Research
El Niño’s hidden toll on trees emerges years later in Papua New Guinea rainforest
Mongabay · By Matthew Burkhart ·
The Brief
- A recent study tracked more than 21,000 trees in the 50-hectare Wanang Forest Dynamics Plot in Papua New Guinea.
- Trees did not recover immediately after the El Niño drought ended; many kept dying afterwards.
- The effects of the drought on the rainforest became visible only years later.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that drought damage to tropical forests can continue long after the drought itself, so short-term observations may understate tree losses.
Who’s affected
- forest ecologists and tropical forest researchers
- climate scientists studying drought impacts on forests
- #el niño
- #rainforest
- #tree mortality
- #drought
- #papua new guinea
- #forest ecology
When the El Niño drought ended in a remote Papua New Guinea rainforest, the trees did not immediately recover. Many kept dying. That is one of the findings of a recent study of more than 21,000 trees in the Wanang Forest Dynamics Plot, a 50-hectare (124-acre) research site in…