The International Forest List Weekly News Digest - February 24, 2024

[IFL Owner]

“Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers - and never succeeding.” - Gian Carlo Menotti

Policies focused on forest fringe can help combat ‘omnipresent’ tropical biodiversity crisis
New research shows the diversity of plant and animal life in 14 tropical reserves in Mesoamerica has plummeted since 1990 as roads and cattle ranches have expanded into protected areas. Large mammals, birds, and reptiles are disappearing, while disease…
https://news.stanford.edu/2024/02/15/biodiversity-crisis-protected-forests/

A chromosome-level genome assembly of the forestry pest Coronaproctus castanopsis
As an important forestry pest, Coronaproctus castanopsis (Monophlebidae) has caused serious damage to the globally valuable Gutianshan ecosystem, China. In this study, we assembled the first chromosome-level genome of the female specimen of C….
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-03016-6

Why Is The Forest Service Sacrificing Idaho’s Wildest River Amid Climate Crisis?
When it comes to wild rivers, Idaho is among the richest within the lower 48 states. But the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest is about to abandon protections for some of the state’s most cherished free-flowing gems…
https://www.americanrivers.org/2024/02/why-is-the-forest-service-sacrificing-idahos-wildest-river-amid-climate-crisis/

Penn State Extension to host webinars on the impact of war on forests in Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is affecting human lives and the environment. Essential water sources have been tainted due to infrastructure damage, while widespread deforestation and soil erosion present immediate threats to public health and delicate…
https://www.psu.edu/news/agricultural-sciences/story/penn-state-extension-host-webinars-impact-war-forests-ukraine/

Quality scores for forestry carbon credit types reveal complex landscape of integrity risks, transparency issues
The Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) released new scores for two types of forestry carbon credits: improved forest management (IFM) and commercial afforestation. Together, these project types comprise approximately 10% of recent credit issuances…
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-quality-scores-forestry-carbon-credit.html

Examining a century of change in a New York City urban forest
There haven’t been many long-term studies on urban forests, but data collected from the Thain Family Forest, which the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) has been stewarding for more than a century, has provided an opportunity for scientists from The Forest School at…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1034979

Revolutionizing Forestry: CRISPR's Leap from Labs to Forests
Uncover the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in non-timber forestry as it moves beyond medical research into ecological management and conservation. This special issue of 'Forests' highlights the technology's power to revolutionize sustainable…
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/agriculture/revolutionizing-forestry-crisprs-leap-from-labs-to-forests

Antarctica's miniature moss 'forests' reveal shifts in climate across thousands of years
Think Antarctica, and you probably imagine snow and ice and not much else. But the frozen continent is also home to lush beds of green moss. Capable of surviving Antarctica's extreme cold and wind, moss beds can live for centuries or even millennia…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-02-16/science-envt-antarctic-moss-and-climate-change/103431828

Unique forest research on climate change
The natural world, its biodiversity and its constituent ecosystems are critically important to our wellbeing and economic prosperity. The dynamic response of forests to environmental change, including climate change, is only partially understood…
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/global-goals/climate-action/air-quality/unique-forest-research-on-climate-change

LignoSat probe: Kyoto scientists plan to send wood satellite into space
The LignoSat probe, designed by researchers at Kyoto University, is made from magnolia wood. The wood was tested out for a year at the International Space Station (ISS) and was found to be super stable and crack resistant. Now plans are being finalised for the…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/68330304

Converting rainforest to plantation impacts food webs and biodiversity
Every day, new areas of rainforests are converted into plantations, drastically changing tropical biodiversity and the way the ecosystem functions. Yet, the current understanding of the consequences is fragmentary: previous studies tended to examine either…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1035124

Carbon emissions from the destruction of mangrove forests predicted to increase by 50,000% by the end of the century
The annual rate of carbon emissions due to the degradation of carbon stocks in mangrove forests is predicted to rise by nearly 50,000% by the end of the century, according to a new study published in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research Letters. Mangroves…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1034805

QBiotics wins FDA orphan status for rainforest-derived cancer drug
Australian biotech QBiotics has won an orphan drug designation for a drug based on a chemical obtained from the blushwood tree, which is being investigated as a treatment for a rare group of cancers called soft tissue sarcoma…
https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/qbiotics-wins-fda-orphan-status-for-rainforest-derived-cancer-drug/?cf-view&cf-closed

Tropical rainforests are losing their resilience worldwide
Tropical rainforests hold a wealth of biodiversity, but are globally approaching a critical point. The drastic decline is happening faster than expected, concludes an international research team. The team includes biologist Hans ter Steege, affiliated with Utrecht…
https://www.naturetoday.com/intl/en/nature-reports/message/?msg=31940

Measuring Trees Via Satellite Actually Takes A Great Deal Of Field Work
Figuring out what the Earth’s climate is going to do at any given point is a difficult task. To know how it will react to given events, you need to know what you’re working with. This requires an accurate model of everything from ocean currents to atmospheric heat…
https://hackaday.com/2024/02/20/measuring-trees-via-satellite-actually-takes-a-great-deal-of-field-work/

Biggest snake species in the world discovered in Amazon rainforest
Scientists have discovered a previously undocumented species of giant anaconda in the Amazon which they say can grow up to 7.5m and weighing close to 500kg, making it the largest and heaviest snake yet known in the world…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/biggest-snake-anaconda-amazon-b2500387.html

JAXA’s new high-resolution land use land cover map for Vietnam using a time-feature convolutional neural network
Land use land cover (LULC) maps are crucial for various applications, such as disaster management, natural resource conservation, biodiversity evaluation, climate modeling, etc. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released several high…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54308-1

Spy satellite images offer insights into historical ecosystem changes
A large number of historical spy-satellite photographs from the Cold War Era were declassified decades ago. This valuable remote sensing data has been utilized by scientists across a wide range of disciplines from archaeology to civil engineering…
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-spy-satellite-images-insights-historical.html

Landsat Explorer: Earth Science and Observation for All
On February 13th, 2024, we officially announced the availability of Landsat Explorer, making it easier than ever for anyone to access and analyze more than 40 years of multispectral imagery from the Landsat satellite missions. With a deep temporal…
https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-living-atlas/imagery/landsat-explorer-earth-science-and-observation-for-all/

Ground far-red sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and vegetation indices in the US Midwestern agroecosystems
Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provides an opportunity to study terrestrial ecosystem photosynthesis dynamics. However, the current coarse spatiotemporal satellite SIF products are challenging for mechanistic interpretations of SIF signals…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-03004-w

Keeping Cool: Unlocking the Climate Secrets of Eastern U.S. Reforestation
Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are needed along…
https://scitechdaily.com/keeping-cool-unlocking-the-climate-secrets-of-eastern-u-s-reforestation/

The mighty benefits of 'tiny forests'
In vacant lots, neglected parks and patches of land along busy stretches of road, residents are gathering to plant trees — lots of them, close together. "Tiny forests," which originated in Japan, are popping up across Canada and around the world…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/tiny-forests-japan-canada-1.7114111

Biofluorescence: Unseen world of the Celtic rainforest revealed by UV
An eerie glow has been emanating from Wales' forests and rockpools for the country's annual dark skies week. David Atthowe, a nature guide from Norwich, was invited to shine his ultraviolet (UV) torches on some of the best nature spots in Pembrokeshire and…
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-68301119

Mini rainforest initiative seeks to become a model for reforestation in Kalimantan
The government, researchers and companies are combining forces to build a miniature tropical rainforest in Kalimantan, hoping it will serve as a blueprint for the reforestation of barren lands in the region of Indonesia’s planned new capital, Nusantara…
https://www.eco-business.com/news/mini-rainforest-initiative-seeks-to-become-a-model-for-reforestation-in-kalimantan/

Dipterocarpoidae genomics reveal their demography and adaptations to Asian rainforests
Dipterocarpoideae species form the emergent layer of Asian rainforests. They are the indicator species for Asian rainforest distribution, but they are severely threatened. Here, to understand their adaptation and population decline, we assemble high-quality…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45836-5

Russia’s War on Ukraine Chills Arctic Climate Science
For much of his career, Alaska-based scientist Vladimir Romanovsky has collaborated with colleagues back home in his native Russia on one of the most important — and enigmatic — aspects of Earth’s climate system…
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/russias-war-on-ukraine-chills-arctic-climate-science/

Engineering plants with deeper roots could be a huge climate boon. Scientists just made a big find
A host of agricultural challenges—crops’ vulnerability to drought, massive nitrogen pollution and greenhouse gas emissions—share one elegant solution: getting plants to grow longer, deeper roots…
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/engineering-plants-with-deeper-roots-could-be-a-huge-climate-boon-scientists-just-made-a-big-find/

Maryland Wetlands Map Identifies Areas That Could Be Affected by Sea Level Rise
As sea level rise changes the coastal landscape of Maryland in the future some existing wetlands will be submerged, while existing land will become wetlands. A state mapping project coordinated by Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) provides…
https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2024/02/23/maryland-wetlands-map-identifies-areas-that-could-be-affected-by-sea-level-rise/

The historical resilience of the Bird’s Foot Delta wetlands could help future management
The Bird’s Foot Delta, a famous expanse of wetlands and navigation channels off the Louisiana coast, is an important transportation hub, moving fossil fuels and agricultural products to a global market. It also supports a biodiverse ecosystem for wetland…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1034814

Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program
In 2024, an additional $100 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding will be allocated through a competitive internal process under the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program to expand work outside the 21 designated Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes…
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildfire-crisis/collaborative-wildfire-risk-reduction

How the Supreme Court could gut environmental protections in 2024
The Supreme Court could soon gut the ability of federal agencies to limit the pollution that creates smog and causes climate change. This year, SCOTUS will weigh in on a pair of cases that could overturn or severely limit a foundational principal called Chevron…
https://www.theverge.com/24080192/supreme-court-pollution-environment-cases-2024-epa

United Nations criticizes ‘forever chemical’ contamination in North Carolina
Experts from the United Nations issued a statement this week criticizing companies for chemical contamination in North Carolina. In a statement, a group from the U.N. that included Marcos Orellana, special rapporteur on toxics and human rights, called…
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4484124-united-nations-criticizes-forever-chemical-contamination-in-north-carolina/

Botanical gardens ‘most effective’ green space at cooling streets in heatwaves
Few things are as soothing on a hot summer’s day as a walk through a beautiful botanical garden, but they are not just oases of calm. As climate breakdown fuels soaring temperatures, they could prove crucial in moderating the heat in the streets around them…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/23/botanical-gardens-most-effective-green-space-at-cooling-streets-in-heatwaves

UK government can never accept idea nature has rights, delegate tells UN
The UK government can never accept that nature or Mother Earth has rights, a British government official from the environment department has told the UN. The dismissal of a concept that has already been recognised in UN…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/22/uk-government-can-never-accept-idea-nature-has-rights-delegate-tells-un

The world’s spectacular animal migrations are dwindling. Fishing, fences and development are fast-tracking extinctions
In 1875, trillions of Rocky Mountain locusts gathered and began migrating across the western United States in search of food. The enormous swarm covered an area larger than California. Three decades later, these grasshoppers were extinct…
https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-spectacular-animal-migrations-are-dwindling-fishing-fences-and-development-are-fast-tracking-extinctions-222986

African Countries Ban Donkey Skin Trade
Animal welfare advocates have welcomed the decision of the African Union to ban the donkey skin trade which was fueled by the growing demand for the skins in China but contributed to the decline of the donkey population on the continent…
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/18493-african-countries-ban-donkey-skin-trade

France’s fast-fashion 'kill bill': Green move or penalty for the poor?
In a bid to combat the “fast-fashion” and “ultra-fast-fashion” brands that have taken France by storm, a young lawmaker from the conservative Les Républicains party has proposed slapping an extra €5 on every fast-fashion purchase in the name of the…
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240222-france-s-fast-fashion-kill-bill-green-move-or-penalty-for-the-poor

EU Policy. Conservationists alarmed at new market for carbon removal certificates
Wooden houses and sturdy furniture could soon receive potentially lucrative EU certification for their presumed role in reducing atmospheric CO2, but green groups are concerned that new rules on accounting for carbon removals do little to protect forests…
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/02/20/conservationists-alarmed-at-new-market-for-carbon-removal-certificates

Cerrado: Beef trade risks key Brazil ecosystem – campaigners
Beef production by three of the world's biggest meatpackers has been linked to illegal deforestation in Brazil's Cerrado, according to campaigners. The savannah, which featured in Planet Earth III, hosts 5% of Earth's species and is a buffer against global warming…
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68272643

Dandelions and shrubs to replace rubber, new grains and more: Are alternative crops realistic?
Katrina Cornish spends her days raising dandelions and desert shrubs. She harvests the stretchy rubber substances they produce and uses special machines to dip them into condoms, medical gloves and parts for trachea tubes. And she thinks those products…
https://apnews.com/article/guayule-dandelion-cassava-sorghum-millet-climate-crops-bde03a0f80220d9d8d3b0f32b7ffef9b

Compiled by Nelson Wong

IFL Owner