Large Forest Research Articles

Synergism of Multi-Modal Data for Mapping Tree Species Distribution—A Case Study from a Mountainous Forest in Southwest China

Accurately mapping tree species is crucial for forest management and conservation. Most previous studies relied on features derived from optical imagery, and digital elevation data and the potential of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and other environmental factors have, generally, been underexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of fusing freely available multi-modal data for accurately mapping tree species. Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1, and various environmental datasets over a large mountainous forest in Southwest China were obtained and analyzed using Google Earth Engine (GEE). Seven data cases considering the individual or joint performance of different features, and four additional cases considering a novel clustering-based feature selection method, were analyzed. All 11 cases were assessed using three machine learning algorithms, including random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and extreme gradient boosting tree (XGBoost). The best performance, with an overall accuracy of 77.98%, was attained from the case with all features and the random forest classifier. Sentinel-2 data alone exhibited similar performance as environmental data in terms of overall accuracy. Similar species, such as oak and birch, cannot be spectrally discriminated based on Sentinel-2-based features alone. The addition of SAR features improved discrimination, especially when distinguishing between some coniferous and deciduous species, but also decreased accuracy for oak. The analysis based on different data cases and feature importance rankings indicated that environmental features are important. The random forest outperformed other models, and a better prediction was achieved for planted tree species compared to that for the natural forest. These results suggest that accurately mapping tree species over large mountainous areas is feasible with freely accessible multi-modal data, especially when considering environmental factors.

Constrained optimization of objective functions determined from random forests

In this paper, we examine a data‐driven optimization approach to making optimal decisions as evaluated by a trained random forest, where these decisions can be constrained by an arbitrary polyhedral set. We model this optimization problem as a mixed‐integer linear program. We show this model can be solved to optimality efficiently using pareto‐optimal Benders cuts for ensembles containing a modest number of trees. We consider a random forest approximation that consists of sampling a subset of trees and establish that this gives rise to near‐optimal solutions by proving analytical guarantees. In particular, for axis‐aligned trees, we show that the number of trees we need to sample is sublinear in the size of the forest being approximated. Motivated by this result, we propose heuristics inspired by cross‐validation that optimize over smaller forests rather than one large forest and assess their performance on synthetic datasets. We present two case studies on a property investment problem and a jury selection problem. We show this approach performs well against other benchmarks while providing insights into the sensitivity of the algorithm's performance for different parameters of the random forest.

Effects of human-induced habitat changes on site-use patterns in large Amazonian Forest mammals

The Amazon is one of the most diverse biomes around the globe, currently threatened by economic and industrial development and climate change. Large mammals are keystone species, playing an important role in ecosystem structure and function as ecological engineers, while being highly susceptible to deforestation, habitat degradation, and human exploitation. Using a unifying hierarchical Bayesian spatial approach, we examine the site-use patterns of four large Amazonian Forest mammals and their relationships to anthropogenic factors at a biome-wide scale. Our results showed that species’ patterns of site use are correlated with human induced habitat changes, and that this correlation is species-specific. The white-lipped peccary shows highest site-use estimates within strict protected areas, affected by proximity to urban areas and benefiting from indigenous territories, the tapir responding slightly to proximity to burned forested areas, while the giant armadillo and the jaguar were primarily affected by vegetation cover loss; disturbances related to the colonization of the Amazon. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how human-induced environmental changes influence the site-use patterns of these four large mammals, and inform future conservation and land use planning. Transboundary conservation efforts, empowering and integrating native (indigenous and non-indigenous) communities in land governance schemes, involving the private sector and securing the commitment of developed countries are important paths for the protection and sustainability of the globally-crucial Amazon rainforest.

Predictors of Rebleeding in Non-variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding of Peptic Ulcer Etiology in Kashmiri Population.

Background Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) represents a substantial clinical and economic burden and rebleeding is one of the most important predictors of morbidity and mortality. Identifying patients who are likely to rebleed is a critical component of effectively managing patients with bleeding peptic ulcers. So, the study was undertaken to look for predictors of rebleeding in patients with bleeding peptic ulcers and try to find out the new scoring system to predict rebleeding in our population. Material and methods A retrospective analysis of prospectively maintained hospital data of UGIB patients was done and 480 patients of endoscopically documented peptic ulcers whose complete data was available were taken for study. Results Among the studied patients, men constituted 84.6%, and most of the patients were in the third to sixth decade of life with a mean age of 40.9±15.9 years, 76% were from rural areas. Only males with a mean age of 38.4±19.8 rebled with a rebleeding rate of 2.9% only. Half of the patients who rebled were in shock at the time of presentation. Those who rebled received more units of blood transfusion (mean 3±1.8),had a large mean ulcer sizeof Forest class IIa and IIb and epinephrine injection monotherapy group with varied statistical significance. Among rebleeders (n=14), eight patients were managed by a second endoscopic therapy, and six (42.8%) rebleeders and 1.25% of patients in total needed surgery. Two patients ultimately died giving overall mortality of 0.4% and mortality of 14.3% among rebleeders. Conclusion Our study found a very low rebleeding rate and mortality which could be explained by a young population with fewer co-morbidities and better response to proton pump inhibitor therapy. The significant parameters related to rebleeding were shockat presentation, degree of smoking, units of blood transfused, ulcer size, and high-risk endoscopic stigmata.

Environmental and anthropogenic variables influence the distribution of a habitat specialist (Sylvilagus aquaticus) in a large urban forest

AbstractConservation of habitat fragments, including those embedded in an urban matrix which typically support fewer species than those in other landscape contexts, is important for combatting the global extinction crisis. Because urban avoiding species are often absent from habitat fragments within an urban matrix, studies of their distributions in these habitats are rare, and therefore the mechanisms by which species are excluded from habitat fragments within an urban matrix are poorly understood. We investigated the impacts of urbanization in the matrix (e.g., noise pollution, light pollution, invasive species) on the distribution of an urban avoiding species, the swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) in the largest urban forest fragment in the United States. We used the location of swamp rabbit latrines and presence‐background species distribution modeling to reveal the impacts of urbanization in the matrix on swamp rabbit distribution while accounting for spatial heterogeneity in naturally occurring environmental variables. Swamp rabbits used mature forest, heterogeneously structured forest, and moderately inundated forest, and they avoided areas of high (Sus scrofa) hog activity at our study site. Our findings provide novel information to conservation practitioners and urban planners attempting to conserve high priority species in habitat fragments as urbanization continues to spread.

Struktur komunitas Tumbuhan Bawah di Zona Pemanfaatan Blok Ireng-Ireng Taman Nasional Bromo Tengger Semeru (TNBTS)

Indonesia is a country that has a very large tropical rain forest. The forest is a unified biological system as part of the earth there is an ordinary organic wealth covered with trees which in cooperation in their nature and current state cannot be separated. Groundcover is a basic vegetation component under forest stands other than tree rejuvenation, which consists of grasses, herbs and shrubs. Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) is a conservation area with abundant biodiversity, both in terms of flora and fauna. The purpose of this study was to determine the genus of the undergrowth and dominancefound in the Ireng-Ireng Block Utilization Zone, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The research method uses line and transect plots with 4 transects 20 m long, each with 5 plots measuring 1 x 1 m with a distance between plots of 3 m. Result research Found 13 genera as follows Davallia, Strychnos, Homalomena, Nheprolepis, Pheghopteris, Pteris, Ageratina, Sceleria, Molineria, Didymochlaena, Adiantum, Begonia, and Ruellia. The understorey plants that had the highest cover were from the Strychnos genus group with an important value index of 26.87 .
 
 Keywords: structure, komposition, Groundcover, ireng ireng block utilization zone Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.

On chronology of the First Germanic Sound Shift (Lex Rask – Grimm)

This contribution analyzes the geographical name Θούλη, first recorded by Pytheas of Massalia in the period 330-325 BCE and mediated especially by Polybius, Strabo, Pliny and Procopius. Björn Collinder (1935/1936) designated this term as the earliest datable document of the Germanic Lautverschiebung. He also offered an appealing etymology, explaing the toponym on the basis of Old Norse þaularvágr “winding creek”, i.e. a place especially characteristic of the West Norwegian coast with its winding fjords. In the present study an alternative etymology by Torp is also analyzed, interpreting the toponym as a wooded place with regard to Old Norse þollr m. “tree, fir-tree, pine-tree”, and the witness of Procopius of Caesarea on the exceedingly large forests in Thule [‘The Gothic War’ VI.15]. Independently of whether either of the solutions of Collinder or Torp is correct, around 330 BCE the First Germanic Sound Shift should already have been operating.

Effect of terms and conditions of cutting propagation on the rooting of coniferous trees

The Irkutsk region has large forests. They occupy 83% of the territory and amount to more than 11% of the total Russian forests. The active production growth has a negative impact on the environment. Every year, millions of hectares of forest are cut down for the production needs. 14.1 million m³ of wood was harvested only during January-June 2022. Most of the harvested wood is coniferous. Therefore, the need for high-quality planting material is growing every year. The problem of reforestation can be solved by creating a technology for cutting propagation of the main coniferous trees. Our research was devoted to the study of the effect of various terms of propagation of the family Pinaceae representatives by softwood cutting and the conditions for its realization on the yield of planting material. Cutting harvesting was carried out in four terms: from the third decade of June to the end of July. Different conditions were used for cutting propagation: a greenhouse with a mist irrigation system and a climate chamber with manual watering. The study showed that the cuttings planted in the third decade of June into the greenhouses with the controlled mist irrigation systems are characterized by powerful roots.

Improved Fine-Scale Tropical Forest Cover Mapping for Southeast Asia Using Planet-NICFI and Sentinel-1 Imagery

The accuracy of existing forest cover products typically suffers from “rounding” errors arising from classifications that estimate the fractional cover of forest in each pixel, which often exclude the presence of large, isolated trees and small or narrow forest clearings, and is primarily attributable to the moderate resolution of the imagery used to make maps. However, the degree to which such high-resolution imagery can mitigate this problem, and thereby improve large-area forest cover maps, is largely unexplored. Here, we developed an approach to map tropical forest cover at a fine scale using Planet and Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery in the Google Earth Engine platform and used it to map all of Southeastern Asia’s forest cover. The machine learning approach, based on the Random Forests models and trained and validated using a total of 37,345 labels collected from Planet imagery across the entire region, had an accuracy of 0.937 and an F1 score of 0.942, while a version based only on Planet imagery had an accuracy of 0.908 and F1 of 0.923. We compared the accuracy of our resulting maps with 5 existing forest cover products derived from medium-resolution optical-only or combined optical-SAR approaches at 3,000 randomly selected locations. We found that our approach overall achieved higher accuracy and helped minimize the rounding errors commonly found along small or narrow forest clearings and deforestation frontiers where isolated trees are common. However, the forest area estimates varied depending on topographic location and showed smaller differences in highlands (areas >300 m above sea level) but obvious differences in complex lowland landscapes. Overall, the proposed method shows promise for monitoring forest changes, particularly those caused by deforestation frontiers. Our study also represents one of the most extensive applications of Planet imagery to date, resulting in an open, high-resolution map of forest cover for the entire Southeastern Asia region.

Tree density-dependence effects on seed dispersal of a large-seeded tropical tree

Abstract One of the biggest issues in plant ecology is determining the interaction outcome between seeds and scatter-hoarding rodents because the latter has a dual role as dispersers and predators of seeds. Density-dependence contexts involving resource abundance largely influence the outcome of this interaction. Here, we investigated how the variation in the density of a large-seeded tropical tree (Joannesia princeps Vell) affects its probability of seed removal, consumption, dispersal, and burial by a neotropical rodent (Dasyprocta azarae Lichtenstein). We tested whether the elevated resource availability in high tree density areas would cause scatter hoarder’s satiation by decreasing seed removal and consumption (predator satiation hypothesis) or increasing seed dispersal and burial (predator dispersal hypothesis). We tracked the fate of 461 seeds in 14 plots with distinct J. princeps abundances inside a large Atlantic Forest fragment. We used spool-and-line tracking and camera trappings to determine seed fate and identify interacting animals. Agouti was the only species removing J. princeps seeds. Tree density benefitted J. princeps by increasing seed dispersal through buried seed but not affecting seed removal and consumption. This result shows how density-dependent contexts, such as tree density, may alter seed fate in seed–rodent interactions supporting future studies aiming to reestablishing seed dispersal functions in Atlantic Forest fragments.

GROWTH OF NAUCLEA ORIENTALIS SPECIES OF YOUNG PLANTATION FOR BIG TIMBER PRODUCTION IN HOA BINH PROVINCE

The results of the growths and development of Nauclea orientalis species from the experimental planting model for big timber production in Hoa Binh province showed that, Nauclea orientalis trees have been adapted, growth quite well on the sites at the age of 16 months in Hoa Binh province. It is worth noting that, the model of Nauclea orientalis plantation had a high survival rate and healthy (93.5%), growths in diameter, height and average canopy diameter were 2.67 cm, 1.09 m, and 2.2 m respectively. Nauclea orientalis a native species has been performed the ability to develop branches suitably towards big timber production. The branchs of plantation are initially stable, shaped and capable of good growth and development stage. The results of the growth and development assessment from this experimental planting model are very important, not only providing valuable scientific information, but also a vivid practical basis demonstrating the ability planted and develop multi-use, and economically valuable Nauclea orientalis species, and add new varieties into the structure of forestry plant varieties for production forests in the direction of developing large timber forests in Hoa Binh province.

Supporting Large Random Forests in the Pipelines of a Hardware Switch to Classify Packets at 100-Gbps Line Rate

Supporting Large Random Forests in the Pipelines of a Hardware Switch to Classify Packets at 100-Gbps Line Rate

Marbled cats in Southeast Asia: Are diurnal and semi‐arboreal felids at greater risk from human disturbances?

AbstractSoutheast Asia supports the greatest diversity of felids globally, but this diversity is threatened by the severe forest loss and degradation occurring in the region. The response of felids to disturbances appears to differ depending on their ecology. For example, the largely terrestrial and nocturnal leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) thrives near forest edges and in oil palm plantations where it hunts rodents (Muridae) at night, thereby avoiding human activity peaks. Conversely, we hypothesized that the sympatric and similar‐sized marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) would respond negatively to edges and relatively open oil palm plantations as they are more arboreal than leopard cats, rely on tree connectivity for hunting, and are diurnal so have less potential to temporally avoid humans. We used camera trapping from Southeast Asia to test habitat associations at multiple spatial scales using zero‐inflated Poisson generalized linear mixed models and hierarchical occupancy modeling. We found that marbled cats were positively associated with large intact forests and, in contrast to leopard cats, negatively associated with oil palm plantations. Furthermore, we found preliminary evidence suggesting marbled cats may adapt their diel activity to become more crepuscular in degraded forests, likely shifting their activity to avoid humans. These findings suggest that the marbled cat's International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List conservation status should potentially be upgraded from Near Threatened to Vulnerable, matching other forest‐dependent felids in the region. We posit our findings may be generalizable such that semi‐arboreal and diurnal felids could face greater threats from habitat degradation than their terrestrial and nocturnal relatives.

Biodiversity dynamics in primary mid-taiga spruce forests after total windthrow in the Vodlozersky National Park, Russia

In windthrow-affected areas, the research of biota is of high relevance taking into account the lack of knowledge about the dynamics of their flora, soil properties, and tree stand regeneration. An important task is to study the mechanisms of the natural dynamics of plant communities after major disturbances in large boreal forests. This paper was aimed to investigate the effects of a total windthrow event on the dynamics of biodiversity in pristine mid-boreal spruce (Picea abies) forests. The study was carried out in the Vodlozersky National Park (Northwest Russia: Arkhangelsk Region and Republic of Karelia), situated in the northern and middle taiga subzones. A series of permanent sample plots was established in an area affected by massive windthrow in 2000. The windthrow consequences of the forest communities have been studied, starting from the year of the event (2000) at 2–5-year intervals. A soil survey has been conducted in 2016. Windthrown trees, situated in the sample plots, were counted by species and diameter classes. Natural regeneration was estimated in subplots with a division to height cohorts and vitality status. Geobotanical relevé sampling of the ground vegetation has been conducted in 1 × 1-m permanent plots. Aphyllophoroid fungi (Basidiomycota) were counted by fruit bodies. Main soil pits and partial pits were dug. The morphological description of soils was produced in both undisturbed and disturbed sites in the study area. Obtained data, covering 20 years of surveys of various components of the forest plant communities (tree stand, advance regeneration, ground vegetation, wood-destroying fungi, soils), were analysed. We found that 16–20 years after the windthrow event the species and age structure of the tree stand has been considerably changed due to the forest stand rejuvenation. Post-windthrow regeneration of coniferous species in the true-moss group of forests has been successfully going on. By the end of the second decade after the windthrow event, cowberry spruce forests contained 4300 individuals/0.01 km2 of viable spruce regeneration, including 1500 individuals/0.01 km2 belonging to the large size category of spruce trees. In the bilberry-Sphagnum-type forest, spruce regeneration amounted to 8700 individuals/0.01 km2, including 2200 individuals/0.01 km2 belonging to the large size category of spruce trees. This amount is sufficient to ensure the development of spruce-dominated communities in the future. Since the forest ecosystems were recovering after the windthrow, the biodiversity of changed, that was reflected in an increase in the species composition of the ground vegetation and fungal communities. Over the study period (2001–2021), surveys of the sample plots demonstrated 83 aphyllophoroid fungi species, including five species included in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Karelia, as well as 22 taxa, considered old-growth forest indicator- and specialist species. The number of wood-destroying fungi species was the highest in the period from the 12th to the 19th post-windthrow years. The changes in soil properties on windthrow-affected sites were more explicit in the upper horizons: soil acidity decreased; both potassium and carbon content increased; nitrogen distribution across horizons became more even. An increase in the carbon-nitrogen ratio was detected in the Е and BF horizons. The obtained data can be used for predicting the regeneration of pristine mid-boreal spruce forests affected by catastrophic disturbances.

Study of the Possibility of Stimulating Cloud Convection by Solar Radiation Energy Absorbed in an Artificial Aerosol Layer

We consider the possibility of creating artificial clouds similar to Pyro clouds formed in nature over large forest and other fires. It is assumed that the creation of an artificial surface aerosol layer that absorbs solar radiation can lead to the heating of local air volumes and initiate thermal convection. The possibility of such convection was examined theoretically using the computational fluid dynamics software package suite FlowVision, in which the equations of motion, energy and mass transfer are solved in relative variables. Numerical experiments showed the principal possibility of initiating cloud convection only under some favorable atmospheric conditions (low wind speeds, temperature lapse rate greater than 8–9 °C/km), with an aerosol layer area of at least 5–10 km2 and a duration of its existence (heating) of at least 30 min. To assess the possibility of the practical implementation of this method, eight variants of highly efficient smoke compositions were developed and tested, and two batches of aerosol checkers weighing 25 kg, creating an aerosol of optimal size to absorb solar radiation, were produced. Calculations of the required dose based on the results of laboratory and field tests of the checkers showed that for one experiment to initiate cloud convection several thousand checkers need to be burned. The consumption of pyrotechnic aerosol composition (tens of tons) is about 1.5 times less than the burning of petroleum products in previously tested meteotrons. However, for environmental safety purposes, full-scale tests and the application of the aerosol layer method is advisable to conduct away from populated areas.

Flora y vegetación de humedales costeros en el Río Copiapó, Atacama, Chile y el impacto del aluvión de 2015

The flora, vegetation and the effect on the first from the March 2015 flood on two coastal wetlands (Las Salinas and Copiapo river mouth) located in the Atacama Region of Chile desert, were studied, working with traditional systematic and phytosociological methodology of Southern Europe. The flora consisted of 21 species from a phytosociological table of 88 vegetation samples, 11 species collected outside the samples and 11 that appeared after the 2015 flood, giving in total 44 species, with 34 native and 10 introduced. In the biological spectrum, phanerophytes, camephytes and hemicryptophytes dominated. Four plant formations were distinguished: submerged acuatic plants, swamp with large helophytes, marshes and forests. Ten plant associations were determined: 2 submerged Ruppietum maritimae and Charetum- asoc. nova prov., 3 swamps with large helophytes Typhaetum angustifoliae, Phragmitetum australis, Schoenoplectetum californiae, 5 from marshes Schoenoplectetum americanae, Chorizantho-Sarcocornietum neeii asoc. nova, Tessario-Distichletum spicatae asoc. nova, Tessario-Juncetum acutae asoc. nova and 1 forest Geoffreetum decorticans asoc. nova. New associations are described, adding phytosociological tables and a type vegetation sample is designated for each one. These results are discussed and the flora is compared with that of 5 other coastal wetlands in the Norte Grande of Chile, demonstrating the lack of basic studies of flora and vegetation in them.

Terrestrial food web complexity in Amazonian forests decays with habitat loss

The conversion of natural ecosystems into human-modified landscapes (HMLs) is the main driver of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems.1,2,3 Even when species persist within habitat remnants, populations may become so small that ecological interactions are functionally lost, disrupting local interaction networks.4,5 To uncover the consequences of land use changes toward ecosystem functioning, we need to understand how changes in species richness and abundance in HMLs6,7,8 rearrange ecological networks. We used data from forest vertebrate surveys and combined modeling and network analysis to investigate how the structure of predator-prey networks was affected by habitat insularization induced by a hydroelectric reservoir in the Brazilian Amazonia.9 We found that network complexity, measured by interaction diversity, decayed non-linearly with decreasingly smaller forest area. Although on large forest islands (>100 ha) prey species were linked to 3-4 potential predators, they were linked to one or had no remaining predator on small islands. Using extinction simulations, we show that the variation in network structure cannot be explained by abundance-related extinction risk or prey availability. Our findings show that habitat loss may result in an abrupt disruption of terrestrial predator-prey networks, generating low-complexity ecosystems that may not retain functionality. Release from predation on some small islands may produce cascading effects over plants that accelerate forest degradation, whereas predator spillover on others may result in overexploited prey populations. Our analyses highlight that in addition to maintaining diversity, protecting large continuous forests is required for the persistence of interaction networks and related ecosystem functions.

Community Structure in an Isolated Tropical Forest Biome: One Year of Fruit-Feeding Butterfly Trapping in Four Habitats in the Western Ghats, India

Insect communities in tropical forests tend to be structured vertically and with respect to tree fall gaps and edges. Furthermore, insect communities vary over time. Insight into such habitat specificity and temporal variation is needed to design and interpret biodiversity surveys and to compare conservation value among habitats. Some aspects of tropical insect community structure, such as the proportion of canopy specialists and temporal variation, vary among biogeographical regions and climatic zones. To date, few regions have been sampled systematically, so generalization remains difficult. We compared fruit-feeding butterfly communities among understory, canopy, natural treefalls, and forest edge, in a tropical forest of the Western Ghats, a strip of rainforest that is isolated from Sundaland, the large rainforest block of South-East Asia. During a yearlong study, we captured 3018 individuals belonging to 32 species and representing 14 genera. While some butterflies were captured in the canopy, no species was significantly more abundant in the canopy than in the understory. This observation was contrary to studies elsewhere in the tropics where 14–55% of the species could be classified as canopy specialists. Even though the largest number of species was captured at forest edges, species diversity was highest in the gaps. The communities at the forest edge differed importantly from those in treefall gaps: at the forest edge, we caught grassland species in addition to the forest species. Larger treefall gaps had higher butterfly abundance than smaller gaps. Both abundance and diversity peaked during the late monsoon season, and all common species in our sample also peaked during this period. The spatiotemporal community structure appears to depend on biogeography (less vertical stratification further from large forest blocks) and climate (more synchrony among species in seasonal abundance when there is a more severe dry season).

New Species of Corticioid Fungi (Basidiomycota) for Poland Found in Białowieża Primeval Forest in 2018‒2020

Eight new species of fungi (Acanthobasidium norvegicum, Amylocorticium laceratum, Hyphoderma transiens, Odonticium septocystidiatum, Phlebia cretacea, Ph. subulata, Steccherinum albidum, and Tubulicrinis calothrix) were identified for Poland after a study of collections from large forests situated in the northeast part of the country. Leptosporomyces fuscostratus was confirmed for Polish mycobiota. Main diagnostic features, natural range, substratum preferences, and taxonomic position of these species are discussed. Color images of basidiomata for 9 species, line drawings of microscopic structures for 6 species, and scanning electron microscopy images of important microstructures for 4 species are provided.

Even Small Forest Patches Can Help Fight Climate Change!

Climate change is caused by humans emitting polluting gases. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important and well-known polluting gases we emit. Forests are carbon vacuum cleaners: via their leaves, trees take up carbon and store it in their wood, roots, and leaves. We found that forest edges, where it is warmer and sunnier, can store more carbon than the forest interior, where it is cooler and shadier. This is important, because the amount of forest edges has increased due to large forests being split up into small forest patches by roads, towns, or agriculture. In Europe, this extra carbon storage in forest edges is not usually considered important, but it represents the equivalent of a forest with an area of more than 1.4 million football (soccer) fields! To maximize carbon storage, we should not only protect small forests, but also plant new forests—even very small ones.