Discoveries

The seed dispersal habits of small mammals have long been known to have a significant bearing on the health and growth of forests. A doctoral student at the University of Maine has found that…

A team of researchers studying snowpack decline found that snowless winters leave trees stunted. In a series of forest manipulation experiments begun in 2007 at Hubbard Brook Experimental…

Jennifer Blake-Mahmud often thinks of plants and trees as being somewhat like Lego building blocks. Sometimes what they become looks nothing like the picture on the box. For instance, they…

Red squirrels store food in the ground that they can access whenever they need it. When they die, the squirrels typically leave large quantities of uneaten food behind that can be inherited by…

For many years, scientists have wondered what factors influence how tall a tree can grow. Much of the research has focused on how high water can be transported internally from roots to leaves,…

Climate models predict that certain tree species will likely migrate northward in the coming century. But two studies led by researchers from the National Park Service and the University of…

Biodiversity has long been known to be a significant factor in the amount of carbon stored in forests. Forests with many different species of trees store more carbon than forests consisting of…

Researchers in Washington have discovered that a mushroom extract may be an effective treatment for reducing levels of at least two viruses implicated in the collapse of honey bee colonies…

Only a small fraction of the microscopic life that inhabits soil has been identified, which makes quantifying what’s out there nearly impossible. But a significant leap forward was made…

An investigation of 23,000 tree cores collected in the 1980s from forests throughout the Northeast has found that trees in the region show a strong ability to adapt to local climates. By…

The later start to winter in many recent years has provided winter ticks in northern New England with an extended period of time to find a host animal to feed on, and that appears to be the…

A study of forest fragmentation by a team of researchers at the University of Maine has found that the zoning system used by the state to protect winter habitat for deer is not an effective…

A new tool has been approved in the fight to control invasive pale and black swallowworts, and it’s a good sign for monarch butterflies. The natural enemy of the swallowworts is a Hypena…

The application of road salt to highways, sidewalks, and parking lots has resulted in improved winter driving and walking conditions. But salt is easily dissolved. It leaches into groundwater…

Trees in urban areas provide tremendous benefits to society. They remove air pollution, reduce energy use, filter storm-water runoff, and reduce ultraviolet radiation. They also improve the…

A native fungal pathogen that was once considered relatively harmless has become increasingly damaging to eastern white pines since the late 1990s, and stressed, weakened trees appear to be…

Most microorganisms that digest and recycle woody material do so by producing enzymes that accelerate chemical reactions to break down molecular compounds in the wood. Brown-rot fungi, the…

The recent decline in the population of bees and other pollinators because of pesticides, climate change, diseases, and other causes has raised alarms among those concerned about crop…

Small mammals like squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and voles play a surprisingly significant role in determining the tree composition of most forests. That role is based largely on their choice of…

Applying salt to snowy roadways is an effective way of melting snow and ice and making driving safer. But what happens when that salty snowmelt runs off into nearby lakes and ponds? It has…