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Previously logged forests struggle to thrive, even with restoration, study finds

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Young trees face significant challenges surviving in previously logged forests compared to intact forests, even in areas with active restoration efforts, according to a recent study. The findings, published in the journal Global Change Biology, raise concerns about the long-term recovery of biodiversity in logged forests. This concern is growing as human-modified forests now exceed primary forests by area in the tropics. An unlogged tropical forest in Danum Valley, Malaysian Borneo. Image courtesy of David Bartholomew. The research team, led by Robin Hayward at the University of Stirling in Scotland, monitored more than 5,000 seedlings for 18 months in the Danum Valley Conservation Area and the surrounding Ulu Segama landscape in Malaysian Borneo. They compared seedling survival and diversity in unlogged forests, naturally regenerating logged forests, and actively restored logged forests that had been selectively logged 30-35 years ago. Following a mast fruiting event, where many trees produced a lot of fruit all at once, the researchers saw many seedlings in the unlogged and logged forests. However, as time passed, the benefits of the restoration efforts started to fade. By the end of the study, the survival rate of seedlings in the restored forests was significantly lower than in the unlogged forests and was similar to the logged areas recovering naturally. In this study, more than 5,000 seedlings were individually tagged and monitored for 18 months in unlogged forests and forests logged 30 years before. Image courtesy of David Bartholomew. “Our findings suggest that seedlings are experiencing stress in logged…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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