Conservation / Tree Health

By: Graham Readfearn

Experts say some members of ‘enormously important’ myrtle family could be extinct within five years, with others to follow

Three quarters of the forest habitat types in Finland have been classified as endangered. The main cause of this is the use and management of forests. According to researchers, the situation would be even worse without nature management efforts, and they recommend that the efforts are intensified.

The assessment of endangered habitat types in Finland, published in December, contained no great surprises as regards forests. The main causes of threats are the absence of deadwood and large-size legacy trees in forests.

By CBC Radio

When David Milarch first learned about ancient coast redwood stumps hidden in California, he says he was "the most thunderstruck" he'd ever been. At about 10 metres in diameter, he'd never heard of any tree growing that big. Now the non-profit that Milarch co-founded is using genetic information from five massive tree stumps to help in the fight against climate change.

On Dec. 14, the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive planted 75 coast redwood saplings at Presidio, a park in San Francisco, that are exact clones of those stumps.

By Patrick Skahill

The latest national climate assessment says forests play a key role in keeping our air clean.

According to the report, America’s forests stored the equivalent of 11 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions over a 25 year period. That’s because when trees breathe they suck up carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and store that leftover carbon in their trunks. But how scientists determine the amount of carbon stored in a tree is a question open for debate.

By Helen Briggs

A tiny oak tree emerges from a test tube in the laboratory. The seedling of the mighty oak has had an unusual start in life. Raised using techniques pioneered in fertility labs, it is the product of new efforts to preserve the seeds of wild plants.

By Janet Marinelli

They don’t make the headlines the way charismatic animals such as rhinos and elephants do. But there are thousands of critically endangered plants in the world, and a determined group of botanists are ready to go to great lengths to save them.

By Alice Shen

Research shows greater diversity leads to more greenhouse gas absorption

Forests with a diverse mix of trees can absorb more than twice as much carbon as areas with just a single species, research carried out in eastern China has found – a discovery that could help in the fight against climate change.

By James Tyrrell

Hygroscopic aerosols — particles in the air that attract water — could be causing forest decline around the world, according to experiments performed in Germany. Researchers believe that aerosol accumulation on trees enables thin bridges of liquid to form between the leaf interior and the leaf surface, causing the plants to dry out much more rapidly.

By Laurel Hamers

If a tree falls in the forest, will another replace it?

Something is killing bigleaf maples — Washington's biggest broadleaf tree — and scientists can't stop it. They don't even know what's causing it.

"We've looked for everything we can possibly think of and what people smarter than us can think of," said Amy Ramsey, a forest pathologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.