Tree Huggers

Published in Nature, the study underscores the importance of global forests in absorbing carbon dioxide and calls for immediate action to protect these ecosystems.

Key findings of the study

Researchers examined long-term ground measurements combined with remote sensing data and found significant regional variations in the capacity of forests to act as carbon sinks:

Boreal Forests:

• Significant decline in carbon sink capacity by 36 percent.

• Factors: increased disturbances from wildfires, insect outbreaks, and soil warming.

Tropical Forests:

• 31 percent decrease in carbon absorption capacity due to deforestation.

• Regrowth in previously abandoned agricultural lands and logged areas partially offsets these losses.

Temperate Forests:

• 30 percent increase in carbon sink capacity.

• Reasons: extensive reforestation efforts, particularly in China.

Although deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have halved, it is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London.

By combining satellite imagery for the entire Amazon region with data from the Brazilian national census, our new study found that deforestation in areas protected by Indigenous communities was up to 83% lower compared to unprotected areas. These results show that Indigenous communities can play an important environmental stewardship role by helping to prevent deforestation by people encroaching on their lands.

July 8, 2024

Deforestation in Colombia fell 36% in 2023 versus the previous year, the government said Monday, marking the lowest level since records began.

Officially classified under the genus Thismia, these peculiar plants defy conventional botanic norms. Lacking chlorophyll and leaves, they derive sustenance entirely from fungi nestled in the soil. Their fleeting presence above ground, marked by small, lantern-shaped blooms, adds to their mystique, often lasting no more than a week.

One such elusive species, Thismia neptunis, languished in obscurity for 151 years after its initial discovery in Borneo. Rediscovered through a photograph captured by botanist Odoardo Beccari, it underscores the challenges of locating these botanical curiosities.

Despite their rarity and cryptic nature, a recent breakthrough has occurred in Malaysian rainforests: the unveiling of Thismia malayana, a newfound species. Its discovery was heralded by the appearance of cup-shaped flowers emerging from leaf litter and decaying logs. (...)

“Noting that she had read studies about mushrooms growing around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, she came to understand further, through her work, that fungi are an extraordinarily resilient species of life that consume carbon, and even though petroleum products are toxic to plants, to mushrooms they are essentially a kind of carbon.

In fact, mushrooms break down several categories of toxic waste with the same enzymes they use to consume a dead tree. They can also eat plastic and other things made out of oil, like agrochemicals.”

Full Article Here

https://web.archive.org/save/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fclimate-solutions%2F2024%2F07%2F06%2Furban-tree-planting%2F

Alternative Youtube Link

This picture was too cute for me to resist!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16316375

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16316322

In Indonesia, women ranger teams go on patrol to slow deforestation

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/13186793

Couroupita guianensis, Penang botanical garden.

Make sure to check out the flowers too! https://mander.xyz/comment/10767031

Very cool project and glad to see it’s still going strong. Fun fact: I actually helped plant some of the very first trees here when it was just an empty field.