I always assumed this was true but it’s good to have some evidence behind it. Maybe a silver lining to all the destructive pests and diseases we’ve been spreading everywhere? If we can keep species from going extinct, maybe our forests will end up more diverse in the long run?
this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
5 points (100.0% liked)
Tree Huggers
882 readers
13 users here now
A community to discuss, appreciate, and advocate for trees and forests. Please follow the SLRPNK instance rules, found here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Tropical forests are a little hard to bring back to an original state due to the sheer number of species. No nursery can match it. Plus, the degradation means there are a lot of missing connections, most unknown, so restored forests around here always look a certain type of clinical. Improved, but there is always something missing.
We have over 5000 species in our little corner of Australia.
I believe we have the opportunity to add some diversity but it all depends on what this climate does to us. Lost insects, lost birds, lost mammals, lost vectors for seeds etc. I've got a feeling that a lot of forests will simplify over time.
Land clearing remnant vegetation is something that needs to be quite punishable at this point. It's lost for basically forever.
Yeah I’m more thinking of lower diversity temperate/subtropical forests. You are probably correct that highly diverse tropical forests will be negatively impacted. Just trying to think of silver linings to the sorry state of our world.