Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.

The few remaining “old-growth” natural forests are relics of the past that illustrate how forests would have looked in the absence of human management.

Most Swedish forests are so-called #boreal forests.

This type of coniferous woodland #ecosystem encompasses most of the northern regions of the planet.

After mapping and measuring the most natural old-growth forests in Sweden, scientists found that they differ much more from managed forests than previously thought, even if some of those managed forests looked old.

Old-growth forests store 78-89% more #carbon than managed forests do, a difference in carbon storage larger than Sweden’s cumulative emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels since 1834.

These new results underscores the much larger carbon storage benefits that flow from protecting forests than using them to produce bioenergy and wood products.

#climate #nature #ecology #biological
https://theconversation.com/swedens-old-growth-natural-forests-store-83-more-carbon-than-managed-woodlands-new-study-277150

Global demand for wood products is increasing, as are calls for protecting tropical #forests from #deforestation.

In #boreal regions, where much of the #forest has not been previously logged, demand has led to clear-cutting of old, primary forest.

In a new paper, scientists assess the potential impacts of clearing primary boreal forests by comparing the carbon storage of primary and secondary (previously logged) forests in Sweden.

Including vegetation, dead wood, wood products, and soils, primary forests store over 70% more carbon than secondary forests, a difference several times greater than previous estimates.

These results reveal previously underappreciated value in protecting primary boreal forests.

#climate #ecology #biological
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz8554

Gotta love some nice lichens hanging of the trees in them temperate forests.

#plants #botany #boreal #canada

We may be underestimating the true carbon cost of northern wildfires

#Wildfires in the northern boreal #forests of #Alaska, #Canada, #Scandinavia, and #Russia may be more damaging to the #climate than previously thought, a new UC Berkeley-led study suggests. That's because these #fires don't just burn through trees; they can also penetrate deep into the #carbon-rich layers of #soil underneath many #boreal forests, releasing carbon that has been accumulating for hundreds or even thousands of years.

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-underestimating-true-carbon-northern-wildfires.html

#ClimateScience
#Uhhps
#ClimateCatastrophe

Good to see this BUT where is the protective legislation and penalties for greedy, thirsty corporations? https://cabinradio.ca/279440/news/environment/land-water/canada-water-agency-gives-1m-to-mackenzie-river-protection/

#WaterisLife #watersheds #NWT #SubArctic #Boreal #Canada

BOREAL comienza el año y presenta el single Sin nada que perder | vía #DiarioDeAnaFunk

https://diariodeanafunk.cl/boreal-comienza-el-ano-y-presenta-el-single-sin-nada-que-perder/

#boreal #estreno #musicachilena