Research

Phys.org – Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are needed along with a decrease in carbon emissions. “This widespread history of reforestation, a huge shift in land cover,… Continue reading A century of reforestation helped keep the eastern US cool, study finds

Yahoo – One strategy that is being implemented to combat the ongoing overheating of our planet may actually be doing more harm than good, scientists have warned. A new study on commercial tree-planting schemes discovered a variety of unintended consequences. The problem is that many of these initiatives simply try to plant as many trees as… Continue reading Scientists issue warning against commercial tree-planting schemes: ‘We should shift focus’

Phys.org – Compared to single-species forests, mixed forests are more resilient to pests, diseases, and climatic disturbances, which increases their long-term carbon storage potential. The delivery of other ecosystem services is also greater in mixed species forests, and they support higher levels of biodiversity. Story at Phys.org

Inside Climate News – In a peer-reviewed opinion paper published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, University of Oxford researchers point out that, although carbon sequestration is a valuable tool for climate action, large-scale tree planting projects often lack biodiversity, which can make them ineffective climate mitigations. The authors warn against using carbon as the sole metric… Continue reading Forests Are Worth More Than Their Carbon, a New Paper Argues

Phys.org – Satellite observations of one of the world’s biggest ecological experiments on the island of Borneo have revealed that replanting logged forests with diverse mixtures of seedlings can significantly accelerate their recovery. The results revealed that plots replanted with a mixture of 16 native tree species showed faster recovery of canopy area and total… Continue reading Study shows replanting logged forests with diverse mixtures of seedlings accelerates restoration

Society for Conservation Biology – Protecting the climate system requires urgently reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere and increasing cumulative carbon stocks in natural systems. Recent studies confirm that large trees accumulate and store a disproportionate share of aboveground forest carbon. In the temperate forests of the western United States, a century of intensive logging… Continue reading Protect large trees for climate mitigation, biodiversity, and forest resilience

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have completed their inventory of mature and old-growth forests in the United States and created an interactive map. Based on the initial inventory, Forest Service and BLM landscontain roughly 32 million acres of old growth and about80 million acres of mature forest. Old growth represents… Continue reading Kentucky Mature and Old-Growth Forests

Phys.org – Over the coming decades, many forested watersheds could be lost to development, lowering water quality and raising water treatment costs, according to a new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. This is the first study to combine water quality data, land cover projections, and information about public water systems… Continue reading Examining the nuances of the forest-water connection

Wildfires are destructive forces, but they can occur naturally. Because of this, certain plants and animals have evolved to depend on periodic wildfires for ecological balance. Prescribed burns can mimic the benefits of wildfires while also lowering the risks associated with larger, uncontrolled fires. READ THE STORY AT NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

A recent paper examined the role that plantation forestry has on fire severity, and compared this to the relative importance of other variables known to drive fire severity (topography, weather, and fuels). This is important research because a frequent assertion made is that intensively managed forests, characterized by densely planted, even-aged young trees, are less… Continue reading Intensive Forest Management Increases Fire Severity

Logging in national forests is increasing. National Forests are legally required to balance five uses: recreation, timber, range, wildlife, and water. Recreation generates far more income than timber harvests in national forests. READ THE STORY AT BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS

Evidence from 36 years of data following experimental clear-cut logging at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, N.C., suggests that forest disturbance in the southern Appalachian mountains can cause elevation of nitrogen in streamflow. These elevated nitrogen levels can last decades or perhaps longer. READ THE USFS STUDY