Forest Journalism for a Sustainable Future
The relationship is unexpected, but easy to comprehend: Cocaine trafficking is a direct cause of deforestation and associated losses of biodiversity in the rainforests of Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
And the repercussions are global in their reach.
An Oregon State University geographer is co-author of a new study that identifies and quantifies the effects of cocaine trafficking on rainforest destruction in Central America. [Read more…]
The scent of a crushed sassafras leaf is unforgettable – sweet, pungent, fragrant. If you have never plucked one of the leaves and rolled it around between your fingers, you should.
But sassafras trees are in danger in Georgia and other coastal states.
“Sassafras is susceptible to laurel wilt disease,” says U.S. Forest Service research mathematical statistician KaDonna Randolph. “The disease has not reached the heart of the sassafras range, but it is spreading throughout the Southeast.”
A nonnative fungus-beetle duo causes laurel wilt disease. The beetle, known as the redbay ambrosia beetle, has mandibular mycangia – pockets of fungus in its mouth. The fungus that causes laurel wilt disease can survive in these pockets. [Read more…]
Some plants are homebodies and refuse to thrive in new areas.
“Plants have unique abilities to thrive where they grow, but moving plants outside their genetically adapted environment might cause them not to grow as well,” says Joan Walker, a Southern Research Station research plant ecologist.
The U.S. Forest Service, led by Walker, is partnering with federal and state agencies, nonprofit organizations and universities across the South to help restore the longleaf pine native plant understory. The South Carolina Longleaf Pine Ground-Layer Common Garden Study compares how well native plant species from relatively wide-ranging geographical regions grew and flowered in a common location.
This multi-phased genetically based project is guiding land managers and producers with choosing suitable seed sources to help restore this valued plant community where native pollinators and threatened and endangered species live. [Read more…]
In our “biodiversity” section, Treesource.org will cover all aspects of biological interactions associated with forests: the diversity of plant and animals associated with different forest types and ages; the complexity or simplicity of forests; the insects and fungi that shape forests, both native and introduced species.
We will look at threatened, endangered and at-risk species and ecosystems, and how they are helped or harmed by human management of forests. We’ll examine how occurrences such as high numbers of deer or bark beetles can affect forest dynamics and their interaction with disturbances such as fire, fire exclusion, weather and climate events, and how that affects family forest owners, public landowners and production forest owners.
Finally, we will explore how forests and climate change interact with biological diversity and the implications for our parks, wildernesses and other reserved areas, as well as for the forests that are managed for other goods and services.
In addition to our original content, we will aggregate a variety of stories in this section, such as this look at a small habitat restoration project in Pennsylvania.
We will also look at broad geographic projects that work across ownerships to restore forested ecosystems to support a rich diversity of species while still producing income for landowners and providing the wood products that society needs to live sustainably on this planet.
These two videos are examples of efforts to restore longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States. It is a forest type that has been dramatically reduced over the past 100-plus years – and, subsequently, many of the plant and animal species that rely on it for their habitat. Many agencies and landowners have come together to create the economic incentives and develop the techniques to implement large-scale restoration through a multitude of smaller actions.
The integration of social will, with economic rewards, to achieve a desired environmental outcome is at the heart of sustainability. We hope you will join us on this exploration of what is possible when the alignment of all these worthy goals is achieved.