Deforestation is causing Amazon to lose animal and plant species, study says

According to a study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), change of scenery Amazondue to lumbering Growing is responsible for decreasing. Speciescarbon and soil quality. The research was carried out in partnership with scientists from the Institute of Biological Sciences, UFMG’s Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, and Lancaster University in England.

The article was produced with data collected between 2006 and 2019 in Pará, in the Santarém and Paragominas regions, at 310 sites with more than two thousand species of trees, lianas, birds and insects. The scientists also studied soil properties and carbon stock at the same locations.

According to UFMG professor and co-author of the Ricardo Solar article, Amazon is approaching a ‘turning point’ and therefore priority is needed to realize the conservation and regeneration of these places.

Fighting deforestation

“Conversion of forests to pasture or mechanized agriculture leads to an 18% to 100% reduction in the number of ant, insect, bird and tree species. Already, when forest is converted to agriculture, we see the biggest changes in biodiversity, carbon stocks and soil properties,” Solar said.

But scientists say the reverse transformation could also be a great answer. For example, Solar says that when a land used for agriculture is reclaimed or degraded for other reasons, such as fires, the regeneration process increases biodiversity and the environment’s carbon stocks – these regenerated places are called secondary forests.

Jon Barlow, Professor of Conservation Sciences at the Lancaster Center for the Environment, says in a statement it is necessary to create new public policies and combat deforestation due to changes in the Amazon. He also proposes to manage the region by integrating science, policy and local practices.

ARTICLE Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS): doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2202310119