A study published recently by the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution (NEE), showed that nitrogen fixing trees, of the Leguminosae family, are more abundant in secondary tropical forests of seasonally dry and young zones, than in secondary forests of humid zones and with more development time.
This is considered a transcendental data for the restoration of degraded landscapes since nitrogen fixation favors these processes.
The study is a result of the 2ndFOR collaborative research network on secondary forests, led by Maga Gei, Danaë Rozendaal, and Jennifer Powers from the University of Minnesota, in the United States, and Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. Other co-authors were renowned researchers such as Bryan Finegan, leader of the Forests, Biodiversity, and Climate Change Program of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Teaching Center), and Vanessa Granda, graduate of the Center.
For its development, the study gathered data from 1,207 plots of 42 investigations on Neotropical secondary forests. According to Finegan, the result found widens the potential for natural nitrogen fertilization and carbon dioxide sequestration in areas recovering from degradation due to inadequate land uses.
The biological fixation of nitrogen is a key contribution to the cycles of this nutrient of paramount importance in the nutrition of the plants and the productivity of the ecosystems. The other plants of an ecosystem undergoing restoration benefit from the nitrogen fixed by tree species when their leaves fall to the ground and decompose,”
explained Finegan.
The scientist also noted that the restoration of degraded lands is a critical issue of our time and that the lack of nitrogen often limits restoration, so the fixation undoubtedly facilitates restoration processes overcoming these limitations.
Another aspect to be rescued from the study is that, according to Finegan, its results can help countries in their efforts to confront climate change, given the increasing frequency and intensity of droughts in the Pacific side of Central America and the islands of the Caribbean, because it explains very well how the characteristics of the trees of this family adapt to this climate context, to grow and contribute to the sustainability of ecosystems and thus sequester carbon and contribute to mitigation.