Lianas proliferation has been firing for the last 30 years and has an effect almost equivalent to deforestation on the destruction of trees.
One alarming increase in lianas proliferation It is silently transforming the planet’s tropical forests, severely impairing its ability to store carbon and combat climate change.
One published in 2024 at the global Change Biology warns of this “lianas pandemic” spreading more than three decadeswith increasingly visible impacts – even from space.
Tropical forests are essential to global climate balance, absorbing annually both carbon dioxide (CO₂) and what is emitted throughout Europe. They also host about half of the world biodiversity. However, in addition to deforestation, there is a new enemy undermining these ecosystems: the uncontrolled growth of Lianas, climbing plants such as passiflores, which suffocate the trees and prevent their growth.
Marco Visser, ecologist at the Center for Environmental Sciences of the University of Leiden, compares the Lianas to parasites as the termination. “Intercepting tree resources, the lianas can more than Duplicate the mortality rate of the same. When they settle down, what remains is a tangle of Lianas on fallen trunks, ”he describes.
The investigation led by Visser and doctoral student Manuela Rueda-Trujillo reveals that the expansion of Lianas is not limited to Latin America. The phenomenon is global and has intensified 10% to 24% per decade. One of the reasons is CO₂’s growing concentration in the atmosphere. “All plants grow more with Co₂, but Lianas benefit even more because they ‘steal’ structural trees support and produce leaves with low energy cost,” Visser explains.
The impact can be drastic: in some areas, lianas completely prevent forest regeneration and reduce carbon storage by up to 95% – almost the equivalent to deforestationrefers to.
Recently, VISSER and international colleagues have shown that lianas can be identified by satellite. Your leaves reflect more light and infrared radiationbesides being horizontally, blocking the light to the lower plants. This discovery paves the way to map the advance of Lianas on a global scale.
Despite the negative impact, scientists warn against direct removal of the Lianas. These plants have an ecological role, providing constant food for rare birds and primates. The only viable solution, they argue, is lock climate change – The real driving force behind the advance of the Lianas.
