Research after study is sounding the alarm bells about the degrading Amazon rainforest. Scientists warn that iconic ecosystems plagued by deforestation, droughts, fires and other human disturbances are teetering on perilous cliffs.
A new study once again underscores an important point.A pair of studies published in the journal this week chemistry It concludes that the mighty Amazon is undergoing a rapid transformation and is in danger of collapsing into an entirely new kind of ecosystem.
A first study found that more than a third of the Amazon rainforest has been degraded due to human disturbance. Fires; selective logging; habitat fragmentation;
Not to mention the forests that have been cut down in recent decades.
The first study focused only on degradation, activities that damage forests, but does not remove all trees from the landscape. . This is an entirely different matter, with recent estimates suggesting that 17% of the Amazon has already been deforested.
Degradation tends to get less attention than deforestation, researchers note. But it’s still a serious threat. Even if trees remain standing, degraded forests are often less tolerant of future disturbance. This puts them at a higher risk of dying and turning into different types of ecosystems like grasslands.Degraded forests also tend to store less carbon.
Researchers used satellite data to estimate the extent of forest area affected by four major disturbances. fire; wood extraction; It is selectively harvested from within the forest without clearing the entire landscape. The “edge effect” is when forest edges become more vulnerable to disturbance. Edge effects are common in forests that have broken up into smaller and smaller pieces over time, with more edges overlapping roads, farmland, and other human disturbances.
They found that 38% of the remaining Amazonian forest is suffering from some form of degradation.
Studies have shown that often multiple different disorders act on the same tract. About 5.5% of the Amazon suffers from the combined effects of logging, fire and edge effects at once.
A second study highlights the powerful impact of human activity in the Amazon. We found that human disturbances are changing ecosystems hundreds to thousands of times faster than natural processes are changing landscapes.
The study draws much of the data from a recent assessment report compiled by the Scientific Panel on the Amazon, an initiative convened by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Note that about 17% of the original Amazon has already been deforested. About 14% was converted to agricultural land.
“The global community must act now as Amazonia approaches an irreversible tipping point,” wrote the authors of the second study. It is failure, and we fail to act at our own risk.”
Scientists have repeatedly warned that the collapse of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem would be a global catastrophe. It is estimated that at least 10% of all plant and vertebrate species in the world are contained in one place.
It also contains vast amounts of carbon trapped in trees and soil. Research suggests that the entire Amazon ecosystem could contain as much as 180 billion tons of carbon. This represents about a quarter of all carbon released into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution began. As the Amazon degrades, it releases more carbon into the atmosphere, accelerating the progression of global climate change.
Research shows that parts of the Amazon are already turning from carbon sinks to carbon sources. That means we are releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than we are absorbing.
As ecosystems continue to degrade, scientists say we may eventually reach a tipping point. Beyond this, Amazon will be unable to recover from the disruption. After this tipping point, the Amazon could turn from lush rainforest to grassy savannah.
It has been difficult for scientists to find the exact location of this tipping point. But another recent study warns that it may be approaching faster than expected. I understand (climate wireMarch 8, 2022).
