Climate change, border disputes and the opposition of residents to expansion threaten eastern Poland’s unique woodlands. By Gabriela Baczynska A contest between competing needs of conservation and economic growth is threatening the future of large parts of Europe’s last ancient forest. The 380,000-acre Bialowieza Primeval Forest, which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, is […]
By Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News Trees around the world are colonising new territories in response to higher temperatures. From the US west coast to northern Siberia and south-east Asia, trees are growing at higher elevations, and at higher latitudes as the climate warms. Of 166 sites studied, trees are advancing at more than half, […]
Prosperous middle class contributing to a growing appetite for ‘forest food’ By Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent As any visitor to Vietnam can confirm, its people have a remarkable taste for meals made from each and every creature. From snakes and spiders to monkeys and rats, there are few wild animals not prized when it comes […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2009) — A rare April freeze in 2007 provided researchers with further evidence that climate change could have negative effects on stream and forest ecosystems. As warm weather arrives sooner in many parts of the nation, forest plants and trees on the banks flourish, shading the stream from sunlight and causing an […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 11, 2009) — 21st century British woodlands are less distinctive than those of the early 20th century due to environmental change. Native woodland plants have re-organized over the last 70 years in response to increased soil fertility and loss of light related to increased canopy shading. The research was carried out by a […]
British woodlands are less biologically distinctive than they were 70 years ago, says a team of UK researchers. The use of fertilisers in farming had increased soil fertility, while tree canopies had grown thicker and cut light levels, they explained. As a result, the woodlands were becoming home to the same species, resulting in the […]
Earthworms have long been considered a friend to farmers and home gardeners, playing a vital role in soil quality. However, recent studies have shown that glaciated forests in North America — forests that evolved without native earthworms — now face the invasion of European earthworms from agriculture and fishing. This underground invasion has compounding impacts […]
