Spanish researchers claimed that eucalyptus plantations have fewer kinds of birds and fewer birds overall.
According to researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Biological Mission of Galicia at the Spanish National Research Council, the eucalyptus trees comprising 30 percent of the forests in the Galicia region release chemicals that slow the growth of the plants around them; thus, they do not attract insects and the birds that feed on them.
Birds like woodpeckers also could not live in the plantations because the eucalyptus trees were harvested for paper production before they could develop cavities, cracks and soft spots where nests could be built, Ecoticias reported, citing the researchers’ findings published in Forest Ecology and Management.
In contrast, one tree species in Taiwan is a mini ecosystem, providing unique habitats for many creatures, according to Rebecca Hsu, a forest ecologist at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and lead author of a study on how the trees were found, as published in Frontiers.
“Many orchids are growing on these trees like a thick carpet… and you can see the flying squirrels… they sleep and play there,” Hsu said, referring to the Taiwania cryptomerioides, ABC reported.
Hsu said there were some species that only existed at the top of the trees and orchids that were observed only in the oldest trees, suggesting that they evolved together for more than a thousand years, according to ABC.
Discovering the last remaining species from a genus of cypress that has been around for 100 million years started with flights mapping Taiwan’s forests from 2010 to 2016 using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology.
Of the more than 950 million trees on the island, LIDAR detected over 50,000 trees that were estimated to be above 60 meters tall. After narrowing this down to a small number of potential tallest trees, Hsu and her team climbed them to take accurate measurements.
Literally standing out among the species is The Heaven Sword, which is over 84 meters tall, as high as a 20-story building. The Heaven Sword is the tallest tree in East Asia.
