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Providing tropical forest news, statistics, photos, and information, rainforests.mongabay.com is the world's most popular rainforest site. [more]
Forest Fragmentation and Global Warming
According to scientists at Brazil's National Institute for Research in the Amazon, the conversion of rainforest
into fragments contributes to global warming. Studies have shown that fragments experience a considerable die-off
of trees attributed to drying winds and storms. As the vegetation dies, more carbon is added to the atmosphere.
In addition, forest fragments are characterized by "weedier" fast-growing species which store less carbon
per volume than longer-lived trees with high density wood. Therefore such fragmented and disturbed forest has a
lesser carbon storage capacity than undisturbed primary rainforest. Fragmentation is a problem worldwide as more
than two-thirds of the world's remaining forests are fragmented.
"Rainforest" is used interchangeably with "rain forest" on this site. Same for "rainforests" and "rain forests". "Jungle" is generally not used.
Recent news
Amazon deforestation rate falls to lowest on record (8/10/2007) Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon for the previous year were the lowest on record, according to preliminary figures released by INPE, Brazil's National Institute of Space Research.
Lowland rainforest less diverse than previously thought (8/9/2007) While rainforests are the world's libraries of biodiversity, species richness may be more evenly distributed in some forests than in others, reports an extensive new study by an international team of entomologists and botanists. The work, published in the current issue of the journal Nature, has important implications for forest management and conservation strategies.
Experts: parks effectively protect rainforest in Peru (8/9/2007) High-resolution satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest in Peru shows that land-use and conservation policies have had a measurable impact on deforestation rates. The research is published in the August 9, 2007, on-line edition of Science Express.
