Tropical forests are one of the worlds largest carbon stores and they help regulate the global climate.
But theyre being erased at a terrifying rate.
Deforestation claimed anarea the size of Belgium in 2018.
These habitats are often cleared to make way forpalm oil plantationsandgrazing pasture for livestock.
For most forests, destruction on this scale is a fairly modern phenomenon.
Tropical forest ecosystems tend to have very high biodiversity, but often in the places youd least expect.
Research has found that there is often more wildlife in areas where there is anancient history of human activity.
Ancient time capsules
Over 50,000 years ago, people in Borneomanaged tropical forest vegetation using fire.
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Other traditional methods of forest management included opening the forest canopy by carefully selecting trees to cut down.
Much of this is lost upon conversion to industrial plantations or ranches.
Traditional forest management encouraged biodiversity, whereas modern methods erode it.Caeteno-Adrade et al.
Trees keep their own accounts of this history in their wood.
It has always been thought that tropical trees have short lifespans, usually less than 400 years.
Typically wider rings reflect higher rainfall, but many trees put on a growth spurt if light intensity rises.
Finding these markers helps researchers to recognize anddate past episodes of forest clearance.
In the Amazon, these records help scientists understand theenormous extent of pre-Columbian agriculture and forest management.
Isotopic studies showed that the abandonment of Angkor Wat in the 14th centurycoincided with severe drought.
Forest histories can also emerge from new DNA studies.
This leads to restricted gene pools.
Genetics can also identify species that were spread by ancient people, like theBrazil nut.
Living tropical trees record within themselves a history of human activity and the forests response to it.
