How does biodiversity loss impact tropical forests’ carbon absorption? This is what a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences hopes to address as a team of scientists led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) investigated how declines in animal populations could negatively impact tropical ecosystems. This study has the potential to help researchers, climate scientists, and the public better understand the link between biodiversity and the climate and the steps we can take to protect it.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data regarding how animals influence seed dispersal, resulting in tropical forest regrowth. The goal of the study was to quantify how declines in animal biodiversity impact tropical tree regrowth. In the end, the researchers found that 81 percent of tropical trees are dependent on seed dispersal from local animal populations. However, as animal populations decline, the researchers found that tree regrowth decreased by 57 percent while also contributing to an average of 1.8 metric tons per hectare of carbon not being absorbed by trees since they can’t regrow.
“In the discussion around planting trees versus allowing trees to regrow naturally, regrowth is basically free, whereas planting trees costs money, and it also leads to less diverse forests,” said Dr. César Terrer, who is a Tianfu Career Development Associate Professor at MIT and a co-author on the study. “With these results, now we can understand where natural regrowth can happen effectively because there are animals planting the seeds for free, and we also can identify areas where, because animals are affected, natural regrowth is not going to happen, and therefore planting trees actively is necessary.”
What new connections between biodiversity and climate will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, EurekAlert!
