PANAMA - A decline in rainfall caused by climate change could endanger the planet’s rainforests by reducing soil moisture that is essential toaccording to a new study published in the journal Nature.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Haifa in Israel and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, compared soil humidity and precipitation data with the survival of saplings and the diversity of trees in the rainforest of central Panama. “We have identified a different way in which climate change and anthropogenic disturbances affecting water availability can affect forests,” Dr Edwin Lebrija-Trejos, an author of the study, said in a statement. “The more dry years or conditions we experience, the greater the threat of damage – not only to species diversity in rainforests, but also to the contribution these forests make to humanity.
Diversity is key to rainforest resilience, allowing one species to step in for another to perform the photosynthesis necessary to produce oxygen, the researchers said.