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Research reveals the importance of water table depth in forest growth and carbon modelling in the Amazon region
- May, 2022
The Amazon hydrological cycle is already changing due to climate change and this is expected to intensify in the future. The water availability is one of the main factors that influence plant growth and mortality, and the water table depth is...
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How Can we Make Forest Data Fair? Put People - Not Data - First
- May, 2022
Our article, with 25 tropical forest science leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America addresses a huge challenge at the heart of global change science and policy. Writing in Nature Ecology and Evolution we...
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RAINFOR plays a critical role supporting Peru's government with their submission to the UNFCCC in 2021
- November, 2021
As part of the global process to reduce carbon emissions, nations need to report their forest emissions by submitting national "Forest Reference Emission Level" (FREL). RAINFOR colleagues played a critical role supporting Peru's...
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Taking the pulse of Earth’s tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots
- July, 2021
Our article, published in Biological Conservation explains the origins of RAINFOR and ForestPlots.net, and how the power of collaboration has transformed forest research in Africa, South America and Asia. The paper, which includes 551...
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Scientists unravel how and why Amazon trees die
- November, 2020
This huge study unravels the factors controlling tree mortality rates in Amazon forests and helps to explain why tree mortality is increasing across the Amazon basin. The capacity of the Amazon forest to store carbon in a changing climate...
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Tropical forests can handle the heat, up to a point
- May, 2020
Tropical forests face an uncertain future under climate change, but new research published in Science suggests they can continue to store large amounts of carbon in a warmer world, if countries limit greenhouse gas...
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En Bolivia: Impacto Grande de las Parcelas Permanentes y Colaboración con Redes Internacionales
- February, 2020
Vincent Vos nos envió un análisis interesante. La colaboración multiplica el impacto científico de los investigadores. Para UAB en Bolivia, no solo ha podido continuar las remediciones de las parcelas,...
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Rainfor data contributes to the FOS
- November, 2019
Rainfor data contributes to the FOS, Forest Observation System, building a global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass. See Schepaschenko et al (2019) The Forest Observation System, building a global...
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IPCC Tropical Forest Carbon Stocks
- June, 2019
Rainfor data contributes to new IPCC default values for tropical forest carbon stocks. See: Suarez et al (2019) Estimating aboveground net biomass change for tropical and subtropical forests: Refinement of IPCC default rates using...
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New article led by Edgar VICUÑA MIÑANO of the Peruvian National Park Service (SERNANP)
- January, 2019
Using our expanded network of forest plots in the Peruvian Amazon for the first time we are able to show that Peruvian Amazon protected areas act as a carbon sink: a key ecosystem service of international importance. This has been quantified...
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Amazon forests failing to keep up with climate change
- November, 2018
A team of more than 100 scientists has assessed the impact of global warming on thousands of tree species across the Amazon to discover the winners and losers from 30 years of climate change. Their analysis found the effects of climate...
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Capacity building to support management
- July, 2018
The project "Monitoring protected areas in Peru to Increase forest resilience to climate change (MonANPerú)" led a highly successful training course to analyse the dynamics and ecological changes in Peruvian tropical forests,...
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Integrating forest monitoring in protected area management in Perú
- July, 2018
The project "Monitoring protected areas in Peru to Increase forest resilience to climate change (MonANPerú)" led a series of discussion and practical training sessions in Lima, from July 23 to 26. The goal was to present...
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Experiments and observations together show how the distribution of Amazon trees predicts their tolerance to drought
- August, 2017
Nowhere on Earth has more species than tropical forests, but climate change may now threaten thousands of trees here. How can we efficiently predict which are at risk and which are safe - without doing an impossible number of...
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Ancient peoples shaped the Amazon rainforest
- March, 2017
New research reveals that 85 tree species domesticated by pre-Colombian peoples remain common in forests close to ancient settlements. An international team of ecologists and social scientists, including RAINFOR researchers, has found...
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Carbon uptake by Amazon forests matches Amazon nations' carbon emissions
- February, 2017
Carbon emissions across all nine Amazon nations have been fully matched by carbon absorption by mature Amazon forests since the 1980s, RAINFOR research shows. Study lead author Professor Oliver Phillips, from the University of Leeds,...
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Climate policies alone will not save Earth's most diverse tropical forests
- January, 2017
A focus on policies to conserve tropical forests for their carbon storage value may imperil some of the world’s most biologically rich tropical forests. Many countries have climate-protection policies designed to conserve tropical...
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Evolutionary heritage influences Amazon tree ecology
- December, 2016
It is expected that sister lineages will be more similar to each other simply because they diverged more recently from a common ancestor. However, during evolution many other processes have been acting and driving to different extents of...
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Drought stalls tree growth and shuts down Amazon carbon sink
- July, 2016
A recent drought completely shut down the Amazon Basin’s carbon sink, by killing trees and slowing their growth, a ground-breaking study led by researchers at the Universities of Exeter and Leeds has found. Previous research has...
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PPBio-RAINFOR and Dry Forest workshops in Data management and Analysis with ForestPlots.net, Brazil
- April, 2016
In April, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez (ForestPlots.net / RAINFOR) co-ordinated the content and taught 2 workshops in Brazil in the management and analysis of tropical forest data. Attendees were taught how to use ForestPlots.net to load, analyse...
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Massive analysis of thousands of Amazon tree species: most are restricted to the wettest locations and are vulnerable to droughts
- April, 2016
A study in Ecography used information of the distribution and abundance of 2570 Amazon tree species across RAINFOR and ATDN plots to calculate the most favourable climate condition for each of them. Led by Adriane Esquivel Muelbert, a Brazilian...
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Half of all Amazonian tree species may be globally threatened
- November, 2015
More than half of all tree species in the world’s most diverse forest – the Amazon – may be globally threatened, according to a new study. But the study, published in the journal Science Advances, also suggests that...
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Exciting PhD on climate change and forests in Amazonia, working with SERNANP, RAINFOR and ForestPlots.net
- November, 2015
Amazing opportunity for Peruvian students to undertake a doctoral research project on climate change and forests with SERNANP, RAINFOR and ForestPlots.net! Further information via this link.
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RAINFOR signs new cooperation agreement with SERNANP (Peru)
- October, 2015
On 16 October, Tim Baker signed a cooperation agreement on behalf of RAINFOR (Amazon Forestry Inventory Network) with the Protected Areas Authority in Peru (SERNANP) to monitor the impact of climate change on the nation’s forests (see...
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Training RAINFOR - Excellence in data collection
- September, 2015
This course was held on the 9th and 10th of September 2015, in the Bacaba Park, New Xavantina, Mato Grosso, in Brazil with the main objective to train future partners of The Amazon Forest Inventory Network (RAINFOR) in the...
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New data package release
- May, 2015
The latest data package released from ForestPlots.net makes available tree-by-tree diameter and floristic data from 91 samples of 0.1-ha each, in community and protected lands in eastern Madre de Dios, in Amazonian Peru. Data were...
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One percent of tree species in the Amazon forest account for half of its carbon
- May, 2015
Amazon rain forests are the world’s most extensive and are extraordinarily diverse, being home to an estimated 16,000 tree species. Yet a new study has discovered that fewer than 200 species of these, barely 1%, are responsible for half...
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Problems and solutions in a changing climate-Interview with Oliver Phillips
- April, 2015
Oliver Phillips was recently interviewed by the Columbian newspaper El Colombiano de Medellin about RAINFOR. The full article is available here.
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Student bursaries for Systematics Association Biennial (2015): deadline 15th May
- April, 2015
The Systematics Association Biennial meeting will take place 26-28 August 2015 at the University of Oxford. One of the 4 thematic sessions will be run by Tim Baker (University of Leeds) and Toby Pennington (Royal...
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Three decades of Amazon forest change
- March, 2015
As we describe in research published this month (Brienen et al. Nature 519, 344–348), the biomass dynamics of apparently intact forests of the Amazon have been changing for decades with important consequences. RAINFOR’s partners...
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The impact of forest plots research is of ‘outstanding reach and significance’
- March, 2015
In 2014 the regular assessment of the quality of research at UK universities - the Research Assessment Exercise, or REF -evaluated for the first time the impact of research on policy and society. In Leeds we wrote a case study that...
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Update your participant details in ForestPlots.net
- March, 2015
The latest release of ForestPlots.net, available since yesterday, lets you review and update your contact details and institutional affiliations. If you have been involved in any RAINFOR field campaigns, it is important that you...
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New Rainfor-Brasil Post Doc position
- February, 2015
We have a new RAINFOR-Brasil postdoc position available with Profa. Beatriz Marimon and Prof. Oliver Phillips, funded by CNPq and based in Mato Grosso at UNEMAT Nova Xavantina. Further information here.
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New ForestPlots.net User Interface now live!
- February, 2015
We have been working on improving the ForestPlots.net interface . We hope you like the new version. The instructions to re-activate your account are as follows: 1. On the page https://www.forestplots.net/secure/Login.aspx click on...
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In the news: 30 years of Amazon forest change
- January, 2015
Our analysis of 30 years of Amazon forest carbon dynamics, which was published last month in Nature, received widespread attention. A big thank you to many RAINFOR colleagues for making this study possible. We discovered that the...
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ForestPlots.net: now able to assign D.O.I s to datasets
- January, 2015
ForestPlots.net, the secure online database used to manage most of RAINFOR's long-term data, is now able to assign Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to datasets. DOIs provide a system for tracking where the data...
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ForestPlots.net animation release: how we manage our data
- December, 2014
The secure online database ForestPlots.net is one of the main data management tools used by RAINFOR. An animation to showcase the database has now been released:
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RAINFOR: ForestPlots.net Workshop takes place in Cusco, Peru
- August, 2014
Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez and Joey Talbot (School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK) coordinated the scientific content and were the principal tutors in a workshop organized by Abel Monteagudo and Rocio Rojas (Jardin Botanico del Missouri,...
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New research shows that Borneo's productive trees play a vital role in global carbon cycling
- May, 2014
Super-charged tropical trees: Borneo’s productive trees vitally important for global carbon cycling A team of scientists has found that the woody growth of forests in north Borneo is half as great again as in the most productive...
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Amazon rainforest survey could improve carbon offset schemes
- April, 2014
Carbon offsetting initiatives could be improved with new insights into the make-up of tropical forests. Researchers from the Universities of Leeds and Edinburgh studying the Amazon Basin have revealed unprecedented detail of the size, age...
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Árboles de Machu Picchu Cusco – Perú
- April, 2014
On behalf of our Peruvian colleagues (Luis, Abel, Gloria, Jim, Efraín e Isau), Professor Oliver Phillips would like to announce the release of a new publication: “Árboles de Machu Picchu Cusco – Perú”....
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Forests of the future research
- April, 2014
Lancaster Environment Centre collaborates with RAINFOR, ForestPlots.net and other international partners on a research project in Brazil to predict how tropical forests will look in the coming decades. Find out more here. (photo:...
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Special issue on Ecosystem Dynamics of Amazonian and Andean forests published
- April, 2014
A special issue of Plant Ecology and Diversity has recently been published drawing together a wide range of papers on the ecology of Amazonian and Andean forests. Edited by David Galbraith, Yadvinder Malhi, Luis Aragao and Tim Baker, this...
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Amazon inhales more carbon than it emits
- March, 2014
A new study led by NASA and the University of Leeds has confirmed that natural forests in the Amazon remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit. This finding resolves a long-standing debate about a key component of the...
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Live fast and diversify!
- March, 2014
Fast turnover creates high diversity of Amazon trees, according to a new RAINFOR study led by Dr Tim Baker (University of Leeds). Find out more...
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Dry times in the Amazon add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere - Interview with Professor Emanuel Gloor
- February, 2014
As the climate changes, the Amazon Basin may release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it absorbs, according to a new study published in the journal Nature. An international team of scientists, co-led...
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Rainforest reconnaissance - Interview with Professor Oliver Phillips
- February, 2014
Professor Oliver Phillips (University of Leeds) stresses the critical state of the world's tropical forests, and why constant, effective monitoring of their dynamics is more crucial than ever. Read the full interview here.
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RAINFOR Field Code Sheets for Trees and Lianas - Revised versions available in EN, ES, PT and FR
- January, 2014
Revised versions of the RAINFOR Field Code Sheets for Trees and Lianas are available to download from the RAINFOR's Manuals page in EN, ES, PT and FR. We kindly ask that all colleagues start using these updated versions when...
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Vásquez & A. Monteagudo: A new species of Hasseltia (Salicaceae), Perú
- January, 2014
Hasseltia yanachagaensis, a new species of Salicacee, from the buffer zone of Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén, Pasco, Perú, is described and illustrated in this new publication by Vásquez & A. Monteagudo.
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Vines on the March in Tropical Forests - Interview with Prof Oliver Phillips
- October, 2013
Carbon dioxide acts as a fertilizer for most plants and new research shows that woody vines, or lianas, thrive particularly well in a more carbon rich environment. Oliver Phillips, Professor of Geography from the University of Leeds,...
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RAINFOR Ecologists help uncover 'hyperdominant' tree species in the Amazon
- October, 2013
A new publication released in Science (Hans ter Steege et al) describes 16,000 tree species in Amazonia. Of these, 227 hyperdominant species are identified as accounting for half of all Amazon trees. For the first time, plant ecologists have...
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A revolution in managing forest plot inventory data is here!
- July, 2013
Ever wanted to standardise the identifications of species across your plots? Ever wanted to download data from several of your plots from the ForestPlots.net database at the same time? Ever wanted to be able to download your plot data in a...
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Research Agreement with UNEMAT
- June, 2013
Through the RAINFOR project funded by the Moore Foundation and led by Professor Oliver Phillips, the University of Leeds has signed a long-term Research Cooperation Agreement with the Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Brazil. This...
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High-level scientific meeting convened by Prince Charles on the future of tropical forest science
- May, 2013
RAINFOR contributes to the Royal Society and St. James’ Palace Memorandum on Tropical Forest Science, London, May 2013. Read the full memorandum here.
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Tropical forests' resilience to global warming
- April, 2013
Tropical forests are less likely to lose biomass – plants and plant material - in response to greenhouse gas emissions over the twenty-first century than may previously have been thought, suggests a study published in Nature Geoscience....
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RAINFOR joins Social Media
- April, 2013
We invite you to Like us on Facebook (RAINFOR.project) and follow us Twitter (@ForestPlots).
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Heaviest tropical tree ever weighed recorded in Peru
- November, 2012
The work of Rosa Goodman (University of Leeds) and colleagues has been published online in Nature this week. This included the heaviest tropical tree ever weighed, recorded from Madre de Dios, southeastern...
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Pantropical study featured in Nature
- September, 2012
Nature “Research Highlights” featured results from a new paper led by Ted Feldpausch and colleagues from Univ of Leeds-based international projects RAINFOR, AfriTRON, TROBIT, and AMAZONICA, which was recently published in...
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LAUNCH OF NEW RAINFOR WEBSITE
- September, 2012
We are pleased to release RAINFOR's new website design. We are now working hard to complete the whole site in all three languages and will move things over gradually. Let us know what you think, all suggestions welcome
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RAINFOR plots presented in China
- August, 2012
Monitoring impacts of climate change on biodiversity: an altitudinal transect in a protected area of Amazonian Peru Dr Lily Rodriguez (GIZ-Peru: Biodiversity and Climate Change Project) presented a poster at a conference in China which...
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RAINFOR collaboration gives insight into Amazonian Soils
- July, 2012
The impacts of soils and climate drivers on Amazon forests are analysed in a major RAINFOR collaboration (Quesada et al 2012).
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Application Success
- March, 2012
Esteban Alvarez and Alvaro Cogollo have been successful in their application to the Colombian National Science Foundation (COLCIENCIAS) for a large grant to support intensive carbon cycle measurements between 2012 at 2014. These will be at four...
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Contribution from Bill Laurance: ‘Are the World’s Biggest Trees in Trouble?'
- February, 2012
Big trees are incredibly important for forests- they store much of their carbon, are competitively and reproductively dominant, and form the breadbaskets and shelters for a forest's animal life. They are also suffering a range of modern...
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Invited Talk
- February, 2012
Oliver Phillips gave an invited research talk about our Amazon research findings at the Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela, on 06 February. He then led a group of Peruvian and Venezuelan botanists and foresters in the recensus of...
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National Geographic interviews Carlos Quesada (Beto)
- October, 2011
Carlos Alberto Quesada (Beto) gave an interview to National Geographic Brazil about the work he has done with the RAINFOR Project. http://viajeaqui.abril.com.br/materias/reserva-de-carbono?pw=1
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New Book on Venezuelan Forests
- July, 2011
The Moore Foundation RAINFOR grant supports the publication of this new book entitled "Bosques de Venezuela (Un homenaje a J. P. Veillon) " edited by Gerardo Aymard. The publication has 335 pages, for which 55 authors from 18...
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A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests
- July, 2011
Forests absorb one-third of global fossil fuel emissions Leeds, July 14 2011. The world’s established forests remove 8.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from the atmosphere – equivalent to nearly a third of annual fossil...
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Research Agreement with SERNANP, Peru
- June, 2011
Research Agreement with the Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (SERNANP) (Peru), with the objective of collaborating in completing the installation of permanent plots in the Reserva Comunal el Sira, Eastern Peru,...
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RAINFOR Workshop in Brazil
- June, 2011
Ted Feldpausch (Univ Leeds, UK), Carlos Quesada (INPA, Brasil), Marcos Silveira (UFAC, Brasil), Chris Doughty (Oxford, UK), Flavia Costa (PPBio, INPA, Brasil) and Cleber Salimon (UFAC) led a RAINFOR-Moore sponsored workshop in Rio Branco, Acre,...
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Research Agreement with La Comunidad de Monte Grande, Bolivia
- May, 2011
Through the RAINFOR project, funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and led by Oliver Phillips, the University of Leeds has completed the signing of a research agreement with La Comunidad de Monte Grande (Bolivia). The agreement...
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Research Agreement with IBIF and UAB, Bolivia
- September, 2010
Investigators of the RAINFOR project funded by the Moore Foundation have completed the signing of research agreements with two different collaborators in Bolivia, the Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal (IBIF, Bolivian Forestry...
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Peruvian television showcases RAINFOR work
- July, 2010
‘Saber Amazónico’ - Programme produced by IIAP, Iquitos, Peru, with the collaboration of RAINFOR. 30 minutes demonstrating RAINFOR work in Peru. Production team: Nelly Varela, Oscar Jarama, Pedro Icomedes. The...
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Scientists' statement online: no 'myths' debunked
- March, 2010
Scientists conducting research on Amazon forests, climate and/or fire sign a statement in reaction to the recent press release on Amazon susceptibility to reductions in rainfall: No Amazon rainforest "myths" have been debunked
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The Fragile Forest: Inside Brazilian Amazonia by D.K. Bhaskar
- January, 2010
The Fragile Forest: Inside Brazilian Amazonia is a celebration of the spirit of the Amazonian rainforests. This book aims to introduce the reader to the mystery and romance of thethe Amazon basin and its significance as the greatest...
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RAINFOR impact on climate change policy debate
- December, 2009
On behalf of its 10,000 conservation professionals the Society for Conservation Biology wrote last week to Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark and host of the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen, about the...
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Research agreement with Jardín Botánico de Medellín
- November, 2009
Through the RAINFOR project funded by the Moore Foundation and led by Oliver Phillips, the University of Leeds has completed the signing of a research agreement with the Jardín Botánico de Medellín Joaquin...
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Research agreement with the Universidad Nacional de Colombia
- September, 2009
Through the RAINFOR project funded by the Moore Foundation and led by Oliver Phillips, the University of Leeds has completed the signing of a research agreement with the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (sede Amazonia, Leticia). The...
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Discovery Channel News on the idea Amazon rainforests may become "committed" to climate change-induced losses by mid-century
- July, 2009
The Discovery channel reports 'rainforests more fragile than estimated'. Oliver Phillips (RAINFOR) interviewed. Read the article online: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/06/29/rainforest-warming.html
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A Gazeta "REDD, clima e as floresta vulnerávies da Amazônia Sul-Ocidental"
- June, 2009
Read the article online
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Consumer: "We lose 1% of the Amazon each year"
- June, 2009
RAINFOR drought study reported by Consumer. Read the online article in Spanish
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Major RAINFOR collaboration provides insight to drought sensitivity of the Amazon
- May, 2009
Major RAINFOR collaboration published in Science article: 'Drought sensitivity of the Amazon rainforest'. Media coverage: Sources, sinks and cycles (CIFOR) The threat to the Amazon rainforest should not be overstated (The...
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BBC Mundo "Amazonia: un pulmón vulnerable"
- May, 2009
Read the article online
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Oeco: "Amazônia invade a academia britânica"
- November, 2008
Read the article in Portuguese
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NERC features RAINFOR work in PlanetEarth online
- September, 2008
NERC Features & Special Reports 'Amazonia: pathways to policy makers" Read the article
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Ethical Code, Data Sharing, & Publication Policy for RAINFOR Participants.
- August, 2008
After consulation across the network our ethical code has been revised and expanded. The principles conform to the terms of the RAINFOR Grant Agreement with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, other RAINFOR funding agencies,...
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Los Amigos forest ecology training workshop
- August, 2008
Organized by the RAINFOR project with support from the Moore Foundation. Location: Los Amigos Research Centre and Conservation Concession (CICRA), Madre de Dios, Peru Dates: 5 - 11 August 2008 23 participants from across Latin America...
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RAINFOR Project to Study Global Carbon Balance
- November, 2007
Media Coverage RAINFOR Project to Study Global Carbon Balance - 30th November 2007http://www.sflorg.com/ear/?p=88 Press release - University of Leeds - 30th November 2007 - Issued byGordon and Betty Moore...
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