Animals: the World’s Best Reforesters!
A recent study in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences journal discovered that animals of all kinds play a key role in reforestation! By focusing on a deforested area of rainforest in Central Panama over 100 years, the researchers found that >80% of species in the rainforest were dispersed by animal species. In other words, animals are vital to the recovery and regrowth of deforested areas of rainforest!
The researchers found that flightless mammals and birds were especially important to plant dispersal over the entire 100 years of study. But small birds and bats played an especially key role in early growth, carrying the seeds of smaller trees and shrubs to the cleared area and facilitating later growth of larger trees.
The study highlighted the role that small islands of biodiversity can play in reforestation efforts. Preserved areas of forest provided both a seed source to nearby cleared areas and a refuge for birds, bats, and mammals who disperse seeds and speed reforestation.
Here at TREE, we are working everyday to conserve as many biodiversity oases as possible. Not only are we working everyday to prevent deforestation, but TREE’s several worldwide canopy walkways also serve as wildlife refuges that accelerate the recovery of nearby rainforests.
To help us address deforestation and speed the recovery of the world’s rainforests, you can make a donation today.