Young tropical forests contribute little to biodiversity conservation
Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 12:01
in Earth & Climate
A satellite image of a green swath of tropical forest does not tell the whole story. About half the world's tropical forests are relatively young. Unless protected, they are unlikely to last more than a human generation before falling to bulldozers and chainsaws. These ephemeral secondary forests may contribute little to tree-biodiversity conservation, according to a new report by scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.