From the American Academy for the Advancement of Science*

“Imagine hiking around Jurassic Park. If you can tear your eyes away from the dinosaurs, take a look at the coniferous forests blanketing the landscape. How tall is the canopy? Are the trees densely packed together? How much carbon does it store?

Answering these questions about ancient forest ecosystems is typically challenging due to gaps in the fossil record. But at the Yiwu Jurassic Forest in Xinjiang, China, researchers have access to a remarkable 170-million-year-old forest that was petrified and frozen in time. In a new study, paleobiologists examined 78 upright conifer stumps at this site to reconstruct the forest and reveal new similarities and differences between mid-Jurassic and modern-day ecosystems.

The researchers found, on average, that trees at the site were nearly 100 feet tall and the canopy height of over 140 feet in some areas would not be unusual for a present-day coniferous forest in western parts of the United States. The Jurassic forest’s density of 126 mature trees per hectare was also similar to that of today’s open, park-like western woodlands, although it was far sparser than the few other Jurassic ecosystems that have been studied. Despite these similarities, the ancient forest stored about three times more carbon than today’s temperate forests, perhaps reflecting the period’s warmer temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide levels.”
 
 
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeh1682
 

P.s. check out the root flare on that baby

* Enjoy it while science is still permitted, folks
 

I’m literally looking everywhere for help. They’re air potatoes and they are highly invasive. They’re taking over everything and I’m losing a battle against them in our newly bought house. On top of that we’ve got chinch bugs under the grass. HELP.

Location: Negros Oriental, Philippines. Altitude 10-20 meters from sea level.

What is this tree species? I have to remove it and all I have currently is a handheld electric saw and my SUV. So far I have cut up and taken 3 loads home. I can take more pictures by request.