Today, the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation organization, announces that two iconic Chicago institutions – The Morton Arboretum and Shedd Aquarium – have been named as Centers for Species Survival.
by Martha O'Hagan Luff, The Conversation
Despite its green image, Ireland has surprisingly little forest. Across Europe, nations average around 35% forest cover but in Ireland the figure is just 11%, one of the lowest on the continent.
By Dino Grandoni
Put down the apple. It’s the tree that may help keep the doctor away.
In urban areas, trees shade sidewalks, suck up air pollution, soften traffic noise — and are just plain nice to look at. And by taking climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere, trees are good for the planet, too.
It turns out the health gains of all that greenery add up.
A recent study conducted in Portland, Ore., found that in neighborhoods where a nonprofit planted more trees, fewer people died.
by Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
Non-native forest tree species can reduce native species diversity if they are planted in uniform stands. In contrast, the effects of introduced species on soil properties are small. This was found by an international review study with the participation of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.
by Alex Brown
Cities need to plant more trees. But not just any trees.
As communities prepare for a massive influx of federal funding to support urban forestry, their leaders say the tree canopy that grows to maturity 50 years from now will need to be painted with a different palette than the one that exists today.
"You need a tree that's going to survive the weather of today and the climate of the future," said Pete Smith, urban forestry program manager with the Arbor Day Foundation, a Nebraska-based nonprofit that supports tree planting and care.
A new analysis of more than 20,000 trees on five continents shows that old-growth trees are more drought tolerant than younger trees in the forest canopy and may be better able to withstand future climate extremes.
The findings highlight the importance of preserving the world's remaining old-growth forests, which are biodiversity strongholds that store vast amounts of planet-warming carbon, according to University of Michigan forest ecologist Tsun Fung (Tom) Au, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Global Change Biology.
The findings suggest that complex interactions between trees and other organisms should be carefully considered when determining the combination of trees in a forest to ensure a functional ecosystem is maintained.
Ancient trees—those that are many hundreds, or even thousands, of years old—play a vital role in biodiversity and ecosystem preservation by providing stability, strength, and protection to at-risk environments. In a review article publishing on October 19 in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, a team of ecologists highlight the importance of preserving these monumental organisms and present a project initiative to ensure their protection and longevity.
By Sophie Aubrey
Next to the fallen trunk of the Royal Botanic Gardens’ 150-year-old white oak now stand three saplings that have come all the way from the sunny climes of California, Mexico and Texas.
The three young oak trees, about three metres tall and just coming into leaf for spring, will look slightly different to the older trees on Oak Lawn: the loquat leaf oak has rougher leaves without the classic lobes, the water oak’s leaves are narrower and the valley oak’s are smaller with deeper lobes.
by Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Why do some plants grow into large woody shrubs or colossal trees, while others remain small and never produce wood in their stems? It's an evolutionary puzzle that baffled Charles Darwin more than 160 year ago. Now, scientists from the Netherlands and Germany present the first global overview of woodiness evolution on islands, which will finally help solve the puzzle.
