TROPICAL FORESTS

Jul 02 2025SCIENCE

Earth's Ancient Heatwave: The Hidden Role of Forests

A long time ago, around 252 million years, Earth faced its worst life crisis. The "Great Dying" wiped out nearly 90% of all species. After this disaster, the planet stayed extremely hot for 5 million years. Scientists have been trying to figure out why. Recently, a group of researchers made a big discovery. They studied old fossils and found that tropical forests pl...

reading time about 1 minute
May 13 2025ENVIRONMENT

Climate Change and the Hidden World of Liverworts

Liverworts are tiny plants that live on other plants. They are very sensitive to changes in climate. This makes them important indicators of environmental shifts. However, their small size often leads to them being overlooked. This oversight can result in incomplete data, which complicates efforts to understand how climate change affects their habitats. In China, re...

reading time about 1 minute
Feb 16 2025SCIENCE

Fungi Fun in the Forest: A Tale of Two Seasons

Imagine a vast, lush forest in Taiwan, where seven different types of trees from the Fagaceae family stand tall. Scientists decided to take a closer look at the tiny, often overlooked world of fungi living in and around these trees. They wanted to see how these fungal communities changed over time and space, especially in the tropical climate. The study focu...

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Dec 07 2024ENVIRONMENT

Young Tropical Forests: The Fast Recovery Story

Young tropical secondary forests, while they may not look impressive, are crucial for capturing carbon quickly. Scientists studied 36 of these forests in Ghana, ranging from 2. 3 to 3. 6 years old, from both dry and wet regions. They found that these forests were storing about 115 tons of biomass per hectare in wet areas and 99 tons in dry areas. This might not sound...

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Oct 06 2024ENVIRONMENT

What’s Happening with Forests and Climate Change?

In a recent meeting, the environment ministers of G20 countries agreed to back new funding sources for protecting ecosystem services. This is exciting news, especially because Brazil has come up with an interesting plan called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility. Unlike some other programs that just reward one country, this one aims to help all tropical forest nati...

reading time about 1 minute