#tree conservation

In recent years, severe wildfires have burned through several of California’s historic sequoia groves. Thousands of mature trees are gone: trees that were centuries old, in populations that are struggling to recover. Conservation groups, including Save the Redwoods League, are working on new strategies. One is to plant genetically identical copies in different climates. If the original groves keep burning or drying out, clones elsewhere protect that genetic material from being lost entirely. [...] Archangel Ancient Tree Archive works from a straightforward premise: the genetics of old, resilient trees are worth preserving the same way seeds are. Propagating clones rather than planting from seed keeps the exact genetic profile intact, including traits that helped specific trees survive thousands of years of drought, fire, and disease. The saplings going into Detroit right now fit in the palm of a hand. Some won’t make it. The ones that do will still be growing long after everything around them is gone.

Only seven percent of Britain’s native woodlands are in good condition. Pests, pathogens, and invasive species have worked through the rest. And rising fertilizer costs, driven by ongoing conflict, have not helped. A Bristol-based startup thinks part of the answer has been sitting in festival portable toilets all along. NPK Recovery, based at the University of the West of England, collects urine at large events such as the London Marathon and Boomtown Festival, and processes it into plant fertilizer on-site. The company removes contaminants from raw urine and concentrates the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that plants need. Field trials show the product performs comparably to synthetic alternatives. Researchers are also quick to note that it doesn’t smell. The company is now taking on its biggest test: a three-year trial to grow 4,500 native British trees using urine-derived fertilizer, funded by a £435,627 (approximately $553,000) Forestry Commission grant.

While the epic migrations of salmon, humpback whales, and wildebeests are world-renowned, animals aren't the only species on the move. Trees, it turns out, can migrate too. Of course, an individual tree can't pick up its roots and travel south for the winter, but trees do move—in their own way.  Katie Nigro, a postdoctoral fellow with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), explained that trees expand their range in response to environmental changes. If the climate gets warmer, a tree species may no longer be able to grow in the southernmost parts of its range, but, through wind or animal-dispersed seeds, it can expand farther north over time into areas that were previously too cold. However, that process might be too slow for human-caused climate change. To keep pace, projections suggest, seeds would need to be dispersed at least 10 times faster than their historic migration rates of about 20 to 40 kilometers (12 to 25 miles) per century. Given the quickening rate of environmental changes and the slow rate of tree growth, researchers believe trees will struggle to adapt. To help, scientists are taking seeds from habitats they expect will no longer be suitable to a species and planting them in climates that may favor their growth in the coming century. For example, an ecosystem in Colorado that is currently ideal for a Douglas fir could become too warm to sustain it in a few decades, but that fir might thrive somewhere farther north. 

Ulu can grow to 60 feet (18 meters) tall, with large dark green leaves, and each can bear hundreds of pounds of breadfruit. A staple in some tropical countries, the fruit looks like an oversized, scaly lime. It is typically eaten cooked and is starchy, like potatoes or bread. It has a short shelf life, rotting within 48 hours of ripening.

“ Some of the sustainable strategies are sun protection, natural sunlight, cross ventilation, biophilia, blackwater treatment onsite for irrigation, recycled and local materials, solar panels, building optimization, reflective surfaces, vertical and horizontal parasols, landscaping with native plant species, and tree conservation. Outpost meets all functional requirements at a technological level, from passive architecture to optimal systems that help us achieve sustainable and wellness goals”