Protection of remaining forest and reforestation in areas where it has been lost is vital for global climate stability. Old-growth forest can be defined as mature forest where human disturbances are negligible. In terms of age, old-growth can broadly be defined as from 120 to as much as 500 years old with individual trees estimated …
From the Wombat Forestcare Newsletter – June. With thanks to Tanya Loos “As you read this, an estimated 400 billion individual feathered dinosaurs, of 10,000 species, can be found on earth, in almost every habitable environment. You need only step outside and look up into the trees and the wide blue skies to find them.” …
Decline and extinction of Australian mammals since European settlement The island continent of Australia harbors much of the world’s most distinctive biodiversity, but this review describes an extent of recent and ongoing loss of its mammal fauna that is exceptionally high and appreciably greater than previously recognized. With the dwindling abundance, range, and diversity of …
While much of the focus lately has been the impact humans are having on the largest, and most spectacular reef in the world, slightly inland we are hurting one of our other greatest natural beauties. Scientists from James Cook University and the Australian National University have released a paper detailing the threat to large, old …
New research finds that temperatures in 500-year-old Douglas fir forests measure up to 2.5 degrees cooler than in younger woodlands.
HANOVER, N.H. – Clear-cutting loosens up carbon stored in forest soils, increasing the chances it will return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change, a Dartmouth College study shows. The findings appear in the journal Soil Science. A PDF is available on request. Soil is the world’s largest terrestrial carbon pool. …
There is inadequate information on the fate of hollow-bearing trees (HBTs) subject to planned burns in Victoria. This study aimed to provide a methodologically robust estimate of thecollapse rate of HBTs in planned burns in the forests of Gippsland. The study’s primary goal was to quantify the impact on HBTs of exposure to a single …
The world’s rarest species‚Äîboth plants and animals‚Äîcontribute disproportionally to the ecosystems where they reside, according to research published this week. This new information is changing how scientists view rare species, many of which are on the brink of extinction. An international team of researchers, including Florida International University (FIU) botanist Christopher Baraloto, is answering …
Victoria’s largest tree paper published in the Victorian Naturalist. This recently published paper is a thorough documentation of Victoria’s giant trees – and sadly their loss. It suggests the government should protect all trees over 3m diameter or the giants will be lost in our landscape. Victoria’s largest trees occur in the high rainfall, wet …
Extreme droughts could lead to widespread death of eucalypts from embolisms, researchers say. Key points Some trees can shrink the width of their water transport vessels in response to lack of water Eucalypts are not able to do this which puts them at risk of developing air bubbles in their vessels This would make them …
