Mander
  • Communities
  • Create Post
  • Create Community
  • heart
    Support Lemmy
  • search
    Search
  • Login
  • Sign Up
SalamanderMA to Ecology · 4 years ago

Old growth forests and large old trees as critical organisms connecting ecosystems and human health. A review

link.springer.com

external-link
message-square
0
link
fedilink
3
external-link

Old growth forests and large old trees as critical organisms connecting ecosystems and human health. A review

link.springer.com

SalamanderMA to Ecology · 4 years ago
message-square
0
link
fedilink
Old growth forests and large old trees as critical organisms connecting ecosystems and human health. A review - Environmental Chemistry Letters
link.springer.com
external-link
Old forests containing ancient trees are essential ecosystems for life on earth. Mechanisms that happen both deep in the root systems and in the highest canopies ensure the viability of our planet. Old forests fix large quantities of atmospheric CO2, produce oxygen, create micro-climates and irreplaceable habitats, in sharp contrast to young forests and monoculture forests. The current intense logging activities induce rapid, adverse effects on our ecosystems and climate. Here we review large old trees with a focus on ecosystem preservation, climate issues, and therapeutic potential. We found that old forests continue to sequester carbon and fix nitrogen. Old trees control below-ground conditions that are essential for tree regeneration. Old forests create micro-climates that slow global warming and are irreplaceable habitats for many endangered species. Old trees produce phytochemicals with many biomedical properties. Old trees also host particular fungi with untapped medicinal potential, including the Agarikon, Fomitopsis officinalis, which is currently being tested against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Large old trees are an important part of our combined cultural heritage, providing people with aesthetic, symbolic, religious, and historical cues. Bringing their numerous environmental, oceanic, ecological, therapeutic, and socio-cultural benefits to the fore, and learning to appreciate old trees in a holistic manner could contribute to halting the worldwide decline of old-growth forests.
alert-triangle
You must log in or # to comment.

Ecology

ecology

Subscribe from Remote Instance

Create a post
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !ecology@mander.xyz
Visibility: Public
globe

This community can be federated to other instances and be posted/commented in by their users.

  • 1 user / day
  • 10 users / week
  • 53 users / month
  • 218 users / 6 months
  • 117 local subscribers
  • 1.3K subscribers
  • 183 Posts
  • 138 Comments
  • Modlog
  • mods:
  • Salamander
  • BE: 0.19.12
  • Modlog
  • Instances
  • Docs
  • Code
  • join-lemmy.org