Eavesdropping on the Sounds of the Rainforest

Nature Conservancy scientists venture deep into the mountains of Papua New Guinea to record the soundscape of the forest, gathering biodiversity data for conservation land-use planning.

Justine E. Hausheer

Protecting Florida’s Last Old-Growth Pines

One scientist is on a mission to protect the last of Florida’s old-growth longleaf pines, before it’s too late.

Justine E. Hausheer

Ancient Tree Stumps Shed New Light on Fire in Florida

Ancient pine stumps help scientists and land managers restore fire to the longleaf pine ecosystem.

Justine E. Hausheer

Even Forest Superpowers Have Limits

A new paper out in the Journal Nature this week adds a frightening twist to an enduring mystery around the role of forests and climate change. Forest carbon scientist Peter Ellis reports on what this means for conservation.

Peter Ellis

Beavers Versus Old Growth: The Tough Reality of Conservation

If ecologically important but abundant native beavers threaten ecologically important but imperiled old growth hemlocks, what should conservationists do? Leave it to beaver? Or save the hemlocks?

Matthew L. Miller

Logging Ash to Save Hemlocks

The preserve was established specifically to protect trees from logging. But what happens when waves of forest pests are going to kill trees anyway? What if logging one tree could help save another? What trees live and what trees die? Welcome to forest conservation decisions, 2014 edition.

Matthew L. Miller

Can Integrated Pest Management Save the Eastern Hemlock?

Around the eastern US, hemlocks are dying. Fast. Can anything save them? Some hopeful answers emerge from a Pennsylvania forest preserve.

Matthew L. Miller

Notes from the Deer Wars: Science & Values in the Eastern Forest

The science is clear: over-abundant white-tailed deer are having powerful and negative impacts on the eastern forest. The human values around this issue, though, are anything but clear. Are environmentalists -- and tradition-bound deer hunters -- willing to pull the trigger?

Matthew L. Miller

Change Comes to the Eastern Forest: Five-Part Series Begins Today

Woodbourne Forest Preserve in north-central Pennsylvania was to remain pristine and free of human management. Free of human management, that is, unless there were extraordinary, unforeseen circumstances. Those extraordinary circumstances are here. Welcome to forest conservation in the Anthropocene.

Matthew L. Miller

Island Biogeography Theory Misses Mark for Tropical Forest Remnants

Species losses due to habitat fragmentation may be less bleak than predicted under the island biogeography theory, says a study of bat biodiversity in Costa Rica and Panama.

Marty Downs

Logging Carbon by Trailing Loggers

Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) is good for our carbon footprint, right? Not consistently, say Conservancy scientists studying logging practices in Indonesia.

Marty Downs

The Grouse in Winter

Self-made snow igloos, "reverse" migrations and big sagebrush. The unusual ways 3 grouse species survive and thrive in deep snow and frigid temperatures.

Matthew L. Miller