Rainforests News

October 4, 2024

Top Headlines

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 spreading across Europe that has not yet reached ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:26pm EDT

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 of ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Forests Endure as Carbon Sink Despite Regional Pressures

July 17, 2024 — Despite facing regional threats like deforestation and wildfires, the world's forests continue to be a powerful weapon in the fight against climate change. A new study reveals these vital ...

Logged Forests Can Still Have Ecological Value -- If Not Pushed Too Far

July 17, 2024 — Researchers have analysed data from 127 studies to reveal 'thresholds' for when logged rainforests lose the ability to sustain themselves. The results could widen the scope of which forests ...

Scientists Use Machine Learning to Predict Diversity of Tree Species in Forests

July 16, 2024 — Researchers used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S. These maps provide information about individual tree species and ...

Wildfire Smoke Has a Silver Lining: It Can Help Protect Vulnerable Tree Seedlings

July 15, 2024 — Forest scientists studying tree regeneration have found that wildfire smoke comes with an unexpected benefit: It has a cooling capacity that can make life easier for vulnerable ...

Study Examines Urban Forests Across the United States

July 12, 2024 — Tree-planting campaigns have been underway in the United States, especially in cities, as part of climate mitigation efforts given the many environmental benefits of urban forests. But a new study ...

Forest Carbon Storage Has Declined Across Much of the Western U.S., Likely Due to Drought and Fire

July 11, 2024 — Forests have been embraced as a natural climate solution, due to their ability to soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, locking it up in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. ...

Planted Mangroves' Ability to Store Carbon

July 10, 2024 — Ecologists have published new findings on how planted mangroves can store up to 70% of carbon stock to that found in intact stands after only 20 ...

Climate Change Drives Tree Species Towards Colder, Wetter Regions

July 3, 2024 — Climate change is likely to drive tree species towards colder and wetter ...

Sixty-Million-Year-Old Grape Seeds Reveal How the Death of the Dinosaurs May Have Paved the Way for Grapes to Spread

July 1, 2024 — Scientists discovered the oldest fossil grapes in the Western Hemisphere, which help show how after the death of the dinosaurs, grapes spread across the ...

Climate Change to Shift Tropical Rains Northward

June 28, 2024 — Atmospheric scientists predict that unchecked carbon emissions will force tropical rains to shift northward in the coming decades, which would profoundly impact agriculture and economies near the ...

Fuel Treatments Reduce Future Wildfire Severity

June 24, 2024 — There is a common belief that prescribed burning, thinning trees, and clearing underbrush reduce risks of the severity of future fires. But is that true? A new project analyzing 40 studies where ...

When in Drought: Researchers Map Which Parts of the Amazon Are Most Vulnerable to Climate Change

June 19, 2024 — Some areas of the Amazon rainforest are more resilient to drought than others, new research shows. But if not managed carefully, we could 'threaten the integrity of the whole system,' ...

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 ...

Conservation of Nature's Strongholds Needed to Halt Biodiversity Loss

May 21, 2024 — To achieve global biodiversity targets, conservationists and governments must prioritize the establishment and effective management of large, interconnected protected areas with high ecological ...

Regional Differences in Bird Diversity in Agroforestry Systems

May 21, 2024 — The diversity and ecological functionality of bird communities in tropical agroforestry systems are shaped by the surrounding landscape, in particular the extent and composition of the ...

Rabies Outbreaks in Costa Rica Cattle Linked to Deforestation

May 21, 2024 — Deforestation in Costa Rica raises the risk of cattle becoming infected with rabies by vampire bats, finds a new ...

Oil Palm Plantations Are Driving Massive Downstream Impact to Watershed

May 2, 2024 — The global demand for palm oil -- the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick -- is driving worldwide tropical deforestation. While many ...

Wildfires in Wet African Forests Have Doubled in Recent Decades

May 2, 2024 — Climate change and human activities like deforestation are causing more fires in central and west Africa's wet, tropical forests, according to the first-ever comprehensive survey there. The ...