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Impact of Tree Cover Increase
August 8 , 2024
19 hrs 0 min
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- The recent studies reported that more trees in open ecosystems like savannahs and grasslands have substantially reduced the number of native grassland birds.
- In the African Savannah in particular, the population of grassland birds has declined by more than 20%.
- Grasslands and savannahs cover nearly 40% of the earth’s total landmass, and are home to many endemic and at-risk species of plants and animals.
- The cover of grassland habitats had shrunk by 34% while tree cover in these places had increased by 8.7%.
- A higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the air due to ongoing climate change also encourages deep-rooted woody plants in grasslands to proliferate.
- Increased atmospheric CO2 is likely to promote trees over grasses because the C3 photosynthetic pathway used by trees is favoured under high CO2 conditions.
- Once trees become dominant in a system, they may further suppress grasses through shading and fire suppression.
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