For the last several decades, global biodiversity has been in crisis. Yet, as we celebrate International Day for Biodiversity on May 22, which commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global treaty, we offer some recent Mongabay stories highlighting lessons from undoing past harms and conserving biodiversity for our planet’s future.
What do forest restoration efforts ‘restore’?
Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler recently wrote about a review that warns how biodiversity is often an “afterthought” in forest restoration.
The study authors say that “biodiversity will remain a vague buzzword rather than an actual outcome” unless restoration projects intentionally prioritize and measure it.
Typically, tree-planting initiatives that plant a few different tree species dominate the agenda of forest restoration initiatives, the authors say. But while these offer carbon sequestration and benefits in the way of timber and food production, they often fail to focus on the recovery of a range of species or restoring ecological functions.
There are other methods that help achieve both reforestation and improved biodiversity, the authors add. This includes natural regeneration, where native vegetation in forests is encouraged to grow back by various interventions including reducing competition, especially from invasive plants.
The benefits of diverse forests
Long-running reforestation experiments show that planting a variety of tree species can improve climate resilience, Sean Mowbray reported for Mongabay in April.
One study from China that monitored various forest plots over six years found that forests with more diverse plant species had greater “temperature buffering” effect. For example, experimental forest plots with 24 species reduced temperatures by 4.4° Celsius (7.92° Fahrenheit) during peak summer heat compared to monocultures.
A 16-year study from Panama found that forests with greater tree diversity were more stable, storing more carbon than less diverse forests. The stability persisted during extreme weather events such as periods of drought and intense storms, lead author of both studies, Florian Schnabel, told Mongabay.
Genetically biodiverse populations are important too
Earlier this year, researchers found that genetic diversity has been declining worldwide.
Study lead author Catherine Grueber, from the IUCN’s Conservation Genetics Specialist Group, told Mongabay that any threat that reduces animal or plant populations also results in shrinking gene pools. This is a problem since genetic diversity ensure that species can be more resilient in the face of disease, hunting, climate change and habitat loss.
However, genetic loss can be slowed or reversed “by improving habitat quality, by restoring habitat, by establishing new populations, or by moving individuals among populations, among many others,” Grueber said.
The study identified several such successes, including with the golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus) in Western Australia, black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) in the U.S., and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) in Scandinavia.
Banner image of a diverse planted forest in Panama. Image courtesy of Florian Schnabel.
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