Over the last century, governments around the world have drawn boundaries to shield thousands of the world’s most valuable ecosystems from destruction. …But reserves are facing increasing pressure, their boundaries largely disregarded as people cut down trees and push deeper into the ecosystems. Now, high in orbit… scientists are using laser technology to gauge the biomass of forests all around the world, which lets them calculate how much planet-warming carbon the trees are keeping out of Earth’s atmosphere. …“We can use these new satellite data streams to monitor forest benefits in three dimensions and do the carbon piece of this in a way we never were able to before,” said Laura Duncanson, at the University of Maryland and one of the authors of the study. …Researchers hope that a longer-term record of forest carbon data will help governments prove the value of safeguarding native ecosystems and attract more funding for protection. [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]