Even after 40 years of recovery, secondary forests remain species and carbon-poor compared to undisturbed primary forests, a new study reveals.
Even after 40 years of recovery, secondary forests remain species and carbon-poor compared to undisturbed primary forests, a new study reveals.
However these secondary forests – forests regrowing in previously deforested areas – are still vitally important to biodiversity conservation and carbon storage, argue scientists.
Housing much of Earth’s carbon and biodiversity, tropical forests are, arguably, the planet’s most important ecosystems. Yet, they continue to be destroyed by humans at an alarming rate, with devastating implications for climate change and the world’s species.
An international team of scientists from Europe, Brazil and Australia, measured carbon and surveyed more than 1,600 plant, bird and dung beetle species in 59 naturally regenerating secondary forests and 30 undisturbed primary forests in the eastern Amazon.
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Image: This is a Rufous-tailed Jacamar (Galbula ruficauda). (Credit: Alexander C Lees: Manchester Metropolitan University)
