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 ... 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 ... Researchers invert a classical approach to modeling food webs. Instead of trying to replicate stable, complex ecosystems using simplistic representations of species interactions, the authors' novel ...

Key Insights

EurekAlert!: Periodical cicada emergence disrupts food webs, increases plant damage in eastern North American forests The periodical mass emergence of cicadas in eastern North American forests can “rewire” forest food webs and initiate a cascade of ecological impacts that propagates throughout the food chain, ... Periodical cicada emergence disrupts food webs, increases plant damage in eastern North American forests Phys.org: Converting rainforest to plantation impacts food webs and biodiversity, study finds 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. 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.

Final Thoughts

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 ...