Forests of spruce trees and shrubs in parts of northern Canada are taking over what were once tundra landscapes--forcing out the species that lived there. This shift can happen at a much faster speed than scientists originally thought, according to a new University of Alberta study that adds to the growing body of evidence on the effects of climate change.

A study of 10 Northeastern urban forests shows no sign that there is a common urban park plant complex, but does show that population levels affect both native and nonnative species diversity, according to a Penn State study.

Is the world basically good or basically bad? It appears that in the natural world the answer is "basically good." Positive interactions in which plants and animals benefit from association with one another create the basis for many of the world's ecosystems.

The chestnut-capped piha is an unassuming robin-sized bird restricted to a few tiny remnant forest patches in the Antioquia Department of Colombia, in the Central Cordillera of the Andes. It is so restricted in its distribution that it evaded discovery until 1999, and has been identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as a priority conservation species.

The Government of Canada today announced measures to fight the mountain pine beetle and address its impacts on communities and forests in British Columbia. The Federal Mountain Pine Beetle Program will provide $200 million to minimize the consequences of the beetle infestation and assist in efforts to slow the infestation's eastward spread.

On December 11, USDA Forest Service (FS) scientists from the FS Southern Research Station (SRS) unit in Research Triangle Park, NC, along with colleagues from Duke University, published two papers in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) that provide a more precise understanding of how forests respond to increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), the major greenhouse gas driving climate change.

Can planting a tree stop the sea level from rising, the ice caps from melting and hurricanes from intensifying?