A forest with greater diversity of plants can better adjust to climatic stress. Now for the first time, a team of scientists can show this in computer simulations of the Amazon region by accounting for its amazing diversity of trees. Biodiversity can hence be an effective means to mitigate climate risks and should not only be seen in the context of nature conservation. According to researchers, plant trait diversity may enable the Amazon forests, the world's greatest and maybe most fascinating tropical ecosystem, to adjust to some level of climate change -- certain trees dominant today could decrease and their place will be taken by others which are better suited for the new climate conditions in the future. However, this depends on the level of stress. Only in a scenario of moderate climate change, high biodiversity can, after a sharp decline of biomass, contribute to substantial recovery in vast areas across the Amazon region after a few hundred years. Here, more than 80 percent of the Amazon area would show substantial regrowth, according to the study. In contrast, in a business-as-usual scenario of greenhouse-gas emissions leading to massive climate change, less than 20 percent of the area would show this positive effect. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160829122237.htm?
