Forests

Environment

'Videogame ecology’ can help us understand the climate crisis in our forests

New research is using computer game models to ‘challenge’ Australian plant species to survive future climate and fire scenarios

Sciences & Technology

Bushfires are changing the ‘hidden’ understorey in our forests

New research finds that more frequent and intense fires are changing Australia’s forests, but to save the understorey, we need to change our approach

Politics & Society

Who stewards the forests?

What happens to the biodiversity and communities whose lives depend on a piece of land when that land is acquired? A new book explores the limitations of environmental law in India

Sciences & Technology

Reptiles are helping us better understand threats to Australia’s biodiversity

A new study explores how bushfires and land clearing are influencing the environmental preferences of some of Australia’s unique reptiles

Environment

The great tree census of 2023

After 15 months spent measuring 51,324 trees across 16 hectares, Australia has joined the Forest Global Earth Observatory

Sciences & Technology

More fires as our air gets thirstier

Greater water demand in the atmosphere means an increase in forest fire risk – for at least an extra 30 days per year – without urgent and effective climate action, finds new research

Sciences & Technology

Fossil forests under Antarctic ice

Recently described fossils are the most diverse yet of forests that grew in Antarctica around 56 million years ago, providing valuable information about Earth’s past and future climate

Sciences & Technology

Why Australia’s severe bushfires may be bad news for tree regeneration

Australia’s trees have evolved with fire, most needing some fire for renewal, but now our forests have had too much severe fire

Sciences & Technology

Planting trees is no substitute for natural forests

Allowing degraded natural forests to re-grow is a more effective, immediate and low-cost method for removing and storing atmospheric carbon than planting new trees

Sciences & Technology

All the forests in the world from a single layer of cells

Researchers have discovered the workings of wood-making cells inside trees, settling a century-old debate about how plants make bark and wood