Creative_soja
Creative_soja OP t1_j1p5zxs wrote
Reply to comment by seriousofficialname 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
That is a good question. As per my understanding, the researchers selected a logged area and adjoining unlogged area within the same forest. So, it is difficult to say how the impacts of logging one section affect the biodiversity of the unlogged section.
Creative_soja OP t1_j1p5b1a wrote
Reply to comment by Cryptid_Chaser 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
Oh sorry. I am using my university network with free access, so I didn't realize that.
From the professional summary of the study:
Researchers "put a huge amount of work into calculating the number of individuals for 144 bird species and 104 mammalian species. They did this in adjacent areas of undisturbed and logged forest in Malaysian Borneo. At 882 locations, the authors installed camera traps — devices that automatically take pictures when animals pass by. In addition, Malhi and colleagues captured small mammals at 1,488 positions; installed bat traps at 336 sites; and counted birds at 356 locations."
"Surprisingly, the logged sites had a greater number of speciea than the unlogged sites. For example, logged forests had more species of bird that eat insects or that eat plant material such as fruit and nectar than did the unlogged forests. The authors estimated energy flows through food consumption, and found higher values for logged forests than for unlogged ones. Perhaps logging opens up extra environmental niches that help to boost the forest ecosystem."
So, it seems pretty extensive. I have added the link to the original study.
Creative_soja OP t1_j1p22wy wrote
Reply to comment by Organic-Idiocy 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
True. Except for mud trails, any paved road eventually divides the forest and somehow irreversibly damages the ecosystem.
Creative_soja OP t1_j1p1b0a 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
True. But this study is one of the first to extensively document, through field measurements, the impacts on biodiversity in a logged and in an unlogged forest within the same geographical region.
Creative_soja OP t1_j1p01uh wrote
Reply to 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
The author reviewed the orignal study that found that "logged tropical forests as fully functional and highly diverse ecosystems. Given their vast extent, logged forests have a crucial role in conserving tropical biodiversity and helping to mitigate climate change"
The major problem with the logged forests’ conservation potential is "hindered by an abundant illegal timber trade, high hunting pressures and a scarcity of forest-management plans".
Link to the original study (open access):
Creative_soja OP t1_j1p7n1q wrote
Reply to comment by seriousofficialname 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
It is definitely true for insects and other earth species. And that is a limitation of such studies. For birds and mammals, it is difficult to validate with one study.