30 trees dominate the world's largest savanna

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The study, conducted by scientists from Brazil, the UK and the Netherlands and published in the journal Communications Biology, used data from large 270-hectare field plots as well as satellite data.

The findings show that just thirty tree species, or just two percent of all tree species found here, account for half of all trees. Among the hyperdominant trees, the species Qualea parviflora made up one in fourteen trees. Such hyperdominance in a diverse ecosystem surprised even scientists.

A similar pattern has been observed in the Amazon rainforest. Scientific research has also revealed that the Cerrado has lost an incredible 24 billion trees since 1985. Understanding the dominance of certain trees in the region is therefore crucial.

Covering two million square kilometers, the Cerrado is the world's largest savanna and the gateway to the Amazon, playing an important role in providing clean water and sequestering carbon.

If so many ecosystem processes are concentrated in approximately thirty species, this means that if it is disrupted by climate change, these species will respond and there is a real risk of their loss and the future preservation of the functionality of the savanna.

The critically endangered Cerrado biome plays a key role today as a gateway to the Amazon, but only eight percent of it is protected and almost half of it has already been deforested. The Cerrado plays a key role in supplying water to large cities and regulating the climate. Unfortunately, global policies have so far paid virtually no attention to the largest savanna. However, protecting this ecosystem must become a priority, not a burden on local communities.

Scientists warn that up to 800 tree species may remain undiscovered and face extinction within a few decades.

Source:ScienceDaily