| News Source: Deccan Herald/ The Hindu Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) who studied bird communities in tropical mountains over 10 years have concluded that forest logging can lead to loss of large-bodied species and decrease biodiversity. Many bird species have started shifting to higher elevations due to rising temperatures. |
About the study
- The team collected data from the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, situated in the biodiversity hotspot of Eastern Himalayas and home to over 500 bird species.
- They studied the effects of forest logging and climate change on bird communities in tropical mountains, by examining over 10 years of data.
Findings of the study
- Forest loss and climate change are major threats to tropical mountains.
- Much of the flora and fauna are extremely temperature sensitive, and are responding to global heating rapidly.
- Many bird species have started shifting to higher elevations due to rising temperatures.
- Logged forests have higher average temperatures and lower humidity than primary forests, thus hastening the transition.
- logging can lead to the loss of large-bodied, old, growth-dependent species, and decrease the overall biodiversity.
- Logged forests also have lower densities of foliage dwelling insects, reducing the resource availability for the birds.
- Suggestion : The study highlights the need to safeguard primary forests in order to mitigate the effects of climate change
| Do you know ? Tropical montane forests are unique ecosystems that can start at about 150-200 metre elevation, and reach up to 3,500 metre high up on mountains around the world. They are critical centres of biodiversity. In tropical mountains, each species has a particular niche where it is found. This restriction creates much more diversity in a small space, |
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