{"id":27860,"date":"2021-12-10T08:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T08:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=27860"},"modified":"2021-12-11T18:03:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T18:03:01","slug":"tropical-forests-can-recover-surprisingly-quickly-on-deforested-lands-and-letting-them-regrow-naturally-is-an-effective-and-low-cost-way-to-slow-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/tropical-forests-can-recover-surprisingly-quickly-on-deforested-lands-and-letting-them-regrow-naturally-is-an-effective-and-low-cost-way-to-slow-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical forests can recover surprisingly quickly on deforested lands \u2013 and letting them regrow naturally is an effective and low-cost way to slow climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Robin Chazdon<\/a>, University of Connecticut<\/a><\/em>; Bruno H\u00e9rault<\/a>, Cirad<\/a><\/em>; Catarina Conte Jakovac<\/a>, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina<\/a><\/em>, and Lourens Poorter<\/a>, Wageningen University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tropical forests are among the world\u2019s best tools for fighting climate change and the loss of wild species. They store huge quantities of carbon, shelter thousands of plants and animals and are home to Indigenous peoples who sustain them. That\u2019s why more than 100 world leaders pledged to halt deforestation by 2030<\/a> at the recent United Nations conference on climate change in Glasgow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many organizations and communities are working to restore native forests by reclaiming unproductive or abandoned land and carrying out costly tree-planting efforts.<\/a> These efforts are designed to encourage the return of native plants and animals and to recover the ecological functions and goods that those forests once provided. But in many cases forests can recover naturally, with little or no human assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are forest ecologists and members of a collaborative research network that studies secondary forests<\/a> \u2013 those that regrow naturally after an area has been cleared and cultivated or grazed. In a newly published study in the journal Science<\/a>, our group pioneers an approach to forest recovery that provides insights from over 2,200 forest plots in naturally regrowing tropical forests across the American and West African tropics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our research shows that tropical forests recover surprisingly quickly: They can regrow on abandoned lands and recover many of their old-growth features, such as soil health, tree attributes and ecosystem functions, in as little as 10 to 20 years. However, to support effective forest restoration and planning, it is important to understand how quickly different forest functions and attributes recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cattle<\/a>
Cattle graze on cleared rainforest land in the Amazon region, Par\u00e1, Brazil. Education Images\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Forests come back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most forests around the world today have regrown after human and natural disturbances, including fires, floods, logging and clearance for agriculture. For example, forests recovered<\/a> in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries and in the eastern U.S. from the early to mid-20th century. Today the northeastern U.S. has more forest cover<\/a> than it did 100 to 200 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, across the world\u2019s tropical regions, forests are regrowing<\/a> on approximately 3 million square miles (8 million square kilometers) of former farm and ranch land. Scientists<\/a> and policymakers<\/a> widely agree that it is critical to protect these regrowing forests and prevent more destruction and conversion of old-growth forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tropical forests are more than just trees \u2013 they are complex, dynamic networks of plants, animals and microbes. Forest recovery takes time and often has unpredictable outcomes and variable pathways<\/a>. Recovery patterns differ between wet and dry tropical forests<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, this active research area emphasizes studies that examined how specific features of forests<\/a>, such as the number of species they contain or tree biomass, change over time and space<\/a>. We believe it is important to understand forest recovery as an integrated process that is shaped by local, landscape and historical conditions. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iX678149aTQ?wmode=transparent&start=0 Puerto Rico\u2019s tropical forests were heavily deforested through the mid-20th century but have regrown on abandoned farmlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A multidimensional view of tropical forest recovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our study focused on 12 attributes that are essential components of healthy forests. They include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n