Human intervention changes tree species diversity in tropical forests
Published: Tuesday, Dec 10th 2024, 16:40
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An international research team involving the University of Bern has shown that man-made interventions in tropical forests are changing the diversity of tree species. Deforestation causes winner and loser species, the university announced on Tuesday.
Man-made changes to the landscape could lead to an increase in a few species and the loss of many, as the University of Bern wrote in a press release.
The research team, with the participation of the Institute of Plant Sciences at the University of Bern, has now shown that fast-growing tree species with small seeds predominate in tropical forest regions with intensive deforestation, according to the report.
Although the tree species described as winners in the study grow quickly, they only have a limited lifespan. Their trunks and branches are far less dense than those of the slow-growing tree species they are replacing.
The change in tree species could lead to a decline in the ecological functions of these forests, according to the report. The important ability of forests to absorb and store carbon is also affected.
For the study, the international research group examined a data set of over 1200 tropical tree species in more than 270 forest plots in six regions of the Brazilian Amazon and Atlantic rainforest. These regions were influenced by human activities.
The study results were published in the journal "Nature Ecology and Evolution".
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