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ForestPlots
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Tropical forests in our time - people, trees and climate. Posts by Oliver Phillips.

Oliver Lawrence Phillips is a British ecologist who specializes in tropical forests and is currently Professor of Tropical Ecology in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. He is noted for his work coordinating large-scale, collaborative research projects that study how humans have changed the world's tropical forests, and the implications for climate change. .. more

Environmental science 64%
Geography 16%
Pinned
Forest measurements are more important than ever.

“Dedicated teams working in the field to collect vital ground-truth data are essential to the success of our missions” - Simonetta Cheli #ESA Director of Earth Observation. Find out more in our latest newsletter.
sway.cloud.microsoft/pdXbVpmWR2Io...

Here are two beautiful Lauraceae trees from the wet forest remnants of Colombia's Magdalena Medio.

How many more species remain unknown to science in what remains of the Andean forests?
abm.ojs.inecol.mx/index.php/ab...

RIP Jimmy
Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican reggae singer who helped popularize the genre with songs like “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come,” died at 81 of pneumonia, his wife said. Read more about his life and legacy: nyti.ms/4pxqKao

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican reggae singer who helped popularize the genre with songs like “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come,” died at 81 of pneumonia, his wife said. Read more about his life and legacy: nyti.ms/4pxqKao

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Cop30 shows we need real climate action, fast. Choosing not to fly is hard, but many travellers say slowing down gave them more, lower emissions and a bigger sense of purpose. Overland travel is better for the planet and the experience.
#ClimateAction
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UN warns world losing climate battle but fragile Cop30 deal keeps up the fight
Reaching agreement in divisive political landscape shows ‘climate cooperation is alive and kicking’, says UN climate chief
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

#COP30 was meant to deliver a stronger global push to protect forests. But in Belém, negotiations closed without a binding commitment to halt deforestation.

CIFOR-ICRAF's Robert Nasi breaks down what this means for climate action

Read the full piece:🔗 https://bit.ly/4pssdyE

#Trees4Resilience
A 30,019-hectare forest in Santa Cruz, Bolivia may soon be sold to agribusiness giant Bom Futuro, which plans to clear it, documents show.

Conservationists warn the area is a key part of the Chiquitano dry forest, linking the Amazon, Gran Chaco & Cerrado.
The land deal threatening a vital piece of Bolivia’s Chiquitano dry forest
A large forest in eastern Bolivia is on the verge of being sold to an international agriculture company, raising concerns that it might be razed to make room for new cropland. The 30,019-hectare…
news.mongabay.com
425.82 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in air 20-Nov-2025
keelingcurve.ucsd.edu
The Keeling Curve
The Keeling Curve is a daily record of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration maintained by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
keelingcurve.ucsd.edu

Clark, J.L. & D.A. Neill. 2025. Sumacoa (Gesneriaceae), an arborescent new genus from the eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador. Systematic Botany 51(1): 4–12.

Reposted by Markus P. Eichhorn

New plant genus discovered in the Andes. Sumacoa barbata is an arborescent Gesneriad endemic to Cordillera del Cóndor.
David Neill, co-author of the study and legendary figure in neotropical botany, passed away this year. Sumacoa represents both a scientific milestone and a tribute to his legacy.

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Brazil is pushing the Tapajós River waterway as one of the main Amazon shipping corridors and preparing it for privatization, which will enable regular dredging and maintenance.

Traditional communities and environmental groups warn that dredging and vessel traffic threaten turtles, fish and more.
Amazon Indigenous groups fight soy waterway as Brazil fast-tracks dredging
The Tapajós supported Indigenous people for millennia, but now vessels, pollution and waves may disrupt their lives.
news.mongabay.com

Amazonía: la mayor selva tropical del mundo. Ningún otro bosque tiene un impacto similar.
www.bbc.com/mundo/articl...

Siglos de influencia humana acumulativa en los bosques amazónicos. La abundancia de especies arbóreas útiles en 1500 parcelas sugiere una amplia huella ecológica de los pueblos indígenas precolombinos y los colonizadores posteriores al contacto con los europeos en la composición forestal actual.

Reposted by Mathias Disney

Centuries of compounding human influence on Amazonian forests.
The distribution of abundances of useful Amazonian tree species in 1500 plots suggests widespread ecological imprints of pre-Columbian indigenous and post-contact colonist people on modern forest composition.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Centuries of compounding human influence on Amazonian forests | PNAS
Recent evidence suggests that the ecological footprints of pre-Columbian Indigenous peoples in Amazonia persist in modern forests. Ecological impac...
www.pnas.org

Descubren cuatro nuevas especies de plantas en el Parque Nacional Yanachaga Chemillén 🇵🇪
El descubrimiento de estas plantas, que no existen en ningún otro lugar del planeta, resalta el valor de los últimos refugios biológicos en los Andes.

www.actualidadambiental.pe/pasco-descub...
Pasco: descubren cuatro nuevas especies de plantas en el Parque Nacional Yanachaga Chemillén
En los bosques montanos húmedos de la Reserva de Biósfera [...]
www.actualidadambiental.pe

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Global #biodiversity is under intense pressure from human activity. David Attenborough explains why biodiversity is so important to us, how biodiversity loss is impacting our world and how there is still time to change direction – if we act now: #COP30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlWNuzrqe7U
Why is biodiversity important - with Sir David Attenborough | The Royal Society
YouTube video by The Royal Society
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

🌐 Global Ecology feed Digest #39, Nov 10-17, 26 posts!

✨For the lazy (yes we are!) & friends who don't like social media but might benefit from this feed, here’s a DIGEST crafted with 💚 for you to share

👉 globalecologybs.github.io/feeddigest.g...

DM if you want to receive the link weekly

🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁🧪
bluesky Global Ecology Feed Digest #38
Curated digest of the bluesky Global Ecology feed on biodiversity, ecosystems & conservation at large scales. Terrestrial, freswater & marine realms.
globalecologybs.github.io

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Another new species discovered in Peru, in Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén. The type specimen of 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑚 was collected by Marco Cueva, Abel Monteagudo, Antonio Peña and colleagues working in the Yanachaga RAINFOR montane forest plots.
doi.org/10.3897/phyt...

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Why go flight-free? Aviation emissions hit the Global South hardest. Francisca’s flight-free pledge is about travelling consciously, exploring locally, and choosing low-carbon options. flightfree.co.uk/post/flight-...
#ClimateCrisis #SustainableTravel
Francisca: decolonising our travel mindset
Black Geographers founder Francisca Rockey shares why she has decided to take a flight free year
flightfree.co.uk

gracias a Jorge González y Rafael Herrera Fernández

Todos tenemos raíces profundas.

Este fascinante artículo repasa el trabajo de RAINFOR en Venezuela y conecta 200 años de historia de exploradores del río Negro y el Amazonas, entre ellos von Humboldt, Bonpland, Spruce, Wallace, Medina y Rafael Herrera Fernández.
www.meer.com/es/95997-ric...
The largest mammals have always been at the greatest risk of extinction – this is still the case today. 🧵

The wipeout of the largest mammals is a global phenomenon that we see across many regions.

Los gráficos, mapas y fotos que muestran la lenta muerte de la Amazonía - y por qué el mundo debería preocuparse

www.bbc.com/mundo/articl...
The 2025 U.N. climate conference, COP30, will run from Nov. 10-21 in Belém, Brazil, and is expected to host the largest participation of Indigenous peoples in the conference series’ history, with more than 3,000 Indigenous delegates registered.

Mongabay spoke with some about their objectives.
Indigenous delegates prepare for COP30 with focus on justice, land and finance
As the Brazilian city of Belém prepares for this year’s U.N. climate conference, COP30, Indigenous leaders worldwide say they’re getting ready to have their demands addressed. Dubbed the “nature COP”…
news.mongabay.com

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

Today the UN COP climate summit kicked off in Brazil, and @london.gov.uk has been in Rio to promote action on climate change by cities. Back here in London, my @badvertising.bsky.social team mates launched a campaign to ask the Mayor to stop promoting pollution on London’s public transport network

Cuatro nuevas especies de Gesneriaceae de la Reserva de Biósfera Oxapampa-Asháninka-Yanesha, Perú. 2025. Revista Forestal del Perú
revistas.lamolina.edu.pe/index.php/rf...
Felicitaciones Rocio Rojas Gonzales, Rodolfo Vásquez Martínez, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza y colegas!

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips

This is an excellent explanation of why the govt's headlong rush for airport expansions is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Thank you @flightfreeuk.bsky.social
substack.com/@flightfreeu...
Should the Government be supporting Airport Expansion?
We comment on the Government response to our petition to Stop Airport Expansion
substack.com
New study finds “brutal drought and extreme heat wave that began in September 2023 transformed the lake into a steaming cauldron. The lake's waters reached 41C (106F).” 😱
Hundreds of dolphins found dead in Amazon lake were in water hotter than a jacuzzi, study finds
"You couldn't put your finger in the water," said the lead author of the study, which spotlights the impacts of planetary warming on aquatic ecosystems.
www.cbsnews.com

El calentamiento de los lagos del Amazonas con el clima cambiante supera los límites de tolerancia térmica de la vida acuática.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Reposted by Julen Astigarraga

#PhD investigating the Ecology and Evolution of tree size - integrating field ecology, molecular biology, and biogeography to answer how and why giant trees evolved and what are the consequences of gigantism.
www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/esquivel-mue...