Single tree litter treatments did not always yield less carbon and nitrogen than the mixed treatment. Sometimes the single tree treatments produced more nutrients and sometimes they produced less, but the researchers say the nutrients were always significantly different than the mixed-litter treatment.
"The alarming part of this discovery is that you cannot predict the effect that reduced genetic biodiversity will have on an ecosystem," said Hunter. "Therefore, deforestation is like playing Russian roulette with our future. We know that relying upon fewer trees to recycle nutrients will make a difference, but we don't know what kind of difference. It's a chance I don't think is worth taking."
Madritch and Hunter are convinced that conserving genetic diversity within a species is as important as conserving species diversity for maintaining ecosystem functions. "This research is especially important in the current mass extinction period," said Hunter. "Plants capture the energy that drives the planet. By continuing to destroy plant habitats, we reduce the available gene pool. In the end it could harm the biggest ecosystem of all: planet Earth."
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Contact: Kim Carlyle
kosborne@uga.edu
706-583-0913
University of Georgia
20-Aug-2002