Forest Diversity is Key to Southeast Asia’s Climate Adaptability, Study Shows
Picture: Mongabay
In an article by Mongabay, Carolyn Cowan highlights the resilience of Southeast Asia’s forests in adapting to climate change, and the need to protect connected networks of a wide range of forest types.
A new paleoecological study based on environmental records going as far back as 119,000 years ago suggests that Southeast Asia’s forests could be more resilient to climate shifts than previously thought, provided a diversity of ecosystems is maintained.
In contrast to a widely held theory that tracts of Southeast Asia’s lowland forests morphed abruptly into a vast savanna corridor in response to the cool and seasonal climate during the peak of the last ice age roughly 20,000 years ago, the international research team found evidence that forests largely persisted across the landscape at that time.
Rather than an abrupt shift from forest to grassland, the researchers documented smooth transitions between lowland rainforest, open-canopy seasonally dry forest with a grassy understory, and tropical montane forest. This mosaic of forest types indicates the region’s ecosystems had the capacity to “resist and recover from” climate stress, the study says.
