BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to demonstrate a new, cost-effective method to define the sustainable amounts of harvested wood products in Southeast Asian countries case studies, while avoiding degradation (net loss) of total wood carbon stocks. Satellite remote sensing from the MODIS sensor was used in the CASA (Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach) carbon cycle model to map forest prod...

Any system to compensate countries for reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) requires a historical reference level against which future performance can be measured. Here we examine the possibilities Sri Lanka, a small forest country with limited data on forest carbon stocks, has to get ready for REDD+. We construct a historical reference level using available fores...

The fungal community of the forest floor was examined as the cause of previously reported increases in soil organic matter due to experimental N deposition in ecosystems producing predominantly high-lignin litter, and the opposite response in ecosystems producing low-lignin litter. The mechanism proposed to explain this phenomenon was that white-rot basidiomycetes are more important in the degr...

Several studies conducted at the scale of islands, or small sections of continental coastlines, have suggested that mangrove habitats serve to enhance fish abundances on coral reefs, mainly by providing nursery grounds for several ontogenetically-migrating species. However, evidence of such enhancement at a regional scale has not been reported, and recently, some researchers have questioned the...

Healthy forests provide human communities with a host of important ecosystem services, including the provision of food, clean water, fuel, and natural medicines. Yet globally, about 13 million hectares of forests are lost every year, with the biggest losses in Africa and South America. As biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation due to deforestation continue at unprecedented rates, with conc...

Structural degradation of mangroves through the partial removal trees is globally pervasive and likely to affect ecological functioning, including habitat provisioning for biodiversity. Biodiversity responses will depend on severity degradation, yet few studies have contraste quantified several states. Addressing this knowledge gap, we sampled faunal diversity across a range mangrove forests in...

Forests are the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems, housing a quite large majority of world’s species. It provides many social, economic, and environmental benefits. In addition to timber paper products, forests provide wildlife habitat recreational opportunities, it prevents soil erosion flooding, clean air water as well. Degradation Deforestation occurs when changes happens which affects cha...

Soil degradation is one of the most serious ecological problems in the world. In arid and semi-arid northern China, soil degradation predominantly arises from wind erosion. Trends in soil degradation caused by wind erosion in northern China frequently change with human activities and climatic change. To decrease soil loss by wind erosion and enhance local ecosystems, the Chinese government has ...