

Scientists Develop Advanced Forest Monitoring Systems: Will Forests Monitor Themselves in the Future?

Mar. 7, 2025 — 'Forests are among the most important ecosystems in nature, constantly evolving, yet their monitoring is often delayed,' says an expert. Climate change, pests, and human activity are ...

Tropical Forests in the Americas Are Struggling to Keep Pace With Climate Change

Mar. 6, 2025 — Tropical rainforests play a vital role in global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. However, a major new study reveals that forests across the Americas are not adapting quickly enough ...

Satellite Image Analysis Delivers New Insight Into the Functional Diversity of Tropical Forests

Mar. 5, 2025 — Satellite images from space are allowing scientists to delve deeper into the individual functions of different tropical forest canopies with new and surprising results. Understanding tree traits and ...

Climate Change Increases the Risk of Tree Mortality in Urban Boreal Forests

Feb. 27, 2025 — Climate change poses a particular risk to pine trees growing in dry areas, a new study conducted in an urban recreational forest in Helsinki ...

Researchers Make Recommendations for Promoting Sustainable Development in Mangrove Forest Areas

Feb. 26, 2025 — Although preventing all the consequences of climate change is now impossible, we can adopt policies to mitigate its impact. In a set of policy recommendations, researchers examine the development of ...

Beyond the Burn: Harvesting Dead Wood to Reduce Wildfires and Store Carbon

Feb. 26, 2025 — A century of fire suppression, climate change, and drought has worsened wildfires in the Western U.S. While prescribed burns help reduce fuel, a 'fire deficit' increases wildfire risks, ...

New Spatial Mechanism for the Coexistence of Tree Species

Feb. 26, 2025 — The reason why so many tree species can coexist in species-rich forests has long been a subject of debate in ecology. This question is key to understanding the mechanisms governing the dynamics and ...

Tree Diversity Increases Carbon Sequestration

Feb. 25, 2025 — Forests planted with many different tree species have substantially higher aboveground carbon stocks and greater carbon fluxes than monocultures, shows a study. For the study, researchers analyzed ...

Scientists Decode DNA of White Oak Tree

Feb. 20, 2025 — Highly valued economically, ecologically and culturally, the white oak (Quercus alba) is a keystone forest species and is one of the most abundant trees across much of eastern North America. It also ...

Protected Habitats Aren't Enough to Save Endangered Species, Study Finds

Feb. 13, 2025 — In tropical forests, endangered species inside protected habitats are still in danger from threats from beyond their sanctuaries, according to a new ...

Restoring Wildlife Habitats in Wealthy Nations Could Drive Extinctions in Species-Rich Regions, Experts Warn

Feb. 13, 2025 — Researchers call on the international community to recognize and start tackling the 'biodiversity ...

Fewer Forest Fires Burn in North America Today Than in the Past--and That's a Bad Thing

Feb. 11, 2025 — Research analyzed tree rings and fire scars to compare modern fires to those in the ...