Increasing the amounts of deadwood in protected forests would help conserve biodiversity, according to a new University of Alberta review.
Published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, it showed that increasing the amount of deadwood in boreal and temperate forests increased populations of insects and fungi that depend on it as habitat.
“Before it has completely decayed, a dead tree will play a role in that ecosystem for probably three or four times longer than it did when it was alive,” explained Ellen Macdonald, a U of A forest ecologist who was part of the international team that conducted the study.
“Many deadwood-dependent insects, mosses and fungi use it as a habitat, and birds, amphibians and bats greatly benefit from this,” she explained.
Continue reading at University of Alberta.
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