By Sean Cummings
For newly sprouted trees, cattle and deer are usually a curse, come to nibble away what little body they have. But an advance article posted in October in the Annals of Botany suggests that in certain circumstances, the browsing animals could be a blessing in disguise: Losing leaves may help California oak seedlings conserve water during drought, boosting their chances of surviving.
More than one in three tree species worldwide faces extinction - IUCN Red List The IUCN Red List now includes 166,061 species, of which 46,337 are threatened with extinction.
by University of Birmingham
Forests with a greater diversity of trees are more productive—potentially leading to greater efficiency in capturing planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a new study reveals.
Researchers found that trees that grow quickly, and capture carbon faster, tend to be smaller and have shorter lifespans, leading to lower carbon storage and faster release back into the atmosphere.
Slower growing species live longer and grow larger, tending to capture more atmospheric carbon—particularly in the setting of more diverse forests.
Over a third of threatened or understudied oak tree species in Mesoamerica are not held in managed botanical collections anywhere in the world, and for many species, protection of their native habitats is lacking.
by Jordan Palli, University of Tuscia
Human disturbance has altered the integrity and functionality of forests throughout the globe, with the greatest impact on regions characterized by historical human cultural development and long-term natural resource exploitation. This is the case in the Mediterranean Basin, where terrestrial ecosystems have been shaped and simplified for thousands of years.
By Rachel Candlin, BBC News
A population survey of the world's rarest maple tree offers hope for the endangered species, a conservationist has said.
Dan Crowley, tree conservation manager at Westonbirt Arboretum in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, was part of a team of researchers surveying the Amami maple on an island in southern Japan.
Their research found only 12 mature Amami maples in the wild but the discovery of three female specimens could help ensure the species' reproductive future.
The discovery of a hybrid population of poplar trees in western Wyoming has provided insight into how natural hybridization informs the evolution of many plant species, according to a team led by Penn State researchers. They also said their discovery suggests that genetic exchange between species may be critical for adaptation to environmental change.
This week, the group that sets the rules for naming plant species will vote on whether to rename dozens of organisms whose scientific designations contain a racial slur, as well as to reconsider other offensive names, such as those that recognize colonialists or people who advocated for slavery.
The votes at the International Botanical Congress in Madrid mark the first time that taxonomists have officially considered rule changes to deal with species names that many people find offensive.
A collaborative team of researchers led by Ben Weinstein of the University of Florida, Oregon, US, used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S., publishing their findings July 16th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. These maps provide information about individual tree species and conditions, which can greatly aid conservation efforts and other ecological projects.
The baobab trees (genus Adansonia) have attracted tremendous attention because of their striking shape and distinctive relationships with fauna1. These spectacular trees have also influenced human culture, inspiring innumerable arts, folklore and traditions. Here we sequenced genomes of all eight extant baobab species and argue that Madagascar should be considered the centre of origin for the extant lineages, a key issue in their evolutionary history2,3.
