146 - Earth's Tree News

[Guest guest]

Today for you 36 news items about Mama Earth's trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.--Alaska: 1) Save Leask lakes --British Columbia: 2) industry adjusts to global pressures, 3) Surrey Tree cutting, --Washington: 4) Science and Art of Tree Movement--Oregon: 5) Red Tree Vole logging stopped, 6) logging for more ski runs in Spring,--California: 7) Construction in Yosemite shut down by 9th circuit, 8) legit post-fire RX--Montana: 9) stop work order not renewed in Bitteroot NF--Ohio: 10) Disputed timber sale in Hocking State Forest--West Virginia: 11) Blackwater Canyon economics--Kentucky: 12) Mountain Top removal website makes big impression--New York: 13) More on saving White pines from logging--USA: 14) 4.2 million acres sold for $5 billion--Canada: 15) Oakville soon to lose its namesake, 16) Boreal respiration,--UK: 17) battle to save 12 willow trees is lost--Scotland: 18) Forest industry employs 167,000--Cyprus: 19) Saving olive and carob trees--Africa: 20) A fifth of the world's land mass as relates to climate change--Chile: 21) Wetlands expert Peter Bridgewater to visit National Forest Corp.--Argentina: 22) Uruguay pulp mill protest shuts down bridge--Pakistan: 23) Violation of various forest laws, 24) forest that only exists on paper,--India: 25) Remaining Sri Lanka forest down to 1 percent, 26) saving Sri Lanka forests, 27) conference of Forest Ministers, South Indian states, 28) illegal pine resin extraction, --Myanmar: 29) Has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world--China: 30) Forest fire in Tai Lam country park--Indonesia: 31) Native Papuans kill American miners, 32) Peat bog fires big CO2 source--Papua New Guinea: 33) complaint against Australia and New Zealand Banking Group,--Australia: 34) Road blocked with a giant Bee, 35) stop global warming by not logging,--World wide: 36) Devonian and Carboniferous ages as related to climate changeAlaska:1) A group of Ketchikan area residents created the Leask Users Coalition and partnered with Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Cape Fox Corporation, and the Southeast Alaska Land Trust, to develop and submit the project to the FLP. The Leask Lakes project strives to increase pubic access and protection of wildlife around Leask Lakes and river with the purchase of a conservation easement said Dolwick. The lands are currently owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust, and under contract for timber harvest. Alaska Mental Health Trust lands are not accessible for public use. The proposed easement will provide permanent public access to the lakes and river and protect 22% of the tract. This leaves 78% for timber harvest. There is also 400 acres within the proposed easement designated for restricted timber harvest. The easement protections will not interfere with any future expansion of the Ketchikan area public road system. Previously, Alaska Mental Health Trust lands were not eligible for the program. Only due to the efforts of the Ketchikan's Leask Users Coalition and partners, have the lands now been made eligible. In concert with the goal to purchase the conservation easement along the lakes and creek, the Southeast Alaska Land Trust and the Leask Users Coalition have recently received funding from Ducks Unlimited and the Pacific Coast Joint Venture (PCJV) to flag the proposed boundaries of the conservation easement. Ducks Unlimited is the country's most successful wetland conservation organization, while the goals of PCJV include protecting and restoring coastal wetland ecosystems to benefit birds, fish and other wildlife. The Leask lake project recently hired a new Lands Coordinator in Ketchikan. Carrie Dolwick will replace Laura Baker as the local coordinator for both the Leask Users Coalition and the Coast Guard Beach Working Group. " Working on land issues in a place known for its abundant beauty and recreational opportunities is thrilling, " said Dolwick. " My goal is to work with the local residents to plan for current and future land uses, to ensure the ongoing vitality of the area. " http://www.sitnews.us/1106news/110306/110306_leask_lakes.htmlBritish Columbia:2) As the forest industry adjusts to global pressures, some towns will be " marked for exit, " he suggested. Vertinsky's comments raised concerns from symposium participants of a " blacklist " of towns written off by government or industry. " It leaves rural communities needing to know more, " said Cindy Pearce, a forester living in Revelstoke. She said rural communities are being consulted within the policy forum but need to know more about pending change. " We need to get this information to community leaders as fast as we can so we can include it in our community plans, " she said in an interview. UBC forest economist David Haley offered four tenure options: 1) " Corporatize " portions of the forest by creating Crown corporations to manage them. 2) Privatize portions but ensure public access and social values are maintained. 3) Decentralize management of forests into semi-autonomous regions. 4) " Tweak " the existing system -- something he believes is no longer practical. Konkin said the onus of land management will inevitably be transferred more to the shoulders of corporations as government -- soon to be hit by 12,000 baby-boomers reaching retirement age -- is forced to scale back its role. He called such demographic change " the silent dragon " in rural B.C. " There aren't going to be as many people out there to do the regulation, " he said. " In my opinion we have no choice in government but to minimize regulation and look at different ways of doing things. " http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/index.html3) Last year, the City of Surrey issued permits to cut down 10,906 protected trees and by Oct. 25 this year, 8,513 trees have been removed. In 2004, the public reacted after learning Surrey issued tree cutting permits for 50,000 protected trees in four years. The city promised better environmental stewardship and a stronger tree protection bylaw. The city is falling behind in its stated goal of two-to-one replacement, averaging just over one-to-one until 2004 when a huge cut in Campbell Heights, which amounted to 14,000 protected trees lost, occurred. In 2005, the city experienced a further net loss with an average of .66-to-one. This year the city bounced back to 1.19-to-one replacements. However Yin Leung, Surrey's acting manager of planning, said the drop in replacement trees in 2005 is likely due to an increase in smaller housing lots, which don't have as much room for full replacement. The city made allowances for the shortfall in a tree protection bylaw passed last month. The 2006 Tree Protection Bylaw requires a two-for-one replacement, and where that's not possible, developers must contribute to a green fund. Mayor Dianne Watts said last week it's not always possible to obtain the two-for-one ratio. "Sometimes when you have a subdivision, there isn't the capability," she said. "The developers pay into the green fund, then we plant trees where we need to within the city." Coun. Bob Bose fears if the city isn't careful with zoning, vast tracts of property will be razed for development. "Because from a landscape perspective, that's all that can be sustained," Bose said. "Street trees may be the only principle form of reforestation." http://www.peacearchnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=44 & cat=23 & id=764781 & more=

Washington:4) The word "tree" is derived from the Sanskrit word "deru", which shares its roots with the words endure, hard, and continue. Spiritual practitioners often relate sitting silently in one place – like a tree — to religious leaders such as the Buddha, who achieved enlightenment under the unmoving and centuries-old Bodhi tree at the Temple in Bodhgaya. Because trees are so strongly related characteristics of reliability, many institutions - from credit card businesses to logging companies and yoga schools - use trees as their corporate logo. Although many of these attributes can be considered positive, this very immobility makes it difficult for humans to relate to trees in an empathetic way. This distance reduces the sense of care and stewardship that humans hold for more mobile organisms, such as snow leopards, Siberian tigers, and pandas. …Anyone who has ever sat and watched a tree in even a slight breeze knows that each independent branch tip does move. The collective movement of all of the branch tips might constitute a considerable length over time. I developed a simple and inexpensive way to make a permanent visual record of within-tree movement, and to quantify the distance of the collective movement at the whole-tree level. I worked with common species of coniferous and deciduous trees in the Pacific Northwest, under a variety of wind conditions, ranging from mild to moderate. Standing at ground level, I chose a single twig that was exposed to the wind. I tied the brush piece from the end of a small paintbrush to the tip of a branch (the "twiglet") with a length of dental floss so that the tip of the brush extended a centimeter beyond the branch tip. I then dipped the brush in green tempera paint, and held up a piece of white paper so that the tip of the brush could contact the paper The marks on the painting constituted the "painting" created by the movement of the tree. In short, making tree movement apparent to humans can increase their empathy with trees. Perhaps people have always known at some profound level that the similarities between trees and us go beyond the names of our body parts – limbs, crowns, and trunks. http://www.scq.ubc.ca/?p=600Oregon:5) GRANTS PASS — A federal appeals court on Monday blocked two old growth timber sales in southwestern Oregon after finding the U.S. Bureau of Land Management illegally downgraded protections for the red tree vole to make them possible. Based on that finding, the judges enjoined two timber sales, Cow Catcher and Cottonsnake, in the Glendale Resource District outside Grants Pass. Cow Catcher was bought by D.R. Johnson Lumber Co. of Riddle. Cottonsnake was not awarded. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found that the BLM failed to conduct a public review before changing the classification of the red tree vole, a small rodent that lives in the treetops of old growth forests, under the " survey and manage " provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan. The ruling reversed the findings of U.S. Magistrate John P. Cooney in Medford. " If BLM can modify the protection afforded a species under a resource management plan as dramatically as it has here ... BLM could ultimately remove all the Survey and Manage designations without ever conducting another (environmental assessment) or (environmental impact statement), and without providing public disclosure, " Judge Dorothy Nelson wrote. The " survey and manage " provisions require BLM and the Forest Service to look for hundreds of species before cutting old growth forests, and protect enough habitat to maintain the species. At the behest of the timber industry, the Bush administration eased the provisions in 2004, but they were reinstated by a federal judge this year. The immediate impact of the ruling is likely to be limited to patches of old growth still standing on so-called matrix lands, which are designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan, largely within Oregon, where the red tree vole's core habitat lies, said Stephanie Parent, attorney for the lead plaintiff, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Ashland. " By issuing internal memos that open up potentially thousands of acres of old growth forests to logging, the Bush administration has been playing fast and loose with public involvement, " said Joseph Vaile, campaign manager for the center. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-17/116284980533060.xml & storylist=

orlocal6) ASHLAND - Skiers and snowboarders won't be using new runs at an expanded Mount Ashland Ski Area this season. The Mt. Ashland Association says it will hold off work on the expansion until May, putting its energy into the upcoming ski season. " The weather's changing, " said ski area General Manager Kim Clark. " Everything's starting to look more like winter. " The expansion has been pending for more than a decade. The Forest Service approved it in 2004, allowing two new chair lifts, 200 new parking spaces and 16 new runs. Environmentalists challenged the expansion. In September, U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner ruled in favor of it. But, Clark said, the association is still awaiting an opinion from Panner explaining his decision. An appeal is expected, and the Rogue Group Sierra Club has sought an order to halt any logging in the proposed expansion area. " We are pleased that there will be no cutting this year, " said Tom Dimitre, chair of the Rogue Group Sierra Club. He said the group would continue to fight cutting of trees along a stream that feeds Ashland's water supply. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1162838381224940.xml & storylist=

orlocalCalifornia:7) A federal court has halted several new construction and ground-disturbing projects affecting Yosemite National Park's Merced River. In July the same court ruled that the latest version of a plan for the river was invalid.* These rulings by Judge Anthony Ishii of the US District Court come two years after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the park to prepare a " new or revised " plan for the Merced. The most recent ruling, issued late Friday, makes explicit that the National Park Service (NPS) must follow the law and prepare a valid plan to protect the Merced River before proceeding with construction activities which would harm the river environment. The NPS had argued that despite the lack of a protective plan, it should be allowed to proceed with multiple construction projects within the river corridor. The NPS was opposed by plaintiffs Friends of Yosemite Valley (FOYV), and Mariposans for the Environment and Responsible Government (MERG). Friday's order stops all nine projects as requested by the plaintiffs. These include routing a new roadway closer to the Merced, constructing upscale hotel units, developing new RV motor coach sites with hook-ups, paving, and other new construction that would usher in even more development while reducing family camping opportunities in Yosemite Valley.Yosemite is now well past the legal deadline to produce a valid Merced River Plan. Plaintiffs' attorney Julia Olson said, " For sixteen years development has proceeded in the absence of a valid Merced River Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), placing the construction cart before the planning horse. It is like building a house without any architectural or structural plans. " Olson also stated: " For six years we argued that the Merced was completely unprotected and that a host of construction projects should be halted. The Court has now forcefully agreed with us. " http://www.yosemitevalley.org8) A recent article about reforestation suggests that areas burned in recent wildland fires have failed to naturally re-grow conifer saplings, and implies that intensive post-fire logging and artificial replanting are necessary. However, even a cursory site visit to the Storrie fire, which was highlighted in the article, reveals that abundant natural conifer seedling and sapling growth is occurring on the burned national forest lands -- even in patches where most or all of the trees were killed by the fire -- as I have found in numerous field surveys. The front-page photograph accompanying the article clearly shows numerous conifer saplings amongst the standing dead trees on the national forest land. The occasional clumps of brush in the photo are a species of ceanothus, which is a nitrogen-fixer. These plants replace soil nitrogen volatilized -- turned into gaseous form -- by the fire and help maintain soil productivity. The article makes the observation that this brush is somehow a problem. The article's use of the private timberlands logged after the Storrie fire as an example of " restoration " is troubling. The Forest Service's own assessment found that these private lands, like the rest of the Storrie fire, burned predominantly at low and moderate severity. Yet they were nevertheless clear-cut by the private landowners shortly after the fire, removing countless live mature and old growth trees within spotted owl habitat across a vast area. The article also ignores the fact that countless native species depend on burned forest for their habitat, including the black-backed woodpecker, which excavates nest cavities in trees killed by fire and forages on the larvae of native bark beetles in dead trees. Several scientific studies have found more bird species using heavily burned forest than adjacent unburned mature forests. Natural post-fire conifer reestablishment is occurring without expensive human intervention and that logging after fires only impedes important ecological processes, as a letter to Congress from more than 500 forest scientists recently stated. http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/71377.htmlMontana:9) An appeals court in Portland has decided not to renew a temporary stop-work order affecting a controversial timber sale in the Bitterroot National Forest. The decision on the Middle East Fork Fuel Reduction Project near Sula allows the project to go forward - at least until the next court date in mid-November. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday refused to renew an emergency, 60-day injunction against the Middle East Fork project. The injunction lapsed at the end of October, and two groups sought to reinstate it. he most recent court ruling is more than disappointing for opponents of the project: It means important habit will be affected, said Matthew Koehler, executive director of the WildWest Institute of Missoula, which paired up with Friends of the Bitterroot to request the extended injunction. "Clearly, now they can start logging century-old trees deep in the forest, under the guise of fuel reduction," he said. "The injunction would have held everything at bay" until appearances in court in less than two weeks. A panel from the same 9th Circuit Court will consider the merits of the original injunction on Nov. 15. Then, in December, the lawsuit goes before U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, who will hear the merits of a broader question, whether the original project and bid awards were handled properly. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided against renewing the emergency injunction "summarily," after reading only the material from the opposition, Corn said. It is an important legal point that suggests "weakness in their material," he said. But if future courts rule the project illegal, or that the Forest Service broke laws in awarding the logging contract, "this will be irreversible," Koehler said. Some old-growth timber may be harvested by then, he said. The WildWest Institute and Friends of the Bitterroot sued the Forest Service months ago to stop the commercial portion of the Middle East Fork project. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/11/04/news/mtregional/news07.txtOhio:10) GIBISONVILLE — The state forestry land manager and the local biologist walked the same woods and stared up at the same trees, but they remained divided over the timber's fate. At issue is a proposed timber sale in the Hocking State Forest. About 1,500 trees standing on 133 acres are to be cut down after the end of the fall-color season. The high bidder, Glatfelter Inc. of York, Pa., a paper-making company that has operations in Chillicothe, has bought the logging rights from the state for $172,722. The trunks of the trees to be felled are marked with orange paint. Don't do it, begged local biologist Gary Coovert. " Once it's cut, it's gone, and it's not going to be the same. We think this is a particularly nice chunk of forest, and we would like to see this little bit preserved. " The Forestry Division has received more than 100 e-mails from opponents, and Brandi Whetstone, executive director of the Buckeye Forest Council, hand-delivered 100 postcards last week. The pending tree-cutting and timber sale come as the future of forests is being discussed elsewhere in Ohio. In north-central Ohio, state Forestry Division officials are negotiating with Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. to pull back the dimensions of the right-ofway clearances on which the company plans to remove trees to maintain its underground gas pipelines and storage wells in the Mohican Memorial State Forest. Now, the logging planned at the Hocking State Forest has set off fresh concerns from opponents. Statewide environmental groups, residents, cabin owners and tourism businesses have asked state officials to reconsider. The area to be logged has older-growth trees, has a bridle path and is used by hikers, birdwatchers and mushroom hunters, opponents said in a letter signed by the Buckeye Forest Council, the Ohio Environmental Council and the Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club. Opponents walked the forest Wednesday with Forestry Division officials and asked them to stop the cut.The Forestry Division told the environmental groups in a letter Thursday that the cutting would proceed as planned. http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/06/20061106-C1-03.htmlWest Virginia:11) DAVIS -- Ignoring the turkey buzzards swirling above his head, Sam Jinks pointed to gold and russet forests lining the canyon around him and the boulder-studded Blackwater River churning more than 1,000 feet below. " People come here for the views, " Mr. Jinks said, peering over a rock slab jutting high above Blackwater Canyon, a 12-mile gash of unspoiled mountain wilderness that is one of the most frequently visited and photographed spots in West Virginia. Company towns that once supported mining and lumbering operations now offer pretty bed-and-breakfasts, funky shops packed with antiques and handmade crafts, and spas offering massage and holistic therapies. So a timber company's proposal to turn a trail through Blackwater Canyon into a rocky logging track has kicked up a controversy that has pitted longtime locals against weekend visitors and development proponents against conservation groups. Some folks oppose the plan as a disastrous step toward commercialization of an irreplaceable natural resource and destruction of the tourism it attracts. Others believe environmental concerns pushed by newcomers and groups whose members are largely from outside the region are overtaking landowners' rights and economic priorities in a county hungry for jobs. " People call [the canyon] the crown jewel of the East, " Tucker County Commissioner Salvatore " Sam " Eichelberger said. " It's absolutely gorgeous from any angle. But we talk and talk about it and, sometimes, we're just killing ourselves. " http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06309/735778-28.stmKentucky:12) Benny Campbell experiences mountaintop mining day and night. His bed is rattled by the blasting. Gray dust blankets his porch and car if a few days go by without rain. His electricity goes out repeatedly when the coal miners accidentally knock down power lines. But the worst thing of all, he says, is that the mountain peaks that once loomed over his lifelong eastern Kentucky home have been flattened by dynamite and bulldozers. " When I was young, it was a really pretty place, " said Campbell, 53, who lives in a hollow called Bull Creek near Vicco. " Now it's just a rock pile. You can't do nothing with it. " Now environmentalists have found a way to let the rest of the world see what mountaintop coal mining has done to Appalachia: They have started a Web site that uses the Google Earth database to enable people to see aerial reconnaissance photos of the scarred countryside. http://www.ilovemountains.org/ " Unless you have the experience of flying over the region in a small plane, it's hard to understand the scale of mountaintop removal. " The coal industry says the Web site buries the benefits of mountaintop mining. " I clearly think it's for shock value, " said Bill Caylor, head of the Kentucky Coal Association. " They're playing the emotional card on us. " Caylor and Carol Raulston, spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, said the Web site is misleading because it fails to acknowledge mine reclamation projects. " In many parts of Appalachia, these reclamation activities have provided much needed level land above the flood plain for construction of schools, government offices, medical facilities, airports, shopping centers and housing developments, " Raulston said in an e-mail. For James Bowling, mountaintop removal has been a blessing. The 59-year-old built his dream home atop a flattened mountain called Red Oak and has 250 acres of newly leveled land to raise 80 head of cattle and vegetables. " If it wasn't for mountaintop removal, I wouldn't be here, " said Bowling, who lived in the valley below Red Oak before allowing a mine company to extract coal from his property at 50 cents per ton. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/11/04/national/a110703S22.DTL

New York:13) They have a special meaning to Native Americans, the official support of a town board and the admiration of people far and near. And they have been the reason for a series of recent meetings and discussions. They are the dozen old growth white pines growing atop the Finger Lakes National Forest's Burnt Hill. Some 18 inches in diameter, the pines were mere seedlings, or perhaps a little older, when Native Americans inhabited the area. Those same pines today extend some 50 feet above the forest canopy and were included as part of a thinning operation. "Awesome to behold," said Michael DeMunn of Burdett, a private forestry consultant considered an expert in old growth trees. Targeted by a tree marking crew recently for removal, DeMunn and others led a successful drive to save what he called "the crown jewels" of the national forest. DeMunn argued that the trees are "the largest and oldest on the Finger Lakes National Forest" and should be preserved. To remove them, he said, would deprive people of the opportunity to see "what the ancient virgin forest looked like centuries ago." http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061106/COLUMNISTS12/611060340/1002/NEWS

01USA: 14) Hogansville timber investor Holland Ware is part of an investment group which just closed on the $5 billion purchase of 4.2 million acres of timberland in Southern states and Michigan. The investors purchased the timberland from International Paper Co. (IP). The $5 billion deal is believed to be the largest private sale of timberland in U.S. history, Ware said. " I am proud to be apart of this transaction and believe this will go a long way toward preserving and improving the properties, " Ware said. " It has always been my goal to improve forest land and this transaction will enable me to do even more. " Resource Management Services, LLC, acquired the property on behalf of five clients, including Ware. The $5 billion sales price was paid in cash and notes and all financial transactions were finalized on Nov. 2, Ware said. Ware, a Hogansville native is one of the largest and most successful timber investors in the South and has been involved in deals covering over 1 million acres of timberland. Ware said the purchasers would keep the larger tracts intact but sell smaller parcels through St. Regis Paper Co. " Some of this land will be available for the first time in over 50 years, " Ware said. " For anyone that has ever wanted or might ever want land in the Southeastern United States, this is the opportunity. I'm a tree farmer, so I keep larger tracts to grow timber on and then sell smaller tracts. " The agreement includes a " 20-year fiber supply agreement for IP's pulp and paper mills in the South, a 10-year fiber supply agreement on the Michigan forestlands for IP's coated paper facilities in the region, and a 10-year fiber supply agreement for IP's wood products facilities, all at market prices. " In 2004, Ware and three other investors purchased 270,000 acres of Georgia timberland from Weyerhauser Co. for $400 million. At the time, it was believed to be the largest single real estate transaction in Georgia history, but Ware said the latest deal " dwarfs " the 2004 purchase. http://content.times-herald.com/307382854068884.bspCanada:15) Oakville's Yvette Fox-DellaVedova and her husband Rodney DellaVedova have been busy building wooden shelters for squirrels so they will have a place to live when the surrounding forest is levelled. " It is truly a tragedy that Oakville is becoming oakless, " Fox-DellaVedova said. " It will be horrifying to witness clearcutters plough through our forest ... " The revving of chainsaws has recently been heard in the west-end forest as the developer prepares to cut down all but a few of the trees to make way for Palermo Village, a housing development much larger than the wooded area featuring three-storey town homes. When the smoke has cleared, there will be less than .4 hectares left. Fox-DellaVedova describes the Grand Oak Woods as a natural forest with several trees over 100 years old. " Many small mammals (raccoons, rabbits, skunks, squirrels), insects and birds now prepared for survival of the imminent harsh winter are soon to be homeless and desperate for protection. " Stoate said he regrets the decision. " It's the one time I remember being on council and walking into the legal department the next morning and saying `We were rushed on that. We should have taken time to (investigate) are there any other options here to this.' Certainly the advice we had was that we would not be successful on appeal (at the OMB). " Sandelowsky said she didn't buy the argument then that council had no choice and doesn't buy it now. " The official plan showed this woodlot, so I would think we would have had something to fight with, " she said, standing alongside Elgar near the wooded area. Wright, who is running for mayor, said it was a trade-off. " The portion that we were saving was more likely to survive, so it was more about the equality of the woodlot and the sustainability.... It was matter of trying to balance out what was best for the community. " http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1 & c=Article & cid=1

162770307076 & call_pageid=968350130169 & col=96948320284516) They chose an area that belongs to the boreal forest -- the northern forest dominated by black spruce that is Canada's most widespread, and still most untouched forest. What they found in the BOREAS study surprised many. The team made 22,000 hours of intensive measurements of the soil, the surface of the ground, and all the way up through the 120-year-old forest past the canopy to open air. They learned carbon goes both ways. From late May through July, new growth made the spruce forest " inhale " one to one and a half grams of carbon per square metre of forest per day. In August and September, the hottest, driest period, the rate of carbon dioxide movement fell to about zero. But in the late summer and fall, the forest " exhaled " carbon back into the atmosphere at a rate of a little less than one gram per square metre per day, as warmer soil allowed soil bacteria to digest organic matter and release carbon dioxide. This fell to a much lower rate through the winter. Overall, in three of the four years they measured, the forest was putting slightly more carbon into the air than it took out -- a bad thing, if we want forests to store this material. The fourth year, the balance tilted the other way: The forest sucked out and stored carbon -- but not a lot of it. " The idea that they're going to combat the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere has, I think, probably been overstated. If you disturb them, " by cutting them down or burning them, " then they may exacerbate the rise of carbon dioxide. " This means there's good reason to try to keep them intact because destroying them could make the climate worse. But beyond this ability to avoid making things worse, there doesn't seem to be any more benefit available http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=e01a36f4-0256-4613-b584-46e25d9407ae & k=5

468UK:17) Families in Oxford have lost their battle to save 12 willow trees. Earlier this month, residents of Osney Island, West Oxford, staged a musical protest against plans to fell the trees, which line the River Thames in East Street. But officials in the city council parks department insisted the trees were rotten and needed to come down for safety reasons. Despite 11th-hour calls for a stay of execution to allow further examination, about 30 residents gathered in the street to see six contractors start felling the trees with chainsaws shortly before noon. The work is expected to last three days. Susanna Pressel, Labour city councillor for Jericho and Osney, said she and residents tried every possible measure to prevent the trees being felled. She had threatened to tie herself a tree - but there were no physical protests once council staff arrived on site with chainsaws and a forklift truck and hoist. Ms Pressel said: " About 60 residents met Liberal Democrat city councillor Alan Armitage on Sunday night to urge him to see to consider an alternative, but he was adamant that the trees must come down for safety reasons. " We wanted the trees to be pollarded to a height of nine feet, and then a band could have been placed round them to prevent them from falling over. " John Wade, manager of the city council's parks department, said the council had taken all the correct measures " from a planning point of view " , including checks to ensure that the trees did not contain any bats. http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1006395.0.families_lose_fight_to_save_riverside_trees.phpScotland:

18) THERE'S more to Britain's trees than meets the eye. That's what David Crichton thought when he became chief executive of the Confederation of Forest Industries (ConFor) almost two years ago and today he has the backing of an independent report to prove it. The report indicates that Britain's forest industry generates £7.2 billion a year directly and employs 167,000 people. The Scottish figures within that are £960 million and 19,100 jobs. But, he said, when we discussed the report, that the added-value and multiplier effect mean that, directly and indirectly, British forestry is worth more than £19bn to the economy and employs about 700,000 people. Printing and publishing, construction and furniture are the three main users of timber. But telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and food processing are also unexpected large-scale users. " We aren't making heroic assumptions, " Crichton said. " This is an independent and robust report by the centre for economic and business research that shows forestry provides more jobs and has even more indirect impact than I thought. " More importantly, he believes the report, commissioned jointly by ConFor and the state-owned Forestry Commission, identifies " significant opportunities for growth " while combating climate change and reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the potential to provide another 59,000 jobs. The information in the report will be used with government and the public to say " this is what we do " , he said, with the clear implication that they - ConFor aims to represent all parts of the private forestry industry - would like to do more. " The report shows that forestry is a viable commercial business, " he added. http://business.scotsman.com/agriculture.cfm?id=1640052006Cyprus:19) "Cyprus is known as the Green Island but in fact we see that Cyprus is suffering a poverty of green. We should take care either to protect or to increase the number of trees," said Vehbi. "We see salvation in the protection of Olive trees," Soykut said and called on authorities to preserve the older Olive trees and to transfer those that are in danger to secure areas. He also mentioned that 70 olive trees and 160 carob trees were destroyed in Tatlisu and that they, ZAKAD, condemned the use of these trees as firewood. He suggested that these trees could be given to the folk arts societies in order to be used in an efficient way. Soykut pointed out that 10 to 15 people created the products exhibited by using such trees and mentioned that, with the help of the state and the collaboration of other people and organizations, more good things could be created. The ZAKAD president mentioned that in this way the olive tree, an important part of the culture of Cyprus, would be protected and a species be exhibited to the world. After listening to the requests of ZAKAD the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Vehbi said; "We wish we had the chance to save these olive trees before this event took place," and added that a number of olive trees were destroyed because of a lack of planning. He said that he had also spoken to the Forestry Minister and studies would start on the issue of moving the trees that are in danger to a more secure area. http://www.observercyprus.com/observer/NewsDetails.aspx?id=769Africa:

20) Africa, home to about 800 million people, accounts for more than a fifth of the world's total landmass and its people are the most severely affected by the impacts of global warming despite emitting the least amount of greenhouse gases that lead to climate change. Extreme droughts, floods and rising sea levels are among the many threats facing Africa, which is home to 1,150 weather observation stations - eight times fewer than the World Meteorological Organization's recommended level.Unless programmes are implemented to help African countries adapt to climate change, approximately 480 million people in Africa may be facing water security issues by 2025, according to a UN report released Sunday. In addition, the report estimates that between 25 and 40 percent of species' habitats in Africa could be lost by 2085. " Activating the adaptation agenda is critical, " UNFCCC executive director Yvo de Boer said in a statement. " It is time to move from establishing the principles to real action on the ground. " Among the programs suggested by UN experts is the protection of small island states against rising sea levels, which can lead to coastal flooding. Officials estimate that more than 70 million Africans could be displaced by flooding by 2080, up from one million in 1990. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/African_Countries_Must_Adapt_To_Climate_Change_Or_Face_Destruction

_999.htmlChile:21) The highest global authority on wetlands will visit Chile in November to evaluate the problems afflicting the southern nature sanctuary Carlos Anwandter, where the water was contaminated by runoff from a pulp mill, killing hundreds of black-necked swans two years ago. Peter Bridgewater, secretary general of the intergovernmental Convention on Wetlands, signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, will visit the nature preserve to determine a plan for technical support. He will meet with Chilean officials, local researchers and civil society groups, according to Catalina Bau, director of the governmental National Forest Corporation (CONAF). The visit comes after the Chilean government filed a request for the sanctuary to be included in the Montreux Record, a list of wetlands of international importance whose ecosystems are threatened. According to the forest agency CONAF, the 4,877-hectare wetland is now home to some 400 black-necked swans. Until 2004, the average population was about 6,000. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35367Argentina:22) On Nov. 3, environmentalists in the cities of Gualeguaychu and Colon in the eastern Argentine province of Entre Rios blocked the border bridges leading to Uruguay to protest continuing efforts to build a paper pulp mill in Fray Bentos, on the Uruguayan shore of the river that divides the two countries. The protesters in Gualeguaychu built a wall of brick and cement on national highway 136, 15 kilometers from the border bridge, to symbolize the hard position taken by the Finnish company Botnia and by the governments and international institutions in refusing to halt construction of the pulp mill. Environmentalists say the project will contaminate the river and the surrounding ecosystem and destroy the livelihoods of local residents. [La Jornada (Mexico)11/4/06 & 11/5/06, both from correspondent; El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 11/4/06 from AP] The Spanish company Ence has already backtracked in its plans to build a similar pulp mill along the river. The action was timed to coincide with the Nov. 3 inauguration of the 16th Iberoamerican Summit in Montevideo, where the Spanish government tried to initiate a dialogue between Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez and Argentine president Nestor Kirchner; the two leaders' relations have been significantly chilled by the paper mill conflict. In Gualeguaychu, two protesters dressed up as Vazquez and Kirchner cut the tape to inaugurate the symbolic wall. Later in the evening, several assembly members from Gualeguaychu spoke on the radio, inviting the heads of state from the summit to attend " a meeting that's more fun, and with faces that are less sad, on the banks of the Uruguay river, where there are still birds and life. " http://home.earthlink.net/~nicadlw/nsnhome.htmlPakistan:23) On October 31, at a meeting held in the office of Punjab Chief Secretary K.R. Lakhanpal to discuss the issue of alleged violation of various forest laws in the constitution of a Notified Area Committee (NAC) for Nayagaon and surrounding areas, Financial Commissioner (Forests) D.S. Jaspal reiterated his department's stand on the issue. The stand: the land cannot be used for housing purposes, as the land in question is forestland. Now, here is what the same officer wrote in an official letter sent to the Director-General (Forests), Government of India, on August 17: nearly 40,000 inhabitants of village Karoran, Nayagaon and Nada (now part of newly created district of SAS Nagar/Mohali, earlier part of Ropar district) in the periphery of Chandigarh are facing extreme hardship on account of inclusion of the whole area of these villages in the list of forest areas due to a technical error on the part of the state government itself. In the same letter, the department requested that two of the three conditions imposed by the Centre while excluding over 65,670 hectares of cultivated and habitation land from the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900, be withdrawn. These included the ban on commercial activity on the de-listed land and that it would be used only for bona fide agriculture purposes and for sustaining the livelihood of the owners of the land. The affidavit says all areas that were closed under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, were included in the forest areas " regardless of the fact whether they actually bore any forest cover or were under cultivation/habitation " . The affidavit further says government included the cultivated/habitated areas closed under the PLPA, 1900, in the list of forest areas only because these stood included the annual administrative reports of the department as " areas closed under the PLPA, 1900! http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061106/punjab1.htm24) Punjab - Nayagaon: It's a forest that exists only on paper. While the Punjab forest department records claim that a sum of Rs 45 lakh was spent on planting more than 75,000 trees in the Siswan range over the period of five years, an extensive survey has revealed that not even a single tree of the species 'planted' by department exists in the area. If one goes by claims of the department, the area which includes Nayagaon, Nada and Karoran should be a lush green jungle comprising Teak, Khair, Bamboo, Burma Neem, and Subabool trees. However, a TOI team found no other tree there apart from scattered kikar which grows naturally in Punjab. Meanwhile, allegations of swindling of funds are flying thick and fast. " Where has the wood vanished, " ask the sources who have closely monitored the entire project. " The department says that thousands of trees were planted in the area during the afforestation drive carried out between 1998 and 2003. But there are no trees. Also teak and bamboo plants cannot sustain themselves here, " they said. Talking to TOI, a senior IFS official alleged that the money released for afforestation drive had been pocketed by officers concerned. " Not only this, they kept on extracting money from government in the name of spraying, weeding, providing manure and fencing the plants, " he alleged. Sources said the state government had taken a whopping loan of Rs 140.55 crore in 1997 from Japan Bank of International Cooperation for rehabilitation of the denuded Shiwalik hills. Out of the amount, Rs 45 lakh were allotted to Siswan range. " It's just the tip of an iceberg. There are many senior and junior level officials involved in the scandal, which needs to be unearthed completely, " said another forest official. http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_1496.shtmlIndia:25) Sri Lanka, an island off the southern-most point of India, is known as a global biodiversity hotspot for its high number of species in a relatively limited area. The island's frog diversity illustrates this point: despite covering only 0.013 percent of the world's land surface, Sri Lanka is home to more than 2 percent of the world's known frog and toad species. Conservation International estimates that only around 1.5 percent of the island's original forest remains (U.N. figures are more optimistic). Much of this forest was lost under British colonial rule, when large tracts of forest were cleared for rubber, coffee, and tea plantations, but Sri Lanka's forests have also suffered dearly under years of civil war which has led to large-scale forest clearing. During the 1980s and early 1990s, government soldiers cleared the island's lowland forests and mangrove forests because they served as refuges for rebel forces. At the same time, fighting destroyed homes and displaced small-scale farmers who then sought new lands in forested areas. Government figures show that the army and Tamil rebels felled more than 2.5 million palmyrah trees alone for construction purposes. Over the past 15 years (1990-2005), Sri Lanka has had one of the highest deforestation rates of primary forests in the world. In that period the country lost more than 35 percent of its old-growth forest cover, while total forest cover was diminished by almost 18 percent. Working to slow further loss of Sri Lanka's biologically-rich rainforests is Rainforest Rescue International a conservation organization based in the southern Sri Lankan city of Galle. http://www.earthrestoration.org -

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1106-interview_ranil.html 26) Sri Lanka - Currently most of the existing patches of rainforest come under the purview of the Forest Department, which unlike the Wild Life Department have neither history nor mandate on Biodiversity conservation. Thus much of the Forest patches are designated 'multiple use' indicating that timber extraction is a valid activity in these forests. All Rainforest patches need to be identified and strict conservation status conferred upon them if the massive loss of biodiversity is to be slowed. The fragmentation of the rainforests into small patches means that current data collecting procedures have also to be addressed. For instance, in Sri Lanka, extinctions may have occurred as a consequence of the destructive sampling methods utilized in taxonomically listing species. Thus in a world of rapidly shrinking habitats the value of destructive sampling has to be questioned. It is clear that taxonomy and conservation have come to a divergence point today. Utmost care has to be exercised in collecting and preserving specimens. Confusing taxonomy with conservation may have serious national repercussions. Thus the assessment of species within restricted or fragmented ecosystems must develop other approaches than through destructive sampling. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1106-interview_ranil.html 27) T'PURAM: The conference of the Forest Ministers of South Indian states has decided to set up a Forest Secretariat for the whole of South India to coordinate and step up joint operations against the forest mafia. As part of this, a high-level coordination cell would be set up in all the five South Indian states - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Pondicherry and Kerala. Just as the two-day conference concluded here on Saturday, Forest Minister Binoy Vishwam took the lead in announcing the formation of the coordination cell for the state. The Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests will head the four-member cell. The Chief Conservator of Forests (Protection), the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and the Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance) are the other members. The Ministers, in a joint resolution, said that henceforth, department heads of all the South Indian states will meet annually to review the steps taken to prevent the theft of valuable forest trees like sandalwood and to identify and destroy illegal ganja cultivation; to conduct a regular survey of border areas; and to exchange information on forest crimes. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20061105015625 & Page=O & Title=Thiruvananthapuram & Topic

=028) New Delhi - An environmental group has filed a complaint in the Supreme Court to stop illegal extraction of resin from pine trees in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. The Himalayan Chipko Foundation Sunday said they have filed the application in the apex court, highlighting the " corruption and environmental danger due to the tapping of resin " from pine trees in Uttaranchal. It said in a statement that the bark of the pine trees is removed an a series of parallel V-shaped channels - called blaze - are cut on the wood that secrete resin. The resin is further purified in the distillation factories to derive turpentine oil. " Apart from shortening the longevity of the pine trees, this also increases the chance of forest fire as resin is highly inflammable, " said J.P. Dabral of the foundation. He said that in Uttaranchal, contractors engaged by forest department have been indulging in the crime, which should be banned with immediate effect. The statement said a ban on tapping of resin in the pine forests will save the environment of the Himalayan region. http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=20336Myanmar:

29) Its status as a pariah state aside, Burma could earn hundreds of millions of dollars for cutting its deforestation rate under a carbon-trading initiative proposed by a coalition of developing countries and under discussion this week at U.N. climate talks in Nairobi, Kenya. Burma, which is also known as Myanmar, has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. Each year some 466,000 hectares of forest cleared are per year, according to U.N. data, contributing 32-93 megatons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Under a proposed carbon finance initiative, mitigating these emissions could be worth anywhere from $128 million to over a $1.8 billion to industrialized countries. The way it would work is though the adoption of an " avoided deforestation " strategy to addressing carbon trading. By reducing deforestation that would otherwise occur in developing countries, industrialized countries could effectively " offset " emissions limits set under international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. Money from industrialized countries would flow into forest conservation fund that Burma could drawn upon depending on its success in reducing its deforestation rate. The strategy could help fight climate change at a low cost while, at the same time improving living standards for some of the world's poorest people, safeguarding biodiversity, and preserving other ecosystem services. Carbon finance could boost per capita GDP in Burma from 5-20 percent. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1106-burma.htmlChina:30) Hong Kong - The fire, which is believed to have been started by people burning undergrowth while tending the graves of family members during last week's grave sweeping festival, destroyed about 65,000 trees. It would also take up to 10 years for the burnt areas of Tai Lam country park, in Hong Kong's New Territories, to recover, the South China Morning Post said. More than 200,000 trees will be planted to replace those destroyed in Hong Kong's worst hill fire for 10 years, a media report said Saturday. The blaze was put out Friday after more than 100 firefighters supported by water bombing helicopters tackled the fire. Fisheries and conservation department, senior country parks officer Cheung Kwok-wai said: 'We're carrying out a survey of the fire site and to look for suitable sites for planting.' He added that replanting would start next April or May because the weather was now too dry. http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1218263.php/More_than_200000_trees_to_be_planted_

following_massive_hill_fireIndonesia: 31) Prosecutors alleged the men - all indigenous Papuans - were members of a small rebel army fighting for a separate state in the resource-rich province. They are accused of shooting Rickey Lynn Spier, 44, of Littleton, Colorado, and Leon Edwin Burgon, 71, of Sun River, Oregon, in 2002 as their car headed down a road toward the mine owned by Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Mine Inc. The defendants issued no defense plea, claiming their trial was unfair. " We haven't been able to meet with our clients in jail for the last month, " said Johnson Panjaitan, one of their lawyers, predicting a guilty verdict. " Can you imagine that a client cannot communicate with his lawyer? " Court officials were not available to comment on the allegations. Prosecutors have demanded that the alleged ringleader of the seven - Antonius Wamang - serve 20 years in prison and that the others serve eight to 15 years. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20061106124002 & irec=1

32) Is Indonesia the world's third largest producer of greenhouse gases? A new study by Wetlands International says it is, if the country's destruction of peat bogs is taken into account. Each year hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands are drained and cleared for oil palm and timber plantations. Generally, developers dig a canal to drain the land, extract valuable timber, then clear the vegetation using fire. A report released Thursday by Wetlands International and Delft Hydraulics, a Dutch research institute, estimates that emissions from Indonesia's destruction of its extensive peat bogs releases 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year -- about ten percent of world greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. For comparison, the United States, the world's largest emitter of heat-trapping gases, produces about 7.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases per year. 70 percent of emissions result from the burning of peatlands, while 30 percent result from drainage, according to the report, titled Peatland degradation fuels climate change. Peatlands, formed by organic deposits comprised of partially decayed plant matter that accumulates over time, cover more than 400 million hectares of land worldwide. Most of these exist in permafrost in the far north, though some are found in the lowlands of tropical Asia, especially in the swampy forests of Indonesia and Malaysia. Peatlands, formed over hundreds of years and sometimes more than 66 feet (20 meters) deep, are giant reservoirs of carbon, storing around 2,000,000 million tons of carbon dioxide globally. However, when peatlands are drained, cut, or burned this stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate warming. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1103-indonesia.htmlPapua New Guinea:33) Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Australian community groups have filed a formal complaint against Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ Bank) of Australia over its financial support of ancient rainforest logging companies that are engaged in human rights abuses and environmental destruction in PNG. The complaint alleges that ANZ is " actively facilitating and supporting " the PNG operations of Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau, a company whose operations involve " serious human rights abuses, environmentally devastating logging practices and repeated, serious illegal conduct. " ANZ is the primary banker for PNG's illegal and unsustainable logging industry, and its largest customer is the Rimbunan Hijau group whom ANZ has acknowledged is a "long-standing client" in PNG. Most of PNG's logging operations are illegal because of their failure to comply with a whole host of legal requirements including the need for sustainability and informed consent as well as non-compliance with harvesting and labour regulations. ANZ Bank's facilitation of illegal and unsustainable logging in Papua New Guinea, and its complicity in the appalling abuses of its major client, stand in stark contrast to the actions that have been taken over the last two years by responsible governments, international institutions and corporations. The Australian Government; the World Bank; Citibank (the largest financial institution in the world); the Wolseley Group in the UK; and the New Zealand Forest Owners Association have all distanced themselves from the illegal and unsustainable logging practices and human rights abuses of ANZ Bank clients in PNG. The ANZ Bank provides financial services for the logging industry. One of the easiest and most lucrative is foreign exchange dealings. The logging industry alone generates exports worth more than US$120 million each year, much of which flows through ANZ accounts. The complaint (or "specific instance") was filed under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Under the guidelines, the Australian OECD National Contact Point, an authority within the Commonwealth Department of Treasury, has power to mediate the dispute. http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=pngAustralia:34) Six anti-logging protesters used a vehicle decorated like a giant bee to block access to a leatherwood-rich coupe in the Lower Weld Valley, south-west of Hobart. Forestry Tasmania says the protesters are ignoring the fact that 82 per cent of the valley is protected. Protest spokesman Warrick Jordan said the coupe, used regularly by beekeepers, bordered the world heritage-listed Upper Weld and contained globally significant forest. Mr Jordan has called for a moratorium on logging in the Weld Valley while it is reassessed for world heritage listing. " We'll be staying for as long as it takes to get it protected or until we're forcibly removed, " he told AAP. " Camp Weld " has been established for 14 months and more than 20 people are currently protesting at two sites within the Weld Valley. Mr Jordan said Forestry Tasmania had not yet attended the site but logging had been due to begin in the next few days. Forestry Tasmania general manager of operations and sales Kim Creak said 82 per cent of the Weld Valley was protected - a fact activists continued to ignore. " The state and federal parliaments have determined that this area of formal reserves is sufficient to protect the valley's conservation status, " he said. Mr Creak said the world heritage area included buffers to ensure their values were conserved during harvesting and replanting in nearby coupes. http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Protesters-block-loggers-in-Tasmania/2006/11/06/116266160973

7.html35) Paul Oosting of the Wilderness Society said one of the best things Tasmania could do to combat global warming was to keep its forests in the ground. About 15,000ha of native forest are clearfelled and burnt each year. He said Gunns' proposed pulp mill would produce a massive negative contribution to global warming. " Over the lifespan of the project over 200,000 hectares of native forest will be felled to feed the mill, releasing over 110 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, " he said. http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,20702944-5007221,00.htmlWorld-wide:

36) About 350 million years ago, at the boundary of the Devonian and Carboniferous ages, the climate changed. " Events at the transition had terrific biological impact, marked by extinctions and the beginnings of new life forms, " said Stephen Scheckler of Blacksburg, professor of biological sciences and geosciences at Virginia Tech. He reported on evidence of climate change that he found in the fossils of the ancestors of modern trees at the at the Geological Society of America national meeting in Philadelphia Oct. 22nd. Scheckler, an authority on the earliest modern tree (Nature, April 22, 1999), looked at plants that made wood in the same way modern plants make wood. In modern trees, cambium tissue produces layers of wood cells on the inside and bark cells on the outside. The cambium moves outward as the tree grows and the kinds of cells it produces reflect seasonal dormancy induced by wet and dry or warm and cold conditions. The layers, of course, are tree rings. Tree rings are a response to resumption of growth after a period of dormancy. " Cessation of growth and resumption of growth leave an anatomical signal that differs between tropical and temperate dormancy, " Scheckler said. In tropical trees, the rings are subtle, with no change in cell wall thickness and only slight changes in cell size. And the changes occur more in response to wet and dry periods, rather than cold periods, so can happen several times a year. Using this background from modern trees, Scheckler studied the ancient plants that had the same genetics for controlling wood growth and produced the same signatures for dormancy. He has documented that the fossil " trees " from most of the Devonian period show tropical growth rings, but those from the latest Devonian and earliest Carboniferous show growth rings that resemble those of temperate trees. " That plants of this time responded as modern plants would to cold supports the idea that there was a sudden chilling at the end of the Devonian, " Scheckler said. " Later in the Carboniferous period, you no longer see the temperate signature rings because the glacial event went away. " http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Ancestor_of_Modern_Trees_Preserves_Record_Of_Ancient_Climate_Cha

nge_999.html