Termites — infamous for their ability to destroy wood — are rarely welcomed into rainforests that have been painstakingly replanted.
Termites — infamous for their ability to destroy wood — are rarely welcomed into rainforests that have been painstakingly replanted. But a new paper suggests that termite transplants may be necessary to help regenerating forests to thrive.
Published May 6 in the Journal of Applied Ecology and led by scientists from Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the study found that termites are not thriving in replanted rainforests in Australia. Because decomposers like termites are essential for recycling nutrients and carbon, the researchers worry that the insect’s slow recovery could hinder the growth and health of the young forests.
“People tend to think that by just planting a diversity of trees, these rainforests will regenerate,” said Baptiste Wijas, a postdoctoral fellow at Cary Institute and visiting academic at The University of Queensland in Australia. “But it's worth thinking about, should we actually be putting in other organisms as well, to restore other ecosystem processes that help the forest function? In the context of rainforest regeneration, no one really thinks about it at all.”
These questions are important, as restored forests make up an increasing proportion of total rainforest area. Reforestation — the process of transforming agricultural or developed land back into rainforest — is a popular strategy to preserve biodiversity and pull carbon from the atmosphere.
Read more at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Image: One of the field sites was in an old growth forest in Australia’s Daintree Rainforest, at the James Cook University Observatory. (Credit: Baptiste Wijas / Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies)
