Gastronomicus t1_j1pxzbb wrote
Reply to comment by dilletaunty in Logged forest compared with an unlogged forest could be better for climate change. A detailed assessment of vegetation growth, bird and mammal numbers, and energy flows in logged and unlogged forests offers some surprising findings. by Creative_soja
> Isn’t it kind of well known that breaks in tree cover/tree fall increases diversity?
This is the case in boreal and temperate forests. I'm not sure if it is as relevant for tropical forests that already display high diversity (though likely to some extent). Article is behind a paywall so I couldn't read it any further.
dilletaunty t1_j1qzfsm wrote
That caveat totally makes sense to me, thanks for bringing it up.
To talk it through: The benefit from tree fall seems to be a mix of increased light penetrating to the forest floor + detrivory & soil buildup from the fallen trees (which we can ignore due to the logging). The documentaries I’ve seen on rainforests emphasize how the ecosystem is layered among the canopy with many epiphytic plant species and animals adapted to life off the ground. So the increased light penetration may not balance out the loss in diversity among life that depends on adult trees. It probably depends on the relative balance/rarity among the different layers, and I don’t know enough to guess on where an appropriate balance is.
cistacea t1_j1qiluq wrote
, rainforest a whole different animal yeah exactly
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