From counting and learning to communicating and caring for each other, the secret lives of trees are wildly deep and complex. “They can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the ‘Wood Wide Web’ – and, for reasons unknown, keep …
New study provides one of the strongest cases yet that the planet has entered a new geological epoch There is now compelling evidence to show that humanity’s impact on the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and wildlife has pushed the world into a new geological epoch, according to a group of scientists. The question of whether humans’ …
Leadbeaters Possum used to occur right across Gippsland in lowland dry forests as well. Research by Rohan Bilney on the diet of Sooty Owls over hundreds of years show that pre-European Sooty Owl dined on 28 species – now that’s down to 10! It’s a question that haunts nature-lovers – what was Australia like before …
The threatened Giant Burrowing Frog Heleioporus australiacus is a large, cryptic amphibian from south-eastern Australia. Its known range extends from east of Walhalla in Victoria along the Great Dividing Range to Newcastle in NSW, where it has been recorded from various forested habitat types. Despite this wide distribution, limited records exist towards the southern extent …
The tallest trees play a vital role in combating global warming by taking carbon from the atmosphere, but they are at greatest risk from ever-increasing droughts. LONDON, 14 December, 2015 – When the rains fail, it doesn’t pay to be the tallest tree in the forest. Scientists have confirmed once again that when it comes to …
If world leaders can’t agree to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere could be our only hope for avoiding extreme climate change. Gregg Borschmann reports. With global greenhouse gas emissions projected to continue rising for at least the next decade, scientists and policy makers are quietly but increasingly focused …
The dingo is an unpaid pest species manager that works every day, yet they continue to be killed in large numbers. In turn this means that dingoes play an equally important role in protecting a long list of threatened and non-threatened Australian species, preyed upon in almost incomprehensible numbers by these feral interlopers. And yet …
As the world tries to shift away from fossil fuels, the energy industry is turning to what seems to be an endless supply of renewable energy: wood. In England and across Europe, wood has become the renewable of choice, with forests, many of them in the U.S., being razed to help feed surging demand. But …
Climate change mitigation benefits from the land sector are not being fully realised because of uncertainty and controversy about the role of native forest management. The dominant policy view, as stated in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, is that sustainable forest harvesting yielding wood products, generates the largest mitigation benefit. We demonstrate that changing native …
This new government report details the ecosystem services provided by the states parks and reserves. It includes the water and carbon values, biodiversity protection, recreational benefits and employment, and loads more. If this is what a small section of Victoria’s natural areas can offer – just imagine how much more benefit we would get from …
