Forests: A Very Short Introduction by Jaboury Ghazoul

Author:Jaboury Ghazoul
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780198706175
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2015-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

Cyclones devastate tropical forests near coasts, such as Australia’s Wet Tropics region. Severe forest damage is largely contained within fifty kilometres of the cyclone’s track, and even within this zone damage is patchy at the landscape scale, with many areas of forest remaining intact. These intact forest areas are important seed sources for regeneration and provide refuge for forest animals, which facilitates the recovery of adjacent areas of damaged forest.

By some accounts, global warming is expected to increase the intensities of tropical cyclones by up to 20 per cent by the end of this century. If the consequence is more extensive forest damage, then forest recovery might be slower. Increasing cyclone severity might also favour species that are more resistant to strong winds, such as palms, and species that are more tolerant of disturbed conditions, such as fast-growing but short-lived trees as well as vines and weeds. Such shifts in composition change the nature of forests completely, affecting forest biodiversity as well as the cycling of nutrients, carbon, and water.

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