The tiny golden-tipped bat roosts in the nests of rainforest birds. But high intensity extreme fires can increasingly reach into their unburnt sanctuaries.
A 50-year experiment shows warmer, ‘thirstier’ air may have cut the lifespan of Queensland’s tropical trees in half since the 1980s.
The Congo Basin’s rainforests in central Africa are sometimes called Earth’s second lungs (after the Amazon) because of its ability to store carbon.
Guenterguni via Getty Images
The best way to experience a rainforest canopy is by crane - and researchers have made full use of Australia’s first canopy crane.
A satellite captured large and small deforestation patches in Amazonas State in 2015. The forest loss has escalated since then.
USGS/NASA Landsat data/Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Massive study looked at more than half a million trees in 813 forests across the tropics.
An Amazon forest in Brazil’s Para state after deforestation and wildfires March 9, 2019. Unlike in some tropical forests, the animals of the Amazon are not adapted to survive fire.
Gustavo Basso/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A new study finds 70% of Amazonian dung beetles were killed by the severe fire and droughts of 2015 to 2016. By spreading seeds and poop, dung beetles fertilize forests and aid regrowth of vegetation.
New research shows that slowing deforestation is the most essential step for saving Madagascar’s lemurs, and can help protect them against the longer-term threat of climate change.
Prescribed fires are often done to eliminate weeds and renew the grasses in pastures for ranching across the Amazon.
Paulo Massoca
Reversing the damage from fires in Brazil’s rainforest is not as simple as allowing trees to grow back. Decades of research shows how fires degrade their long-term health and utility.
Brazil’s wildfires are closely linked to deforestation which Brazil had successfully slowed last decade.
AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano
As deforestation rates in Brazil rise, it’s worth asking whether the country can repeat the successes of the last decade. Current trends don’t bode well.
Conservation Director, Wildlife Ecologist and Microbiologist at the African Conservation Foundation. Lecturer and board member at the Institute of Biodiversity and Non-Profit Studies, University of Buea
Honorary Fellow, Law School; Associate of the Sydney Democracy Network of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sydney University, The University of Western Australia