How can tree diversity combat climate change? This is what a recent study published in Nature Communications hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated a connection between tree diversity and forest protection as the impacts of climate change continue to increase. Thie study has the potential to help scientists, legislators, and the public better understand natural resistance to climate change and the steps that can be taken to improve it.

For the study, the researchers focused on forest resilience during events known as “compound climate extremes”, or when a combination of drought and extreme heat occur simultaneously. To accomplish this, the researchers analyzed data obtained from more than 88,000 forest plots from the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (FIA), with the data focusing on the continental United States. In the end, the researchers found that compound climate extreme events resulted in amplified impacts on forest resistance, as opposed to simply combining the two types of events together.

“However, we also found that biodiversity can be crucial for governing forest stability, as those with a greater diversity of tree species consistently performed better under these challenging conditions,” said Dr. Hannah White, who is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and lead author of the study. “Our findings have implications for future carbon cycle projections and demonstrate the important role biodiversity can play in helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change.”

This study comes as climate change continues to not only ravage the planet, but its effects appear to be worsening, including more extreme temperatures and weather events. However, studies like this demonstrate how natural processes could help combat climate change, resulting in more resilient forests.

What new insights into the connection between tree diversity and combating climate change will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

Sources: Nature Communications, EurekAlert!