The International Forest List Weekly News Digest - August 17, 2024

[IFL Owner]

“Nature doesn't need people - people need nature; nature would survive the extinction of the human being and go on just fine, but human culture, human beings, cannot survive without nature.” - Harrison Ford

Sustainable forestry project expects $3 million infusion from EPA
Roanoke Cooperative and its nonprofit Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project anticipate an extension and expansion of the project’s services to forest owners and farmers in North Carolina from an infusion of funding from the Environmental…
https://www.rrspin.com/news/9322-sustainable-forestry-project-expects-3-million-infusion-from-epa.html

Lidar is Changing Workflows in the Forestry Industry
Since the invention of lidar in the 1960s, its usage has continued to expand, with the last couple of decades in particular marking significant upticks in use cases. Today, it is still most associated with the automotive and surveying industries, with most manufacturers…
https://www.geoweeknews.com/news/digital-forestry-lidar-remote-sensing-point-clouds-ai-machine-learning

Enhanced woody biomass production in a mature temperate forest under elevated CO2
Enhanced CO2 assimilation by forests as atmospheric CO2 concentration rises could slow the rate of CO2 increase if the assimilated carbon is allocated to long-lived biomass. Experiments in young tree plantations support a CO2 fertilization effect as atmospheric…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-02090-3

We pumped extra CO₂ into an oak forest and discovered trees will be ‘woodier’ in future
Oak trees accumulate more wood when there is more carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere. That’s the key finding from our new study, carried out in a long-established forest in Staffordshire, England, that we have turned into a huge field…
https://theconversation.com/we-pumped-extra-co-into-an-oak-forest-and-discovered-trees-will-be-woodier-in-future-236617

New forest condition monitor shows dynamic changes in forests resulting from extreme climate change events
According to the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), large parts of the German forest show an increase in damage as a result of the extreme drought period in Germany during recent years. However, hardly any data is available capturing the…
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-forest-condition-dynamic-forests-resulting.html

The latest data confirms: Forest fires are getting worse
The latest data on forest fires confirms what we've long feared: Forest fires are becoming more widespread, burning at least twice as much tree cover today as they did two decades ago. Using data from researchers at the University of Maryland, recently updated to…
https://www.preventionweb.net/news/latest-data-confirms-forest-fires-are-getting-worse

Forest restoration can boost people, nature and climate simultaneously
Forest restoration can benefit humans, boost biodiversity and help tackle climate change simultaneously, new research suggests. Restoring forests is often seen in terms of "trade-offs"—meaning it often focuses on a specific goal such as capturing carbon, nurturing…
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-forest-boost-people-nature-climate.html

Republic of Congo Economic Update - Eleventh Edition: Designing Fiscal Instruments for Sustainable Forestry and Economic Growth
A new World Bank report released today shows that the Congolese economy is gradually recovering, with GDP growth estimated at 1.9% in 2023. Growth is projected to reach 3.5% in 2024, supported by oil and non-oil activities that are expected to increase by 4.2%...
https://reliefweb.int/report/congo/republic-congo-economic-update-eleventh-edition-designing-fiscal-instruments-sustainable-forestry-and-economic-growth

Global latitudinal patterns in forest ecosystem nitrous oxide emissions are related to hydroclimate
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are a serious global issue, with substantial evidence indicating that hydroclimate processes significantly contribute to these emissions. Forests, covering one-third of global land, are key in the water cycle and influence…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-024-00737-8

Advancing Agriculture and Forestry with Human-Centered AI: Challenges and Opportunities
The global shift towards digital transformation is largely driven by advances in AI, particularly statistical ML. AI’s capacity for intelligent analysis, modeling, and management is becoming crucial in sectors like agriculture and forestry, where it aids…
https://www.marktechpost.com/2024/08/13/advancing-agriculture-and-forestry-with-human-centered-ai-challenges-and-opportunities/

Individual tree diameter growth modelling for natural secondary forest in Changbai Mountains, Northeast China
Individual modelling is a foundational approach to study the natural forest growth and in this paper, we develop a serial distance-depended individual tree model for some species in natural forest which would provide prediction and characteristics for natural species…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-69675-y

Forests around Stehekin have always burned. What lessons do they hold for a smoldering West?
They’re going to try to hold the wildfire off at Little Boulder Creek, using the cut as a natural firebreak. At the same time, they’ll hit it from above, pushing for all available planes and helicopters to dump water and retardant chemicals in the path of the Pioneer fire, the…
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/forests-around-stehekin-have-always-burned-what-lessons-do-they-hold-for-a-smoldering-west/

Life inside Australia's Daintree- The world's oldest rainforest
Nestled in the far north of Queensland, Australia, the Daintree Rainforest is a mesmerising, ancient wonder that has stood the test of time. With a history stretching back over 180 million years, it is the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, predating even the Amazon…
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/australia-life-inside-daintree-rainforest-worlds-oldest-rainforest/articleshow/112521690.cms

Tree mortality may lead to carbon tipping point in the Amazon by 2050s
The Amazon rainforest is home to a diverse cast of plants and animals. This vital, verdant landscape also plays a crucial role in managing the effects of climate change by storing significant amounts of carbon and helping regulate temperatures and rainfall both…
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-tree-mortality-carbon-amazon-2050s.html

Plan to restore west Wales' Celtic rainforests
Rainforests used to cover much of the west coast of Britain, but were destroyed over hundreds of years and, today, only a few remain. But thanks to Wales' rainy weather, some could be returned, with the latest restoration project planned in Pembrokeshire…
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gddwvz88lo

The Tropical Rainforest Is Disappearing at an Alarming Rate
Tropical rainforests have gone into serious decline over the past decade. In terms of hectares lost, Brazil far outstrips any other country, with a staggering 1.49 million hectares destroyed on average per year between 2021 and 2023. This is according to data…
https://www.statista.com/chart/32843/countries-with-the-highest-primary-tropical-forest-losses/

‘Who will protect us from seeing the world’s largest rainforest burn?’ The mental exhaustion faced by climate scientists
“When I first found out the Amazon forest was becoming a source of carbon emissions a few years ago, I was devastated,” says Luciana Gatti, a climate scientist at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research in São José dos Campos. Because it has been…
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02605-0

Centre adds 3 more bird sanctuaries to Ramsar List; India’s wetlands rise to 85
The Union government on Wednesday added three more bird sanctuaries from Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh to the prestigious Ramsar Site list, taking India’s total tally of wetlands to 85. The latest Wetlands of International Importance, added on the eve…
https://morungexpress.com/centre-adds-3-more-bird-sanctuaries-to-ramsar-list-indias-wetlands-rise-to-85

Volunteers from around Europe restoring wetland in Šumava National Park
In the week from 17 to 24 August 2024, more than 30 young volunteers from five European countries will participate in an international camp focused on wetland restoration in Šumava National Park. The event is organised jointly with the Šumava National Park…
https://english.radio.cz/volunteers-around-europe-restoring-wetland-sumava-national-park-8825541

State sets new precedent with law to protect vulnerable landscapes: 'Failing to restore protections ... would have been a death sentence'
The U.S. Supreme Court's Sackett decision may have demolished many existing wetland protections, but the state of Colorado won't let that stop them. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Jared Polis, the state's governor, signed a law that effectively…
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/colorado-wetlands-protections-sackett-decision/

Mangrove and Seagrass Mapping Informs Jamaica’s Climate Policy
Seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, and salt marshes—all types of coastal wetlands—are the only marine ecosystems that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change officially recognizes as helping governments to meet their climate change mitigation…
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/08/14/mangrove-and-seagrass-mapping-informs-jamaicas-climate-policy

‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetland
As the evening sky turns violet, the animals of the Pantanal gather near the water. Capybaras swim in tight formation, roseate spoonbills add smudges of pink to the riverbanks, the rumble of a jaguar pulsates from the forest…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/12/hidrovia-brazil-pantanal-biodiversity-carbon-wetland-dredging-ports-paraguay-river-industrial-waterway-aoe

Assessment of physicochemical properties of the sediment from Gangetic floodplain wetlands of West Bengal, India with GIS and statistical approach
Bottom sediments play a pivotal role in wetland productivity, and here eight Gangetic floodplain wetlands of India were studied to assess the sediment physicochemical characteristics and textural analysis. During the period of study of one year, the pH…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1397715/abstract

Shrinking Caspian Sea likely to drain coastal wetlands
It is estimated that Anzali wetland will completely dry up in 35 years, and Gorgan Bay is expected to undergo severe dryness in the next 10 years, IRNA reported. The Caspian Sea, the largest lake in the world with a coastline that stretches seven thousand kilometers…
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/502452/Shrinking-Caspian-Sea-likely-to-drain-coastal-wetlands

Plant-microbe interactions underpin contrasting enzymatic responses to wetland drainage
Researchers led by Professor Feng Xiaojuan from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS) have analyzed the divergent responses of carbon-degrading enzymes to wetland drainage and found that enzymatic response to long-term drainage…
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-microbe-interactions-underpin-contrasting-enzymatic.html

Apple to reclaim wetlands near its Iowa data center
Apple is applying to the City of Waukee in Iowa, just west of Des Moines, to return some of its land surrounding its iCloud data center back into a freshwater marsh, also known as a "prairie pothole…
https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/08/10/apple-to-reclaim-wetlands-near-its-iowa-data-center

Restore our soil and our planet
Soil, often overlooked, is the unsung hero of our planet. This complex ecosystem, teeming with life, underpins agriculture, filters water, and regulates the climate. Yet, this vital resource is under siege. Human activities have pushed…
https://www.sentinelassam.com/more-news/editorial/restore-our-soil-and-our-planet

Soil Science Success Under National Soil Action Plan
Queensland has been successful in obtaining $2.75 million of Australian Government funding under the National Soil Action Plan for new soil science projects. Led by the Australian Government, the National Soil Action Plan 2023 to 2028 seeks to…
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/soil-science-success-under-national-soil-action-plan/

Scientists Issue 'Giant Mercury Bomb' Warning
The melting of permafrost in the Arctic could result in toxic mercury leaching into the waters of Alaskan rivers, putting millions of people at risk. This "giant mercury bomb" lurks within the soils of permafrost in Alaska, which is slowly melting and being washed away…
https://www.newsweek.com/permafrost-arctic-alaska-mercury-soil-melting-climate-change-1940472

Rising mercury pollution in soil could be related to climate change, study suggests
In 2017, the Minamata Convention on Mercury went into effect, designed to help curb mercury emissions and limit exposure across the globe. However, a new study of mercury levels in soil suggests that the treaty's provisions might not be enough. A study published…
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-mercury-pollution-soil-climate.html

Soundscape study shows how underground acoustics can amplify soil health
Barely audible to human ears, healthy soils produce a cacophony of sounds in many forms—a bit like an underground rave concert of bubble pops and clicks. Special recordings made by Flinders University ecologists in Australia show that this…
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-soundscape-underground-acoustics-amplify-soil.html

Ukrainian scientists race to document soil fungi amid ongoing war
Ukrainian researchers are conducting a nationwide soil sampling project to study fungal diversity. The study contributes to a global database, fills knowledge gaps about Ukraine’s fungi, and may help assess the war’s environmental impact. 34 contributors collected…
https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/08/15/ukrainian-scientists-race-to-document-soil-fungi-amid-ongoing-war/

Wildfire impact: How is it monitored & measured?
Wildfires have been receiving more attention in the media in recent years, with climate change-related extreme weather events contributing to an increase in their frequency and severity, particularly in northern extra-tropical regions. From Canada to Hawai’i and…
https://climate.copernicus.eu/wildfire-impact-how-it-monitored-measured

Evolution stage identification and spatial pattern analysis of Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas based on Gaofen-2 satellite data
The quantitative extraction and evolution stage identification of the Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas are the basis for the restoration of regional plants and the reconstruction of degraded ecosystems. In this paper, the Nitraria tangutorum nebkha in Dengkou County…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-69682-z

Satellite-ground synchronous in-situ dataset of water optical parameters and surface temperature for typical lakes in China
Remote sensing technology has the potential to enhance the lake’s large-scale and long-term dynamic monitoring capabilities significantly. High-quality in-situ datasets are essential for improving the accuracy and reliability of remote sensing retrieval of…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-03704-3

Environmental variables improve the accuracy of remote sensing estimation of soil organic carbon content
Accurately and quickly estimating the soil organic carbon (SOC) content is crucial in the monitoring of global carbon. Environmental variables play a significant role in improving the accuracy of the SOC content estimation model. This study focuses on modelling…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-68424-5

Heat inequality ‘causing thousands of unreported deaths in poor countries’
Heat inequality is causing thousands of unreported deaths in poor countries and communities across the world, a leading analyst of climate impacts has warned, following global temperature records that may not have been seen in 120,000 years…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/16/heat-inequality-causing-thousands-of-unreported-deaths-in-poor-countries

Red colobus are Africa’s most endangered monkeys – protecting them will also safeguard forests
Many people have never heard of a red colobus, yet they are Africa’s most imperilled group of monkeys. There are 17 species of red colobus found in tropical forests from Senegal in west Africa to the Zanzibar archipelago in east Africa. These photogenic monkeys have…
https://theconversation.com/red-colobus-are-africas-most-endangered-monkeys-protecting-them-will-also-safeguard-forests-233190

Crashes, blackouts and climate tipping points: how can we tell when a system is close to the edge?
According to the infamous myth, groups of lemmings sometimes run off cliffs to their collective doom. Imagine you are one of these rodents: on a sunny day you join your companions in a joyous climb up a mountain beneath clear skies…
https://theconversation.com/crashes-blackouts-and-climate-tipping-points-how-can-we-tell-when-a-system-is-close-to-the-edge-236683

Mediterranean Sea reaches highest surface temperature ever recorded
The Mediterranean Sea reached its highest surface temperature with a daily median of 28.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday, according to Spanish researchers, topping a previous record set last month. For two successive summers, the Mediterranean has been warmer than it…
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240816-mediterranean-sea-reaches-highest-surface-temperature-ever-recorded-climate-change

How do we fight wildfires as temperatures rise?
Fire has burned through forests for hundreds of millions of years, but now unprecedented wildfires are burning hotter and longer, partly due to climate change. Declining rainfall and longer droughts are making forests so dry that localized lightning can spark a small fire…
https://www.dw.com/en/how-do-we-fight-wildfires-as-temperatures-rise/a-62725149

World Court to hold hearings in case that may define countries' climate obligations
The International Court of Justice said on Friday it would hold public hearings starting Dec. 2 in an advisory opinion case that may become a reference point in defining countries' legal obligations to fight climate change…
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/world-court-hold-hearings-case-that-may-define-countries-climate-obligations-2024-08-16/

Himalayan village in Nepal hit by icy floods
A Sherpa village in Nepal’s Everest region has been engulfed by icy flood waters, officials say. Experts suspect Thame - which sits at an altitude of about 3,800m - was flooded after a glacial lake burst its banks. Scientists have warned that climate change is causing…
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3pz2py7vo

Conservationists try to protect ecologically rich Alabama delta from development, climate change
Thousands of American lotuses carpet the water’s surface, faces turned toward the morning sun. Bright yellow warblers flit among cypress trees along a creek bank. A paddlefish jumps as a motorboat rounds a bend…
https://apnews.com/article/alabama-mobile-tensaw-delta-conservation-climate-c8dcbc7cbbb4e6e1a1ced2f872010985

Compiled by Nelson Wong

IFL Owner