Study: Tropical forests regenerate faster than expected

An Study, which was recently published in Science, shows "that regrowing tropical forests can recover surprisingly quickly and after 20 years can reach almost 80% of the soil fertility, carbon storage and tree diversity of old forests."

Natural regeneration is therefore a cost-effective, nature-based solution for climate protection, the preservation of biological diversity and the restoration of ecosystems.

The first author, Professor Lourens Poorter from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, explains in a publication by BOKU: “The speed of recovery, however, varies greatly depending on the measured properties of the forests: the recovery of 90% of the values ​​of old forests is the fastest for soil fertility (less than 10 years) and plant functions (less than 25 years), medium speed for forest structure and biodiversity (25-60 years) and slowest for aboveground biomass and species composition (more than 120 years). "

Peter Hietz ​​from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) was also involved in the study. He says, “It is still a popular belief that once the trees are felled, tropical rainforests are lost forever. The published work clearly shows that this is not the case and that in most cases regeneration can take place surprisingly quickly. But that doesn't always happen that quickly and it is important to understand why some forests regenerate faster and others slower. In the forests in Costa Rica, for example, we have seen that this depends on the type of use and the soil. If we understand this better, we could protect forests that regenerate particularly poorly, or promote regeneration through targeted measures. "

Header photo: Peter Hietz