World’s great forests could lose half of all wildlife as planet warms – report

From the Amazon to Africa, WWF report predicts catastrophic losses of as much as 60% of plants and 50% of animals by the end of the century

Jonathan Watts Global environment editor

Wed 14 Mar 2018 00.01 GMT

The world’s greatest forests could lose more than half of their plant species by the end of the century unless nations ramp up efforts to tackle climate change, according to a new report on the impacts of global warming on biodiversity hotspots.

Mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds are also likely to disappear on a catastrophic scale in the Amazon and other naturally rich ecosysterms in Africa, Asia, North America and Australia if temperatures rise by more than 1.5C, concludes the study by WWF, the University of East Anglia and the James Cook University.

The research in the journal Climate Change examined the impact of three different levels of warming – 2C (the upper target in the 2015 Paris agreement), 3.2C (the likely risegiven existing national commitments) and 4.5C (the forecast outcome if emissions trends remain unchanged) on nearly 80,000 plant and animal species in 35 of the world’s most biodiverse regions.

If governments fail to set more ambitious commitments than those currently on the table, the report projects devastating losses of more than 60% of plant species and almost 50% of animal species in the Amazon at a temperature rise of 3.2C.

If countries lift their efforts sufficiently to reach the 2C goal, the outlook is improved – but still grim – with more than 35% of species at risk of local extinction in the region. If no actions are taken, the picture is apocalyptic, with a likely loss of more than 70% of plant and reptile species and a more than 60% decline of mammal, reptile and bird species in the Amazon.

Continued  

Elephant declines imperil Africa's forests

As elephant populations shrink, forest composition and structure will undergo dramatic change

Date:  March 12, 2018

Source:  Duke University

Summary:

Poaching and habitat loss have reduced forest elephant populations in Central Africa by 63 percent since 2001. This poses consequences not only for elephants but also for the region's forests, a new study finds. Without intervention to stop poaching, as much as 96 percent of Central Africa's forests will undergo major changes in tree-species composition and structure as local populations of elephants disappear and surviving populations are crowded into ever-smaller forest remnants.

Read more 

Madagascar's forests vanish to feed taste for rosewood in west and China

Blood-red sawdust coats every surface in the small carpentry workshop, where Primo Jean Besy is at the lathe fashioning vases out of ruby-coloured logs.

Besy and his father are small-scale carpenters in Antalaha in north-east Madagascar, and are taking advantage of a recent resurgence in demand for wood from the bois de rose tree, prized for the extraordinary coloured streaks that weave through its centre.

"It's easy to sell because the wood is so famous," said Besy, whose skin glistens with red powder. "People from [the capital] Antananarivo come here [to buy goods]. They like it because they can sell it to foreigners."

The father and son pair are just the tip of the booming trade in bois de rose, one of the world's rarest trees, even though the logging and export of rosewood from Madagascar is banned.

Continued

Central Africa forests could die as keystone species are wiped out

Study by the Universities of Stirling, Oxford, Queensland, and WCS warn of imminent ecological collapse caused by unsustainable hunting and other factors

July 2013. Scientists from the Universities of Stirling, Oxford, Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society warn that current hunting trends in Central African forests could result in complete ecological collapse.

The authors maintain that the current rate of unsustainable hunting of forest elephants, gorillas and other seed-dispersing species threatens the ability of forest ecosystems to regenerate, and that landscape-wide hunting management plans are needed to avoid an environmental catastrophe.

Humans have shared forests for millennia, but are now destroying them

"Humans have lived in the forests of Central Africa for thousands of years, until recently practicing subsistence hunting for the needs of their communities," said Kate Abernethy, lead author of the study. "Over the past few decades, this dynamic has drastically changed. Much of the hunting is now commercially driven, and species that play important ecological functions are being driven to local extinction."

Continued

UK forests still feeling the impacts of 1976 drought

The sizzling summer of 1976 caused permanent changes to British forests, new research suggests.

Scientists found that the long dry spell that year - the UK's most intense drought between 1914 and 2006 - killed off many drought-sensitive beech trees.

Growth of the trees is still restricted more than 30 years later, a study in the journal Functional Ecology said.

The more drought-tolerant Sessile Oak survived better and is now dominating the beech.

 

“They are resistant up to a point and then we hit a tipping point and the system shows very severe impacts”, Prof Alistair JumpUniversity of Stirling

The scientific work was carried out at Lady Wood Park in the Wye Valley. This 45 hectare (111 acre) site is a national nature reserve and is attractive to researchers because it has been deliberately unmanaged since 1945.

Detailed forest surveys have been carried out in the park over the past 70 years and the ecologists were able to use these along with tree ring data to discover how the different tree species fared over the period.

Continued

Snakes Devour More Mosquito-Eating Birds as Climate Change Heats Forests

July 11, 2013 — Many birds feed on mosquitoes that spread the West Nile virus, a disease that killed 286 people in the United States in 2012 according to the Centers for Disease Control. Birdsalso eat insects that can be agricultural pests. However, rising temperatures threaten wild birds, including the Missouri-native Acadian flycatcher, by making snakes more active, according to University of Missouri biologist John Faaborg. He noted that farmers, public health officials and wildlife managers should be aware of complex indirect effects of climate change in addition to the more obvious influences of higher temperatures and irregular weather patterns.

"A warmer climate may be causing snakes to become more active and seek more baby birds for food," said Faaborg, professor of biological sciences in MU's College of Arts and Science. "Although our study used 20 years of data from Missouri, similar threats to bird populations may occur around the world. Increased snake predation on birds is an example of an indirect consequence that forecasts of the effects of climate change often do not take into account."

In the heart of Missouri's Ozark forest, cooler temperatures usually make snakes less active than in the edge of the forest or in smaller pockets of woodland. However, during abnormally hot years, even the interior of the forest increases in temperature. Since snakes are cold-blooded, warmer temperatures make the reptiles more active and increase their need for food. Previous studies using video cameras found that snakes are major predators of young birds.

Read on

England’s forests to be saved for the nation

Report recommends ‘triple bottom line' valuation of England's woodlands - delivering benefits for people, nature and the green economy

July 2012. The Independent Panel on Forestry, set up to advise the Government on the future of England's forests and woodlands, has published its final report to Government. The report calls for the benefits of England's woods and forests to be re-valued for all the services they provide. These include not only areas for recreation, but also clean air, clean water, habitats for wildlife, locking up carbon, shading in cities - even helping in flood reduction. Wood is the raw material for timber frame buildings, furniture, flooring, fuel, and of course paper.

Triple bottom line
The report highlights the ‘triple bottom line' that forestry delivers and calls for a revival of a woodland culture that appreciates how important trees are for people, for nature and the economy. The public forest estate is the single largest provider of outdoor leisure and recreation in England. And it is also the single largest timber producer, as well as being a vital habitat for wildlife. Research shows that these elements are producing annual returns on investment estimated at £400 million.

With more than 80% of England's woods and forests being outside of the public forest estate, they call for more of these woods and forests to be sustainably managed to create a substantial impact.

Speaking on behalf of the Panel members, The Right Reverend James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, said: "The Panel's work over the last year has shown that our woodlands, managed sustainably, can offer solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing society today. We have consulted widely, visited woods and forests around the country and read over 42,000 submissions.

There is untapped potential within England's woodlands to create jobs, to sustain skills and livelihoods, to improve the health and wellbeing of people and to provide better and more connected places for nature.

Most importantly, the public forest estate needs to be free from the electoral cycle, for trees have long lifecycles - decisions taken now are looking to a future that is 50, or even 100, years down the line. And the bodies managing the public forest estate and advising woodland owners need to evolve and be free to become much more entrepreneurial.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/forest-england.html

Tackle Fungal Forces to Save Crops, Forests and Endangered Animals, Say Scientists

ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2012) — More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops, according to research published April 11 in the journal Nature.

Furthermore, data reviewed by scientists suggests that in 70% of cases where infectious disease causes the extinction of a type of animal or plant, an emerging species of fungus is behind the problem. Evidence suggests this figure is increasing.

The scientists behind the study, from the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and institutions in the US, are calling for new solutions to prevent the proliferation of existing and emerging fungal infections in plants and animals in order to prevent further loss of biodiversity and food shortages in the future.

Fungal infections presently destroy at least 125 million tonnes of the top five food crops -- rice, wheat, maize, potatoes and soybeans -- each year, which could otherwise be used to feed those who do not get enough to eat. These crops provide the majority of calories consumed by people.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120411132000.htm

The 3 most important forests for birds

Seeing the good for the trees: Global assessment identifies world's most important wildlife forests

December 2011. As the world tightens its economic belt, resources to address the world's growing environmental problems are becoming increasingly limited. These reducing resources means the ability to establish the utmost conservation priorities is more important than ever to achieve the greatest returns for the investment.

Hawaii, Palau, and the tropical African islands of São Tomé & Príncipe
A new report - published in the journal PLoS ONE - identifies those forests that appear to be the most important for bird species, and are in most urgent need of conservation. The top three areas, according to the assessment, are: the forests of Hawaii; Palau in the Pacific; and the forests of the tropical African islands of São Tomé, Príncipe and Annobón.

The coastal and mountain forests of South America also scored particularly highly. Areas like the Amazon basin, which support large numbers of species, often scored lower because the species present there still have very large global ranges.

The authors of the report from RSPB and BirdLife International used species distributions and forest cover from satellite imagery to estimate the contribution that 25 square-kilometre blocks of forest make toward conserving the world's birds. By combining this information with rates of forest clearance (mainly logging), the most important forests for conservation were identified.

Around 6000 species of the world's birds (60 per cent) are dependent to a considerable extent on forests, and some of these are the most threatened species on earth.

Graeme Buchanan, who is an RSPB conservation scientist, is the paper's lead author. He said: "More birds are dependent on forests than any other habitat. Our analysis makes an objective assessment of the importance of every patch of forest on the globe for birds. We hope our report is used alongside other information to guide investment to those areas in most urgent need of conservation management.

"This is a particularly timely analysis, because the world's governments have recently agreed through the to increase the global coverage of protected areas, through the Convention on Biodiversity. Legal protection is one method by which areas could be safeguarded, and our analysis is a contribution towards deciding where new protected areas would have the greatest impact."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bird-forests.html

3 February 2011 Last updated at 15:44
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12337200

Why are we a nation of tree-huggers?

By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine

Continue reading the main story

In today's Magazine

• You, me and everyone else
• Louis Theroux meets the 'ultra-Zionists'
• 10 unusual names for a newspaper
• Caption Competition

Plans to transfer ownership of many public forests in England have provoked a huge row. But why are we so protective of our woodlands?

It's about the rustling of the leaves and the crunch of twigs underfoot. It's the sensation of the rough bark on your hands and the light dappling into a clearing.

Above all, it's a place where nature takes priority over humans.

For the vast majority of us, living in towns and cities, visiting a forest is the easiest way to escape our mechanised, wipe-clean, ring-roaded civilisation and properly get back to nature.

As the government is finding out, a forest unleashes something deeply primordial in otherwise domesticated, suburban Britons.

Continue reading the main story

What are ancient woodlands?

• Areas continuously wooded since 1600 in England and Wales, or 1750 in Scotland
• Some recorded in Domesday Book, the 1086 inventory of England and parts of Wales
• Home to diverse range of plants, from fungi and ferns to ancient oaks
• And gnarled old trees provide habitat for wide variety of insects and birds

• What's in these forests (BBC Wildlife Finder)
• Disease: The other threat to our woodlands

Plans to radically change the ownership of some of England's forests have provoked a furious backlash. The government plans to lease large commercial forests to private companies, while allowing community groups to buy or lease forests and encouraging charities to own or manage "heritage" forests. But at the same time it is increasing open market sales of forests.

A YouGov poll suggested that 84% of people were opposed. to the government's plans, with one pressure group saying it had collected 400,000 signatures on a petition.

Such august public figures as Dame Judi Dench, poet laureate Carol Anne Duffy and the Archbishop of Canterbury have spearheaded a campaign against the move, and even the Sunday Telegraph - not generally noted for its antipathy to free-market principles - denounced the privatisation in a leader. Critics fear public access - despite the government's assurances - could be undermined.

Ministers insist giving community and civil society groups the opportunity to buy or lease forests will make the estates more responsive to the needs of the public.

But whatever one's views on the proposals, the hostility expressed by middle England and the pointed disavowal of the plans by devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales illustrates how protective the British are of their trees.

Indeed, it is a response that tells us much about a country in which 90% of the population live in urban areas.

Woodlands are hugely popular, with some 40 million visits made to publicly-owned forests in England alone each year. The Forestry Commission says its land across Britain - which does include non-wooded areas - attracts more visitors than does the combined seaside of this island nation.

And as the allure of the wilderness attracts walkers, cyclists and nature lovers in their multitudes, it hardly seems fanciful to speculate that there might be something deep in the national psyche that is roused by trees.

Why trees are a force for good

Peter Duncan, ex-Blue Peter presenter and the Scout Association's Chief Scout 2004-9

"I've seen for myself what a difference it can make when you help kids get out into the forests when they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity.

"For young people who come from an urban background, the benefits are enormous.

"That sense of connection with nature is hugely valuable.

"I think what it comes down to is that, somehow, trees give us protection. Clearly our ancestors felt the same."

• Forests become political battle
• Consulation on England's Public Forest Estate (PDF)

They loom heavily, after all, in our national myths and legends. Sherwood Forest is a symbol of anarchic freedom for Robin Hood and his outlaws. Conversely, to Macbeth, the march of Birnam Wood is redolent of nature at its most menacing and terrifying.

For biologist and writer Colin Tudge, author of The Secret Life of Trees: How They Live and Why They Matter, forests are an intrinsic part not just of British culture, but of the human psyche.

"There's this very primitive response, " he says. "All of us like trees as aesthetic things: they are beautiful.

"Essentially, we [British people] are woodland creatures - we like to live on the edge of woods. We all know that life surrounded by trees is so much more comfortable."

This apparent affinity has not prevented various arboreal misconceptions taking grip, however.

In his seminal book Woodlands, Cambridge botanist Professor Oliver Rackham dismisses the notion that medieval Britain was one big forest wilderness of vast, looming oaks and that the industrial revolution signalled a nationwide orgy of tree-chopping.

In fact, the high point of forestation was sometime in the Bronze Age. Most oaks in the Middle Ages were smaller than they were today and, Rackham argues, industrialisation and urbanisation actually acted as a catalyst for preservation.

Indeed, since the creation of the Forestry Commission in 1919, the proportion of the UK covered in trees has risen from 4% to 12%. Nonetheless, this remains well below the rest of the EU, where the figure is typically closer to 30%, according to the Woodland Trust.

Green and pleasant land

• Woodlands and forest cover 12% of Britain
• Largest broad leaf tree is 270-year-old London Plane in Dorset
• It stands 51m tall - similar to Nelson's Column
• Planes suit urban areas as bark flakes off, taking pollution with it

• Watch Steve Backshall climb it
• More clips of broad leaf forests

According to Rachel Johnson, journalist and president of the Save England's Forests campaign, it is this scarcity that makes the woods so precious to the suburban nature-lovers who form the backbone of her crusade.

"They want to escape," she says. "Most of us live in cities and go from A to B in our cars or on public transport.

"The mature forest is really our equivalent of the rainforest."

However, not all woodlands enthusiasts are so hostile to the proposals.

Tom Curtis, director of LandShare, a not-for-profit organisation which advises foresters and landowners on managing their resources, believes they have the potential to give the people who use the forests more of a say.

"The plans could potentially give people more of a connection with their local woods," he says.

"However, I think it's natural that people feel so strongly about our forests. They realise that, deep down, we are absolutely dependent on them for survival."

Whichever way the debate plays out, the passions stirred by the subject are unlikely to go away. And in this regard, whichever side ultimately triumphs will be the one that manages to see the wood for the trees.