Amazon Deforestation Endangers Entire Tropical Forest
11/6/97
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Headline: Amazon Deforestation Endangers Entire Tropical Forest
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 11/6/97
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (AFP) - The deforestation of the Amazonian
rain forest saps the vitality of trees surrounding the cut regions,
according to a new study in the latest edition of Science magazine.
Conducted by the National Institute for Research in the Amazon
in Brasil and the National Institute for Agronomic Research in
France (INRA), the study says that the forest within 100 meters (330
feet) of the cut's edge loses 36 percent of its biomass -- or flora
and fauna -- in 10 to 17 years.
This phenomenon, characterized by an increase in tree death, is
caused by climate changes and the increased winds that accompany
deforestation, the study says.
The study's authors say they do not know if the zone's biomass
regains its original level in the long run.
"The old-growth rainforest will tend to be replaced by shorter,
scrubby forests with smaller volume and biomass," they say.
"The loss of biomass could be a significant source of greenhouse
gas emissions. Given the rapid rate of forest fragmentation in the
tropics, such emissions may exacerbate effects of global warming
above and beyond that caused by forest clearing per se," the authors
say.