Native Forests Serve Better in Restoration Projects, Study Says
Sixth Tone 18 Mar 2022
By Yuan Ye
While tree-planting initiatives and reforestation drives have been seen as a vital tool to mitigate some of the impacts of climate change, not all forest restoration efforts yield the same results, said the study published in the academic journal Science. Researchers said it’s the first global study comparing the performances of two reforestation approaches.
Researchers from seven countries — including China, the United Kingdom, and Brazil — assessed 25,950 records from 264 studies in 53 countries and found that diverse native trees “consistently” performed better in key ecological services compared to monoculture tree plantations. The former fared better in carbon storage, preventing soil erosion, and water provisioning compared with the latter.
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I agree that native forest is better than exotic plantations , any plantations . We know that monocultures have many drawbacks : one being the spread of disease. Locally here, a pine plantation had to be removed because a disease swept through it…same tree species susceptible to same diseases. Diversity in native forests mean the ecology provides a defence of the plants and mutual support. Part of the research made by and reported by Suzanne Simard in her book ” Finding the Mother Tree”.