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Articles on Forests

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California’s snowpack was more than twice the average in much of the state in early March 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Is the Western drought finally ending? That depends on where you look

Reservoirs and streams are in good shape in California and the Great Basin, but groundwater and ecosystems are another story. And then there’s the Colorado River Basin.
Native wildflowers, such as these Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) that bloom early in spring are losing access to sunlight as trees leaf out earlier. Katja Schulz/Flickr

Climate change threatens spring wildflowers by speeding up the time when trees leaf out above them

Many beloved wildflowers bloom in early spring, while trees are still bare and the flowers have access to sunlight. Climate change is throwing trees and wildflowers out of sync.
An old-growth tree that was cut in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The Biden administration has called for protecting mature US forests to slow climate change, but it’s still allowing them to be logged

Protecting old and mature trees is the simplest and least expensive way to pull carbon out of the atmosphere – but proposed logging projects threaten mature stands across the US.
Hotter-burning fires and a warming climate make it harder for seedlings to survive. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The West’s iconic forests are increasingly struggling to recover from wildfires – altering how fires burn could boost their chances

Over 50 fire ecologists across the Western U.S. took an unprecedented look at how forests in thousands of locations are recovering from fire in a changing climate. The results were alarming.
Red-breasted geese breed mainly on Russia’s Taymyr Peninsula and migrate to areas adjacent to the Black Sea in Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. Daniel Mitev

Russia’s aggression threatens efforts to protect nature beyond Ukraine

Russia has vast natural resources and is involved in many conservation efforts. Its diplomatic isolation as a result of the war in Ukraine is making it harder to protect many wild species and places.
While the European spongy moth outbreak reached a dramatic peak in parts of Canada last year, these caterpillars have completely vanished this year. (Washington State Department of Agriculture/flickr)

Why the spongy moth outbreak has vanished in Québec

Creating and preserving diverse forests can help us prepare for the next insect outbreak and protect our trees.

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