Even as we discover the incredible benefits of the world's most ancient trees, we are losing them to climate change.
In 2005, several of the centuries-old ponderosa pine trees on my 15 acres (0.06 sq km) of forest in the northern Rocky Mountains in Montana suddenly died. I soon discovered they were being brought down by mountain pine beetles, pernicious killers the size of the eraser on a pencil that burrow into the tree.
The next year the number of dying trees grew exponentially. I felt powerless and grief-stricken as I saw these giant, sky-scraping trees fading all around me, realising there was nothing I could do to stop it.
While the native bugs were the proximate cause, the underlying reason for the unprecedented mortality in my home state and throughout the Rockies was that winters had stopped getting really cold. When I first moved to Montana in the late 1970s, temperatures of -34C (-30F) or even below -40C (-40F) were common in winter, sometimes for weeks at a time. The coldest temperature on record in Montana is –57C (-70F). These days wintertime minimum temperatures rarely get below -18C (0F) or so. If they do, it is usually just for a day or two. That's not nearly cold enough to kill pine beetles, which make their own natural antifreeze.
Scientists have published their first global assessment of the state of the world's plants.
They warn that 21% of all plants are at risk of extinction and face a broad range of threats. The research was carried out by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the UK. See the full report: here
The role forest matter plays in aquatic food chains is a relatively recent discovery. Deforestation is reducing the amount of leaf litter falling into rivers and lakes, resulting in less food being available to fish, a study suggests. Researchers found the amount of food available affected the size of young fish and influenced the number that went on to reach adulthood. The team said the results illustrated a link between watershed protection and healthy freshwater fish populations. The findings have been published in Nature Communications. "We found fish that had almost 70% of their biomass made from carbon that came from trees and leaves instead of aquatic food chain sources," explained lead author Andrew Tanentzap from the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences. "While plankton raised on algal carbon is more nutritious, organic carbon from trees washed into lakes is a hugely important food source for freshwater fish, bolstering their diet to ensure good size and strength," he added. Dr Tanentzap observed: "Where you have more dissolved forest matter you have more bacteria, more bacteria equals more zooplankton. "Areas with the most zooplankton had the largest, fattest fish," he added, referring to the study's results. The team of scientists from Canada and the UK collected data from eight locations with varying levels of tree cover around Daisy Lake, Canada, which forms part of the boreal ecosystem.
Many lizards are under threat, including the mountain horned agama of Sri Lanka
Almost a fifth of the world's reptile species are at risk of extinction, according to scientists.
Research led by the Zoological Society of London found that the future of 19% of the world's reptiles are threatened. Conservation experts also confirmed that 47% are vulnerable and highlighted the possible extinction of three species. The figures are based on a random sample of 1,500 of the world's reptile species. "It's essentially an election poll set up - using this sample to give an example of how reptiles are doing as a whole," explained Dr Monika Bohm, lead author of the study published in the journal Biological Conservation. The study was made in conjunction with 200 experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission.
Ethopian Wolf is genetically vulnerable and nearing extinction
Rarest dog: Ethiopian wolves are genetically vulnerable
Populations of the world's rarest dog, the Ethiopian wolf, are genetically fragmenting, scientists say.
Fewer than 500 of Africa's only wolf species are thought to survive. Now a 12-year study of Ethiopian wolves living in the Ethiopian highlands has found there is little gene flow between the small remaining populations. That places the wolves at greater risk of extinction from disease, or habitat degradation. In a study published in the journal , Dada Gottelli of the Zoological Society of London and colleagues in Oxford, UK and Berlin, Germany, quantified the genetic diversity, population structure and patterns of gene flow among 72 wild-living Ethiopian wolves.
Big Cats - Mountain Lions, Panthers, Jaguars, Tigers and Cheetahs
Of the nearly forty feline, or cat, species, only one—the domestic cat—is believed to be secure. As undeveloped land becomes harder to find, large cats, such as lions, panthers, tigers, jaguars, and cheetahs, are left with less and less natural habitat in which to live.
Big Cat Species Facing Extinction2010 was supposed to be the Year of the Tiger. Unfortunately, tigers, lynx, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, cheetahs, and every species of Big Cat in the world is in decline. How long these magnificent species can evade extinction is up to us.Big Cats are part of the Family Felidae (or feline), and are a rich addition to our natural world. However, the Big Cats are in severe decline throughout the planet. The Anthropocene Extinction, also known as the Holocene Extinction event, is the world’s 6th great sudden loss of life. We are currently in the third wave of this, and man-made ecological effects such as an overexploitation of species, pollution, the introduction of alien species, and habitat encroachment are directly responsible for the decline and extinction of thousands of species of life.
African tropical glaciers disappearing and going extinct
Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been home to tropical glaciers for tens of thousands of years. These glaciers currently are receeding at a rate of between 30 meters per year to 50 meters per year. The largest "glacier" is now about 1 square kilometer, in 2012. The rate at which these glaciers are disappearing is increasing, and they will soon be extinct in our lifetime, probably by 2020. Gloabal warming, caused by pollution and the burning of fossil fuels is the cause of this extinction. Unlike animals, however, glaciers can return when the climate cools down again, if we can reduce our population, pollution, and stop burning fossil fuels and modify our energy system. So perhaps extinction is too strong a word to use.
These glaciers currently are receeding at a rate of between 30 meters per year to 50 meters per year. 
The largest "glacier" is now about 1 square kilometer, in 2012. 
The rate at which these glaciers are disappearing is increasing, and they will soon be extinct in our lifetime, probably by 2020. 
Gloabal warming, caused by pollution and the burning of fossil fuels is the cause of this extinction. Unlike animals, however, glaciers can return when the climate cools down again, if we can reduce our population, pollution, and stop burning fossil fuels and modify our energy system. So perhaps extinction is too strong a word to use.
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