Latest Old-growth forest Stories

By Gilliam, Frank S Despite a growing awareness that the herbaceous layer serves a special role in maintaining the structure and function of forests, this stratum remains an underappreciated aspect of forest ecosystems. In this article I review and synthesize information concerning the herb layer's structure, composition, and dynamics to emphasize its role as an integral component of forest ecosystems. Because species diversity is highest in the herb layer among all forest strata, forest...

By Marcus WohlsenSAN GERONIMO -- When David Milarch first visited Northern California in 1968, he thought he would see avenues of coast redwoods 100 miles long. What he found instead, he said, was a "moonscape."Nearly 40 years later, the Michigan arborist has returned to the region to realize his dream of preserving and restoring the most ancient of these trees using the latest advances in genetic cloning. On a foggy Tuesday in Marin County about 25 miles north of San Francisco,...

By Godwin Muhwezi-bonge Soaring demand from Ugandan men seeking to restore their sexual potency is driving a species of tree known as the Omuboro to extinction. "It [the tree] is like a natural Viagra," said Hannington Oryem- Orida, a professor of botany at Makerere University. "Because of its enormous medicinal properties, the tree is being harvested faster than it can reproduce, thus threatening its long-term survival."The "sex tree", or Citropsis articulata,...

By Griscom, Bronson W Daly, Douglas C; Ashton, Mark S GRISCOM, B. W. (Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT 06511), D. C. DALY (The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458), AND M. S. ASHTON (Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT 06511). Floristics of bamboo-dominated stands in lowland terra-firma forests of southwestern Amazonia. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 134: 108-125. 2007. -We investigated distinctive aspects of the floristic communities...

By Abrams, Marc D No species in the eastern United States better exemplifies a ubiquitous yet subordinate tree than does blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica). What enables blackgum to grow nearly everywhere, but almost always at very low densities? It is the longest-lived hardwood species in the eastern United States, with a maximum age that can exceed 650 years. It is inherently slow growing, which most likely explains its great longevity and high shade tolerance; it is also one of the few tree...

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Indonesia launched talks on Tuesday to curb illegal logging that threatens the Southeast Asian country's rain forests and advanced other initiatives that could lead to a free trade pact, top trade officials from both countries said. "Illegal logging depresses timber prices and damages the environment. Together we'll seek to take concrete steps ... to tackle the present environmental problem while facilitating trade," U.S....

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Environmentalists say a new survey of logging and other development in Canada's forests, released on Wednesday, shows the need for greater conservation and protection. The study found that about 70 percent of Canada's forests have not been "fragmented" by logging or other human intrusions, but most of the undisturbed landscape is in the far northern boreal and taiga forests. "It's kind a dual threat and opportunity message," said Peter Lee,...

By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) - Some 32.5 million acres of forests are destroyed around the world each year, an area the size of Greece, although the net loss of trees has finally slowed thanks mainly to new plantations, the United Nations said on Monday. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its Global Forest Resources Assessment was the most exhaustive such survey undertaken, covering 229 countries and territories. Taking into account plantations, landscape...

By Crispian BalmerROME (Reuters) - Some 32.5 million acres of forests are destroyed around the world each year, an area the size of Greece, although the net loss of trees has finally slowed thanks mainly to new plantations, the United Nations said on Monday.The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its Global Forest Resources Assessment was the most exhaustive such survey undertaken, covering 229 countries and territories.Taking into account plantations, landscape restoration and...

By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) - Some 13 million hectares of forests are destroyed around the world each year, an area the size of Greece, although the net loss of trees has finally slowed thanks mainly to new plantations, the United Nations said on Monday. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its Global Forest Resources Assessment was the most exhaustive such survey undertaken, covering 229 countries and territories. Taking into account plantations, landscape...