Book review – Flying Dinosaurs: How fearsome reptiles became birds

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.” …

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Ongoing unraveling of a continental fauna

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 …

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Large trees under threat: researchers

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 …

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Clear-cutting destabilizes carbon in forest soils, Dartmouth study finds

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. …

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Rare species are more important than originally believed, according to new research

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 …

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Victoria’s giant trees: a contemporary survey

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 …

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Climate change could put eucalypts at risk of death from air bubbles

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 …

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