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Half of Amazon tree species at risk of extinction if deforestation continues Half of tree species in the Amazon at risk of extinction, say scientists
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South America’s vast Amazon region harbors one of the world’s most diverse collection of tree species, but more than half may be at risk for extinction due to ongoing deforestation to clear land for farming, ranching and other purposes, scientists say. More than half the myriad tree species in the Amazon could be heading for extinction, according to a study that makes the first comprehensive estimate of threatened species in the world’s largest rainforest. Among the species expected to suffer significant falls in numbers are the Brazil nut, and wild cacao and açai trees, all important food sources.
Researchers said on Friday that if recent trends continued, between 36 and 57% of the estimated 15,000 Amazonian tree species likely would qualify as threatened with extinction under criteria used by the group that makes such determinations, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The world’s most diverse forest has endured decades of deforestation, with loggers, farmers and miners responsible for the removal of 12% of its area. If that continues in the decades ahead, 57% of the 15,000 tree species will be in danger, according to the researchers.
The study covered roughly 2.1 million square miles (5.5 million square km) spanning Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The researchers analyzed Amazonian forest surveys and data on current and projected deforestation areas. However, if existing protected areas and indigenous territories across the vast area suffer no further damage, the number of species at risk would be restricted to a third of the total.
“Many of the species that we suggest may be threatened are used by Amazonian residents on a daily basis, and many others are crucial to Amazonian economies,” conservation ecologist Nigel Pitman of the Field Museum in Chicago. “Forests in the Amazon have been declining since the 1950s, but [until now] there was a poor understanding of how this has affected populations of individual species,” said Prof Carlos Peres, at the University of East Anglia, one of the 158 scientists from 21 countries who worked together on the study.
These range from wild populations of economically important food crops like the Brazil nut, açai fruit and heart of palm, to valuable timber species, to several hundred species that Amazonian residents depend upon for fruits, seeds, thatch, medicines, latex and essential oils, Pitman said. “Protected areas and indigenous territories now cover over half of the Amazon basin. But forests and reserves still face a barrage of threats, from dam construction and mining, to wildfires and droughts intensified by global warming.”
The trees also are important in their ecosystems for erosion control and climate moderation, Pitman said. Brazil, which holds 60% of the Amazon forest, has sharply cut its rates of deforestation in the last decade. But elsewhere the felling continues unchecked, and it is increasing in Bolivia and Peru. Overall, an area the size of about 4,500 football pitches is still being lost every day.
“Scientists have been raising the alarm about Amazonian deforestation for several decades, and projections indicate that forest loss will continue for the foreseeable future,” said forest ecologist Hans ter Steege of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands. If Brazil can restrict its deforestation to current levels and other countries improve to match that, protected areas could remain largely untouched. But Rafael Salomão, of Emílio Goeldi Museum in Belem, Brazil, and a member of the research team, said: “The vast majority of protected areas in the Amazon have no management plan or budget and few resident qualified personnel.”
“The good news is that over the last 10 years the rate of forest loss in the Amazon has dropped dramatically.“ Furthermore, demand for beef, soy and palm oil, which drives much deforestation, is likely to rise rapidly as the global population grows, increasing the pressure to clear more forest. “It’s a battle we’re going to see play out in our lifetimes,” said William Laurance, of James Cook University in Australia, who was also part of the study.
Related: The Amazon tribe protecting the forest with bows, arrows, GPS and camera traps Related: Scientists reveal there are 3tn trees in the world
Amazonian forests have been shrinking since the 1950s as people cut and burn areas for farming, ranching and development. Until now, there has been no reliable estimate of how many tree species were threatened with extinction. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, compared almost 1,500 forest surveys from across the Amazon with maps of current and projected deforestation. From this, the scientists could estimate how the overall populations of the different tree species have changed and how they may change in future.
“Yes, the threats are daunting, but it’s important to remember that more than 85% of forests in the greater Amazon are still standing,” Pitman said. They used these population changes to work out how threatened the species were according to the criteria used by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) to draw up its “red lists” of endangered species. To be placed on the red list of species requires detailed analysis of past and projected population changes.
The researchers said Amazon parks, reserves and indigenous territories, if managed well, should be able to protect most of the threatened species. Previous research found Amazon forests already have dwindled by about 12% and will decline up to another 28% by 2050. In the last 10 years, scientists have had the resources to place 1,275 plant species from tropical South America on red lists. The much broader approach taken in the new research provides strong evidence that the number of red-listed Amazonian tree and plants should be 10 times higher.
The research was published in the journal Science Advances. If the Amazon nations are unable to check deforestation between now and 2050, the scientists estimate that 63% of wild Brazil nut trees will be lost. But if protected areas are left intact, the loss falls to 32% – a major decline, nevertheless, which would still class the species as vulnerable to extinction. Similarly, continued deforestation would lead to the loss of 72% of wild açai palm and 50% of wild cacao trees.