Impact of Deforestation on Climate Change

Abstract

Ever since their evolution, forests have been interacting with the Earth's climate. Deforestation and forest degradation in many countries has lead to forest fragmentation with effects on increasingly insularized and vulnerable forest habitat patches. If forest fragments are becoming too small to support important keystone species, further extinctions may occur in cascading ways and the vegetation structure and composition may eventually collapse. Until now relatively few reported cases of species extinctions can be directly attributed to climate change. However, climate change in combination with habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation may lead to new waves of species extinctions in the near future as species are set on the move but are unable to reach cooler refuges due to altered, obstructing landscapes. To mitigate the future risks of extinctions as well as climate change, major efforts should be undertaken to protect intact large areas of forests and restore wildlife corridors.