Climate change: 'Future proofing' forests to protect orangutans

By Helen Briggs BBC News

7 February 2019

A study has identified key tree species that are resilient to climate change and support critically endangered apes.

Planting them could help future proof rainforests, which are a key habitat for orangutans, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCN.

Researchers surveyed 250 plants in Indonesia's Kutai National Park.

Over 1,000 orangutans are thought to inhabit the park, as well as other rare animals such as the Malayan sun bear.

"Selecting which species to plant is a significant contribution to restoring the health of this ecosystem," said study co-author Douglas Sheil.

"Of course, the reasons why forest cover was lost in the first place must also be addressed for reforestation efforts to succeed."

Kutai National Park is located on the east coast of Borneo Island, in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesia.

The forest faces threats from logging, fires and mining, and was once considered a conservation wasteland.

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Tiny bees play big part in secret sex lives of trees

Date:  November 6, 2017

Source:  University of Texas at Austin

Summary:

When it comes to sex between plants, tiny bees the size of ladybugs play a critical role in promoting long-distance pairings. That's what scientists discovered after one of the most detailed paternity tests in wild trees ever conducted. The research gives new insights into how certain bees promote genetic diversity that is essential for plants to adapt to various threats, from disease to climate change.

     

Read more  

America's trees are fleeing north and west as climate changes but some may not survive

Researchers warns of 'significant ecological consequences and possible extinction' of some types of tree

Ian Johnston Environment Correspondent

Thursday 18 May 2017 16:55 BST

The trees of America are on the march.

Driven by changes in temperature and moisture, 65 per cent of more than 86 different tree species surveyed in the eastern US were found to be ‘moving’ west – gradually shifting their range as new trees are seeded – by researchers.

Some 55 per cent of the species had headed north, the scientists reported in the journal Science Advances.

They said some of the changes were similar to ones that took place between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago.

But they added: “The historical process took place over several thousand years, whereas the observed shift in this study happened in a few decades, suggesting the impacts of recent climate change … on vegetation dynamics.”

Other non-climatic factors, such as land use change and forest management, may have also played a part, cautioned the researchers, from the universities of Purdue, North Carolina State and Tennessee as well as the US Forest Service.

The trees were moving west more quickly than north.

On average over the last 30 years, they moved 15.4km per decade west, compared to 11km per decade north. Thirty-seven per cent of species moved northwest, while just two per cent headed southeast.

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SHOCK WARNING: 8,690 tree species in Amazon on verge of becoming EXTINCT

MORE than half of the 15,000 species of tree found in the Amazon rain forest are now on the brink of extinction, it has been revealed.

By STUART WINTER

PUBLISHED: 18:54, Fri, Nov 20, 2015 | UPDATED: 19:29, Fri, Nov 20, 2015

The worrying spectre of trees that could hold the secret to the cure of cancer and play host to the richest wildlife spectacular on the planet disappearing in our life times has been highlighted in a new study.

It reveals that between 36 and 57 per cent of Amazonian trees, that is as many as 8,690 different species, are likely to qualify as being globally threatened under IUCN Red List of Threatened Species criteria.

The new study, published tonight in the journal Science Advances, reached its shocking conclusions after comparing results of forest surveys across the Amazon with maps of current and projected deforestation to estimate how many tree species have been lost, and whereabouts.

A global global team made up of 158 researchers from 21 countries and involving Britain’s University of East Anglia (UEA) carried out the study, which also concluded that Amazonian parks, reserves, and indigenous territories, if properly managed, can protect most of the threatened species.

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Trees under threat: The oak, beech and birch could be lost if Britain does not act quickly

They help define our landscape, but it could be radically altered over the next century unless steps are taken to stop the onslaught of pests

IAN JOHNSTON

Sunday 11 January 2015

Urgent action must be taken to save Britain's forests from being devastated by a wave of new diseases brought by climate change and the global trade in plants, leading scientists have warned.

Species such as oak, ash, Scots pine, larch, beech, birch and juniper are all at risk from a host of new bugs, fungi and bacteria, some of which are already in the country. Others are expected to arrive soon.

One expert has warned that Britain's forests could suffer a similar fate to woodlands in much of the US, where vast stands of trees have been wiped out by beetles, whose numbers have exploded in the warmer temperatures. 

In a special issue of the journal Forestry, published this month, researchers have laid out a number of techniques that could help build resistance to pests and diseases.

These include creating genetically modified trees designed to withstand conditions such as ash die-back, and persuading the forestry industry to plant more "natural" forests that are better able than regimented, single-species plantations to withstand such onslaughts.

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As elephants go, so go the trees

Date:

November 18, 2014

Source:

University of Florida

Summary:

Overhunting has been disastrous for elephants, but their forest habitats have also been caught in the crossfire. A first-of-its-kind study shows that the dramatic loss of elephants, which disperse seeds after eating vegetation, is leading to the local extinction of a dominant tree species, with likely cascading effects for other forest life.

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Embracing a tree helps keep a koala cool

Tree-hugging helps koalas beat Australia’s heat, research has found. By spreading their bodies out over lower branches koalas are able to absorb the cooler temperatures that occur inside trees and reduce their core temperature. This not only makes them more comfortable but also increases their chances of surviving the intense heatwaves that take place in Australia. Unlike other animals, koalas do not use hollows or dens for shelter but rather spend their time exposed to the sun.

“They’re just stuck out on the tree all the time so when hot weather comes they’re completely exposed to it,” Dr Michael Kearney from the University of Melbourne’s zoology department told Guardian Australia.

“When a heatwave comes the most effective way for the koala to lose heat is through evaporation. They don’t sweat but they can pant and lick their fur.”

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Live fast, die young strategy spawned Amazon tree boom

By Mark Kinver

Environment reporter, BBC News

A "live fast, die young" life history strategy could have been a key factor behind today's high tree diversity in the Amazon, scientists have suggested.

The researchers hope the findings will shed light on why some groups of trees in the biodiversity hotspot contain hundreds of species.

An estimated 16,000 tree species - about 30% of the recorded total worldwide - are found in the Amazon.

The results have been published in the journal Ecology Letters.

'Big question'

"One of the big questions about understanding the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest is why have we got a range of groups of trees that contain so many species," explained co-author Tim Baker from the University of Leeds.

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Frogspawn in trees? How does that happen?

Mystery of 'tree frogspawn' solved 

February 2013. What leaves frog spawn six foot up a tree? There is a rational answer, and it doesn't involve a new breed of super-frog!

Staff at Devon Wildlife Trust's Working Wetlands project recently made a surprise discovery when working on land near Roadford Lake, in north Devon. They were quickly able to identify the jelly-like substance as frog spawn but weren't able to fathom how it had come to be on a tree trunk.

Project Manager Mark Elliott picks up the story: ‘Finding frogspawn at this time in winter is not that unusual, especially the mild weather of the past week. But finding it up in a tree was. It's not something I'd come across before. Common frogs lay their spawn in water and it's there that tadpoles develop. Not in trees!'

Mark took a photo of the frogspawn and sent it to Devon Biodiversity Records Centre for identification. It is DBRC's job to keep a central archive of the county's wildlife records. Staff there process thousands of biological sightings each year. The experience and expertise gained from this work meant that staff member Ellie Knot had seen similar cases before and was able to add an explanation to the puzzle.

Ellie said: ‘This kind of finding is commonly known as a 'star slime' - a lot of animals and birds eat frogs, but they don't eat their ovaries because the eggs or spawn contained in them expand massively when they come in to contact with water. This expansion would be enough to give anyone stomach-ache! Freshly laid spawn is fairly small - the eggs (in their jelly cases) are less than 5mm across, but once it has been around for a few hours the eggs expand to more than 1cm across. The clump of frogspawn usually ends up much larger than the frog that laid it. So, when birds, etc eat a frog they leave the ovaries behind, which then expand and burst when they get wet, leaving a clump of spawn.'

‘In fact, it is not that uncommon to find frogspawn in trees - buzzards and crows will often take frogs, retreat to a nearby perch and then eat their prey there, leaving the ovaries and the spawn behind after their meal.'

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/frogspawn-tree.html

World's Big Trees Are Dying: Alarming Increase in Death Rates Among Trees 100-300 Years Old

Dec. 6, 2012 — The largest living organisms on the planet, the big, old trees that harbour and sustain countless birds and other wildlife, are dying.

A report by three of the world's leading ecologists in today's issue of the journal Science warns of an alarming increase in deathrates among trees 100-300 years old in many of the world's forests, woodlands, savannahs, farming areas and even in cities.

"It's a worldwide problem and appears to be happening in most types of forest," says lead author Professor David Lindenmayer of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and Australian National University.

"Large old trees are critical in many natural and human-dominated environments. Studies of ecosystems around the world suggest populations of these trees are declining rapidly," he and colleagues Professor Bill Laurance of James Cook University, Australia, and Professor Jerry Franklin of Washington University, USA, say in their Science report.

"Research is urgently needed to identify the causes of rapid losses of large old trees and strategies for improved management. Without… policy changes, large old trees will diminish or disappear in many ecosystems, leading to losses of their associated biota and ecosystem functions."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206162519.htm

Panda Preferences Influence Trees Used for Scent Marking

ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2012) — As solitary animals, giant pandas have developed a number of ways to communicate those times when they are ready to come into close contact. One means of this communication occurs through scent marking. A recent study by San Diego Zoo Global researchers, collaborating with researchers at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, indicates that pandas make clear and specific choices about what trees are used for scent marking.

"Variables affecting the selection of scent-marking sites included bark roughnesss, presence of moss on the tree trunk, tree diameter and distance to the trail," said Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D., co-head of San Diego Zoo Global's Giant Panda Conservation Unit.

"These choices have clear effects on the scent signal, making it last longer, be detected from further away, or otherwise enhance its communication efficiency. We are not surprised that pandas are efficient with their use of chemo-signals, as mounting evidence suggests that many aspects of giant panda life history are constrained by their energetically poor diet."

This study, which was recently published in Animal Behavior, confirms that old-growth forest and other factors like tree type are important for maintaining habitat that will support giant panda conservation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120827152045.htm 

Mystery Fish Falls From Vancouver Tree Still Alive

It sounds fishy, but Jan Bailey insists it's true: She saw a mystery fish fall out of a cedar tree -- and it's still alive.

The bizarre incident happened on Monday when Bailey, who lives in Vancouver, B.C., saw a rather unusual-looking reddish orange fish, a little more than nine inches long, dive out of a tree in her backyard.

Bailey's husband was hooked and went over to the tree to investigate further and there, according to the Vancouver Sun,was the fish covered in cedar needles, but still alive.

After hauling out an old aquarium and filling it with water, Bailey started researching what kind of creature she was dealing with.

The fish seemed to match the description of a cichlid, an aquarium fish native to South and Central America and usually kept in indoor aquariums, according to the Regina Leader Post.

Employees at a local pet store confirmed the mystery fish was a Midas cichlid, but it is still a mystery how it got in Bailey's cedar tree.

Cindy Wilkinson, Bailey's friend and fellow fish rescuer, has one theory.

"Maybe someone was cleaning out its tank and left it outside for a minute," Wilkinson told the Vancouver Sun.

Another friend, Lynda Taylor, who owns a koi pond, thinks the mystery fish was put in an outdoor pond for the summer and snatched up for lunch by a passing eagle that dropped it.

The fish, which has been named "Lucky" is now in Taylor's possession and she has set him up in digs that are pretty cushy (for a fish, anyway): a small 30-gallon tank with pH-balanced water, plants and a bubbler to aerate his environment.

But this is just a temporary home. Bailey, Taylor and Wilkinson hope to reunite the mystery fish with its still-missing owner.

"It's an unusual fish. I'm sure not many people have lost one of these things," Wilkinson said, as reported by PracticalFishkeeping.co.uk.

video:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/mystery-fish-falls-from-tree_n_1757337.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news

Protestors claim railway line trees victory in Network Rail fight... for now

Environmental campaigners have claimed victory in their fight to stop Network Rail from clearing trees close to a railway line - for now.

More than 100 protestors with placards gathered for a demonstration in Whitstable this morning.

Three women even chained themselves to trees in protest at plans to clear embankments beside the railway line.

They say the trees, which are behind Cromwell Road, are home to dozens of pairs of breeding birds as well as protecting residents from noise.

Network Rail bosses have now decided to delay any clearance work until September after finding evidence of rare birds nesting beside the track.

KentOnline reporter Jess Banham, who was at the protest this morning, said: "There are some very happy protestors here.

"Network Rail have done another walk of the track and have decided there is evidence of rare birds nesting, so they're going to delay any clearance work until the end of September.

"But it's not quite good enough for the women chained to the tree, though - they're going to stay there until they get everything in writing."

Alan Johnson, from the RSPB, said: "We think this is an important green corridor and we need to protect it.

"We need to make sure birds are, during the breeding season in particular, well protected."

Continued:  http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2012/may/28/trees_protest.aspx

500 million trees possibly killed in drought in Texas

Texas Drought May Have Killed 500 Million Trees

Forests are among the most long-established habitats on the planet, forming their delicately balanced ecosystems over centuries -- and a new study in light of Texas's ongoing drought proves how quickly they can be decimated. According to the Texas Forest Service, as many as 500 million trees in the state -- roughly 10 percent of the forests there -- have been killed within the last year alone as a result of 2011's bizarre lack of rainfall. To make matters worse, the massive die-off may just be the first in a long line as climatologists predict more severe drought to come as climate change worsens over the next century.


Forestry officials recently surveyed trees throughout 63 million acres of drought-riddled Texas and say what they found that months of record heat and stiflingly arid conditioned have left anywhere between 100 million to as many as half-a-billion trees dead. Texas Forestry Service directory Tom Boggus calls the findings "very shocking", adding that they've witnessed "a significant change in the landscape."

According to the American-Statesmen, the loss of plant-life in Texas due to the drought may be worse yet. The study did not factor in the millions of trees that perished due to drought-related wildfires, which, in 2011, were particularly damaging.

The survey is based on the collective reports of local forestry professionals who were asked to measure the drought's toll in their areas.

They were asked to focus only on trees that had died from the 2011 drought and exclude "background mortality" from earlier droughts or drought-aided diseases, such as oak wilt.

Only trees of 5 inches or more in diameter, the point at which saplings become trees, were counted.

While it may be too soon to tell what role climate change has had on this tree-killing drought, it already has surpassed previous records; experts say that the dry-spell is the worst to hit Texas since rainfall data was first collected in 1895. Climatologists have already warned of a lack of rainfall associated with the global warming phenomena, but perhaps never before has the scale of a damage that results been measured so close to home.

In light of the Forest Service's survey, and the economic hit suffered by Texas's lumber industry from the undeniably abnormal drought, state officials may have no other choice but to address climate change as a reality.


http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/texas-drought-may-have-killed-500-million-trees.html

How 'bioluminescent' trees that glow like fireflies could one day replace our streetlights

By Niall Firth


Scientists are developing ways of making trees glow so they can be used as natural streetlights without the need for electricity.

A team of researchers are experimenting with genes to allow the trait that causes fireflies to glow -bioluminescence - to be implanted into a variety of different organisms.

As well as replacing traditional streetlights, bioluminescent plants would be useful for people who are not hooked up to the electricity grid.

And if more lights were ever required, they could simply be grown.

The scientists at Cambridge University used genes from fireflies and a special form of glowing sea bacteria to create ‘BioBricks’ – genetic building blocks that can be inserted into a genome.


After inserting the modified genes into a sample of e-coli bacteria they were able to produce a range of colours – and created a living light that was bright enough to read by.

The scientists created the glowing effect by creating a substance known as oxyluciferin which is naturally in a high-energy state at first. However it quickly settles into a more stable, lower-energy state, and when it does so it emits a single photon of light.

Geneticist Theo Sanderson, one of the members of the team, told New Scientist: ‘We didn't end up making bioluminescent trees, which was the inspiration for the project.

‘But we decided to make a set of parts that would allow future researchers to use bioluminescence more effectively.’

The research was presented at the annual International Genetically Engineered Machines competition (iGEM), held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The technology could even be used to make glowing signs that do not need to be wired up

The team say that there is huge commercial potential in replacing the street with natural bioluminescent systems.

The idea is also extremely environmentally friendly as no electricity would be required and the process which produces the photons of light is extremely energy-efficient.

The scientists have also considered the possibility that the fuel to fire the chemical reaction in the trees could come from human waste or food waste.

And if the plant species used was a form of algae then energy could be harnessed from sunlight.

The team say on their website: ‘We might imagine a system where a bioreactor in the roof of a house - supplied with leftover foodstuffs - could pipe glowing algae through the rooms of the house during the night and across the roof during the day.’

In separate research, Taiwanese scientists have found that inserting gold nanoparticles into the leaves of trees helped the chlorophyll to glow red.

Under ultraviolet light the nanoparticles glowed with blue light, causing the surrounding chlorophyll to glow red.