Human-caused disturbances can affect the ability of animals to help spread seeds, which could reduce the amount of plant diversity in some forests.
Tag - ecosystem services
Dale Maylea
Smart Orchards aid the messy business of pollination
Restoring semi-natural habitats can help increase the yield of macadamia orchards without needing extra input, making production more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Creating the conservationists of the future in times of rapidly shifting baselines
Planting urban trees could also plant a seed of conservation in children.
Chloe Trotter
Larch, still Number 1!*
If a tree falls in a forest, can it still insulate people from sound pollution?
Nigel Chaffey
Pest control through conservation is not always a success
Is there a better way to control pests than spraying chemicals? Keeping a non-crop habitat nearby can help shelter predators, but new research shows the correlation between conservation and pest-control isn't simple.
Root hairs to halt global warming
Can plants help fight global warming? Nigel Chaffey looks to the roots.
Flying insects plummet
Where have all the flower-pollinating insects have gone?
Invasive aliens, not always doom-and-gloom?
Another kind of experiment that takes place out in the real world is when non-native species are introduced into new areas. Usually, and understandably, this causes a knee-jerk response that assumes this must be a bad...
Persecuted fruit bat may be key to Durian’s survival in Asia
The fruit bat has been persecuted due to the belief it destroyed crops of Durian. Now critically endangered, it seems that it is a key pollinator for the fruit tree.
Conservation in the City
A new article argues that conservation shouldn't be left to the countryside. There are major impacts to be made looking at pollinators in the city.
Alun Salt
Green infrastructure and ecosystem services – is the devil in the detail? (Viewpoint)
Urban green infrastructure provides a range of ecosystem services to human society. But how much does plant choice matter in the delivery of these services? Paradoxically, much of the literature on green infrastructure...
botanyone
What does a tree cost, and what is its value?
“You know the cost of everything and the value of nothing,” was a common insult when I was a child. However, some environmentalists say that it’s a genuine problem. The World Forum on Natural Capital...
Plant biodiversity conservation in montane ecosystems
Conservation of the unique biodiversity of mountain ecosystems needs trans-disciplinary approaches to succeed in a crowded world.
AJ Cann
I want to be… a tree!
In trying to encourage my students to consider the structure–function issues in being a land plant, I often joke that all plants really want to be trees when they grow up, to command resources, shade-out competition...
