This Trees They are not in the pandemic, but they are also practicing social distancing. In tropical forests around the world, large trees grow and develop much more than would be expected from the dispersal of their seeds. Scientists believe this unusual behavior has something to do with it. In addition, it is a crucial mechanism for the survival of species that benefit in maintaining ecosystems.
Tropical forests are home to hundreds of tree species in just one square kilometer. For decades, science has strained their brains. Understand how so many different species can coexist in such a small space works as well as the gears of a clock.
A new study led by the University of Texas and published in the journal Science has shed light. Combining mathematical models with data collected over the past 30 years in the jungle on Barro Colorado Island (Panama), the researchers discovered: the trees were born three times further away than would be expected from adults of the same species. for the distribution of seeds. Young trees grow too far from their parent trees, suggesting a mechanism that prevents them from getting close to their parents.
“The adults of dozens of tropical forest tree species show strong spatial thrust, Some great distances from 100 meters”says the study.
a survival mechanism
After analyzing hundreds of data, the scientists found that when it comes to tropical trees, growing close to your own kind can backfireto the point where avoiding them is the best way to ensure their survival.
The origin of this natural defense mechanism may be in the threats threatening these forests, because Individuals of the same species are prone to the influence of certain pathogens and herbivores. However, when trees are separated from each other, they also diversify and stabilize the ecosystem by allowing more species diversity to occur around them.
These results not only serve to better understand the formation of forests, but are also a way to understand other associated dynamics such as carbon storage, which are crucial for understanding future climate. “We provide an explanation to a fundamental question and a basis on which we can solve other questions,” says Ostling.
In this case, for example, May help understand mass extinction processesbecause the results of the study show that it is the distribution of trees that drives the diversity of species in forests, especially tropical ones.
“Trees are the engineers of the ecosystem and provide a very important set of resources. Therefore, and since most of the world’s species live in the tropics, we must better understand these processes to understand what maintains planet Earth’s biodiversity,” Kalyuzhny concludes.
Reference work: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg7021
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