The research, led by the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews, investigated the impacts of forest loss on species and biodiversity over time and around the world, revealing both losses and gains in species.
Focussing on biodiversity data spanning 150 years and over 6,000 locations, the study, published in the journal Science (Thursday 18 June), reveals that as tree cover is lost across the world’s forests, plants and animals are responding to the transformation of their natural habitats.
Forest loss amplifies the gains and losses of biodiversity – the numbers of individual plant and animal species, as well as the wider diversity and composition of ecosystems around the planet.
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