‘Regrowth slower than previously thought’
LONDON: The regrowth of Amazonian forests following deforestation may happen at a much slower rate than previously thought, according to a new study.
The research, published in the journal Ecology, monitored forest regrowth over two decades, and shows that climate change, and the wider loss of forests, could be hampering regrowth in the Amazon.
Based on the findings, the researchers predict there could be significant impacts for climate change predictions. They reasoned this could be because the ability of secondary forests -forests regrowing after clear-felling - to soak up carbon from the atmosphere may have been overestimated.
However, the current study revealed that even after 60 years of regrowth, the studied secondary forests held only 40% of the carbon compared to forests that had not been disturbed by humans.
According to the researchers, continuation of current trends may push the recovery time of forests by well over a century, meaning their ability to help fight climate change may have been vastly overestimated.
The scientists also said secondary forests take less carbon from the atmosphere during droughts, while climate change continues to increase the number of drought-years in the Amazon.
“With predictions of more drought in the future, we must be cautious about the ability of secondary forests to mitigate climate change. Our results underline the need for international agreements that minimise the impacts of climate change,” said Fernando Elias, study co-author from Federal University of Para in Brazil. PTI