è guā duō ěr厄瓜多尔yán jiū研究dài lái带来xī wàng希望:yǔ lín雨林huī fù恢复sù dù速度kě néng可能bǐ比xiǎng xiàng想象zhōng中gèng更kuài快
A study in Ecuador has brought good news: if there is intact primary forest nearby, rainforest recovery may be faster than people thought.
Researchers looked at a local area of land that was once used for cattle grazing and cocoa farming, and found that after farming stopped, biodiversity could recover to more than 90% of its original level within 30 years. Many animals and plants from the primary forest also slowly returned.
Birds, bats, monkeys, and bees are important because they spread seeds, help plants flower and bear fruit, and also help the land recover.
However, not all living things recover at the same speed. Many trees grow slowly, and the recovery of bacterial communities is also limited.
The study also found that the former use of the land affects the recovery speed. Cocoa plantations usually recover faster than pastureland.
This study shows that natural recovery is very useful, but protecting primary forest is still the most important thing, because it can help damaged land turn back into rainforest.