Pecologix

Tree cover in savanna ecosystems is usually regarded as unstable, varying with rainfall, fire, and herbivory [[1], [2], [3] and [4]]. In sub-Saharan Africa, elephants (Loxodonta africana) suppress tree cover, thereby maintaining landscape heterogeneity by promoting tree-grass coexistence. In the absence of elephants, tree encroachment may convert savannas into closed-canopy woodlands [[5] and [6]]; when [...]

Driving through Vail, Colorado, the colors of the landscape are impossible to ignore. Glancing out of a car window you cant help but notice the crystal clear water, blue skies, green vegetation and… rusty red trees?With nearly 80 percent of the lodge pole pine trees in the Vail Valley expected to die within the next [...]

“Our assessment shows, for the first time, the exact extent and distribution of mangrove forests of the world at 30 meters spatial resolution, the highest resolution ever,” said Dr Chandra Giri from USGS. “This reveals that 75% of the remaining forest is found in just 15 countries, out of which only ~6.9% is protected under [...]

Looking at satellite images for the area of Manaus from before and after the storm, the researchers detected changes in the reflectivity of the forest that they suspected are indicative of tree losses. Undisturbed forest patches appear as closed, green canopy in satellite images. When trees die and fall, a clearing opens, exposing wood, dead [...]

The report states that illegal logging has dropped by 50 per cent in Cameroon, by between 50 and 75 per cent in the Brazilian Amazon, and by 75 per cent in Indonesia in the last decade. This reduction, documented in three of the five tropical timber producers studied, has prevented the degradation of up to [...]

The most detailed national vegetation U.S. land-cover map to date has been released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The map will enable conservation professionals to identify places in the country with sufficient habitat to support wildlife. “These data are critical for determining the status of biodiversity, as baseline data for assessing climate change impacts, [...]

Measurements of net photosynthesis (Anet), stomatal conductance (gs), leaf water potential and leaf fluorescence were made in June and September, 2008. We observed a significant increase in Anet in response to elevated [CO2] regardless of site or temperature treatment in June and September. An increase in air temperature of over 2 °C had no significant [...]