Rainforests Can Bounce Back Much Faster Than Thought, Researchers Say
The New York Times • • science
Key Points:
- New research reveals that tropical ecosystems can recover in mere decades, challenging previous beliefs that it would take a century or more for animals to return to deforested land.
- The study, led by Timo Metz from UCLA and published in Nature, found that many animals recover much faster than trees, contrary to the expectation that animal recovery depends on forest regrowth.
- Despite ongoing deforestation at an alarming rate—equivalent to losing 18 soccer fields per minute in 2024—hundreds of millions of acres of previously deforested land are regrowing.
- The research was conducted across two nature reserves in Ecuador and involved a large team of scientists with diverse expertise, highlighting the complexity of ecosystem recovery.
