All Articles Tagged As: forestry

International team of scientists to meet in Panama to discuss future of the world's forests (3/4/2010)

To monitor forests' response to change requires massive data sets. The Smithsonian's Center for Tropical Forest Science and Earthwatch train volunteers to measure trees -- giving them a new perspective on life and resulting in new insights into biodiversity and climate change. ...> Full Article

Log exports down, lumber exports up in Washington and Oregon in 2009 (3/1/2010)

A total of 697.3 million board feet of softwood logs was exported from Washington and Oregon in 2009, according to data released by the US Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. During the same period, the two states exported a total of 344.2 million board feet of softwood lumber. ...> Full Article

Forest tree species diversity depends on individual variation (2/26/2010)

It's a paradox that's puzzled scientists for a half-century. Models clearly show that the coexistence of competing species depends on those species responding differently to the availability of resources. Then why do studies comparing competing tree species draw a blank? ...> Full Article

Plantations can provide the same ecosystem services as natural forests (2/8/2010)

Not all plantations need to be the biological deserts that have come to characterize large-scale, industrial plantations. According to scientists in a paper out in February's issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, well-planned plantations can actually alleviate some of the social, economic and ecological burden currently being placed on natural forests. ...> Full Article

Ecologists discover forests are growing faster (2/6/2010)

Speed is not a word typically associated with trees; they can take centuries to grow. However, a new study to be published the week of Feb. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found evidence that forests in the Eastern United States are growing faster than they have in the past 225 years. The study offers a rare look at how an ecosystem is responding to climate change. ...> Full Article

Northern forests do not benefit from lengthening growing season (1/21/2010)

Forests in northern areas are stunted, verging on the edge of survival. It has been anticipated that climate change improves their growth conditions. A study published this week in Forest Ecology and Management journal shows that due to their genetic characteristics trees are unable to properly benefit from the lengthening growing season. Furthermore, the researchers were surprised to find that the mortality of established trees considerably promotes the adaptation of forests to the changing environment. ...> Full Article

New forest fire detection system prototype installed at Lake Tahoe (12/8/2009)

Graham Kent, Nevada Seismological Laboratory director at the University of Nevada, Reno is leading the installation, testing and maintenance of a novel way to monitor forests fires and other environmental data with the prototype of a new camera system developed by Sony-Europe. The new 360-degree, solar-powered camera and wi-fi system was installed at Tahoe City, Calif. in anticipation of its debut Dec. 12 via the Internet from Copenhagen during the United Nations Climate Change Conference. ...> Full Article

Tennessee foresters helping to return chestnuts to American forests (9/25/2009)

The American chestnut was a dominant species in eastern US's forests before a blight wiped it out in the early 1900s. Today it's being returned to the landscape thanks in part to work by a University of Tennessee Forestry alumna and the UT Tree Improvement Program. ...> Full Article

Exotic timber plantations found to use more than twice the water of native forests (9/17/2009)

Ecologists have discovered that timber plantations in Hawaii use more than twice the amount of water to grow as native forests use. Especially for island ecosystems, these findings suggest that land management decisions can place ecosystems -- and the people who depend on them -- at high risk for water shortages. ...> Full Article

Energy consumption makes Spanish forestry unsustainable (9/15/2009)

Spain is one of the leading European countries, along with Sweden, in terms of wood production for paper paste, but this uses large amounts of energy. Spanish and Swedish scientists have compared the environmental load stemming from forestry operations, and have concluded that the Spanish sector uses more energy than the Swedish one. They are proposing improvements, such as the use of biofuels, in order to make forestry production more sustainable. ...> Full Article

As ash borer claims more trees, researcher works for species survival (9/13/2009)

Estimates say more than 70 million ash trees have been destroyed nationally by the emerald ash borer insect. Mark Widrlechner, assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture at ISU, is racing the clock to collect seeds from different ash species including green, white, blue and black ash, and many variations within each species before they are killed by the pest. He thinks he may be about 10 percent there. ...> Full Article

New study: Farmers protecting and growing significant amount of world's trees (8/25/2009)

Scientists use detailed satellite images to reveal the vital role of trees on 1 billion hectares of agricultural lands in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe ...> Full Article

Innovative spout will increase maple production up to 90 percent (8/23/2009)

An innovative spout for maple syrup tapping developed by researchers at the University of Vermont will increase sap production by 50 to 90 percent per tree. The spout blocks bacterial backflow into the tree's tap hole, a pervasive phenomenon. Bacterial backflow stimulates the tree's wound response system and closes off the tap hole, ending sap flow. The new spout, which has over 1 million advance orders, will also mitigate the impact of global warming on the maple sugaring season. ...> Full Article

Professor hopes to help high elevation pines grow (7/22/2009)

Thread-like fungi that grow in soils at high elevations may play an important role in restoring whitebark and limber pine forests in Canada. Montana State University professor Cathy Cripps is looking for ways to use fungi to help pine seedlings get a strong start. ...> Full Article

Smaller plants punch above their weight in the forest, say biologists (7/18/2009)

New findings from Queen's University biologists show that in the plant world, bigger isn't necessarily better. "Until now most of the thinking has suggested that to be a good competitor in the forest, you have to be a big plant," says Queen's biology professor Lonnie Aarssen. "But our research shows it's virtually the other way around." ...> Full Article

Anti-biotech groups obstruct forest biotechnology (7/3/2009)

The potential of forest biotechnology to help address significant social and environmental issues is being "strangled at birth" by the rigid opposition of some groups and regulations that effectively preclude even the testing of genetically modified trees, scientists argue in a new report. ...> Full Article

Trees and farms working together: Agroforestry comes of age (6/27/2009)

From water and air quality issues to diversifying farm operations, agroforestry has the potential to help farms and the environment, according to a new book published by the American Society of Agronomy ...> Full Article

Managing Douglas-fir forests for diversity (5/12/2009)

Creating diverse forests for multiple uses is important to natural resource managers and landowners. The findings from a 1983 study conducted in southwestern Oregon provide forest managers with information that offers choices when managing land for a variety objectives that may include a high level of wood production, a moderate level of wood production with some wildlife habitat features, or low wood production that provides cover and forage for a wider variety of wildlife species. ...> Full Article

Danger lurks underground for oak seedlings (3/7/2009)

Scientists trying to understand why oaks are starting to disappear from North American forests may need to look just below the surface to find some answers. Purdue University researcher Robert Swihart found that pine voles, small rodents that live underground, prefer oak roots to those of other commonly growing seedlings. ...> Full Article

2008 Oregon and Washington lumber exports increase (3/5/2009)

A total of 293.0 million board feet of softwood lumber was exported from Oregon and Washington in 2008. ...> Full Article

Secure right of usage more important than ownership to China's forest farmers (2/24/2009)

What do poor forest farmers want from China's ongoing forest land reform?Well, it is not private ownership of the land that makes them invest. What Chinese farmers value most and what attracts them to investments that can raise their standard of living and contribute to sustainable forestry is secure rights of usage, as shown by Ping Qin's doctoral thesis in economics at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. ...> Full Article