The conversion of rainforest into plantations erodes and restructures food webs and fundamentally changes the way these ecosystems function, according to a new study published in Nature. The findings ... A study provides insights into how energy flows in the food webs that connect soil- and canopy-dwelling organisms in tropical ecosystems with high biodiversity.

Understanding the Context

When rainforest is converted to ... Phys.org: Converting rainforest to plantation impacts food webs and biodiversity, study finds Wildlife biologists used a novel technique to trace the movement of carbon through Arctic and boreal forest food webs and found that climate warming resulted in a shift from plant-based food webs to ... A forest is a complex ecological system in which trees are the dominant life-form. A forest is nature’s most efficient ecosystem, with a high rate of photosynthesis affecting both plant and animal systems in a series of complex organic relationships.

Key Insights

Forest ecosystems are complex, dynamic, self-contained associations of biotic and abiotic factors. It is most prominently dominated by trees, shrubs, and other vegetation and animal groups. Forest ecosystems play a vital role in supporting life on earth because they play an important part in regulating climate, biodiversity conservation, protection of watersheds, and the maintenance of human ... Mixing tree species can lead to better growth in the forest—at least above ground. A new study published in Nature shows that mixed forests had lower activity in the complex belowground ecosystems ...

Final Thoughts

Forest ecosystems are among the most structurally complex and biodiverse habitats on Earth, spanning tropical rainforests to boreal taiga. They perform critical ecosystem functions—photosynthetic ...