Invading trees put rainforests at risk

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3-D Imaging of invasive tree species (reds-pinks) and native Hawaiian lowland rainforest (greens). For more images go to http:cao.stanford.educaogallery.html. Credit: Gregory Asner
3-D Imaging of invasive tree species (reds-pinks) and native Hawaiian lowland rainforest (greens). For more images go to http://cao.stanford.edu/cao_gallery.html. Credit: Gregory Asner

To the list of threats to tropical rainforests you can add a new one — trees. It might seem that for a rainforest the more trees the merrier, but a new study by scientists at the Carnegie Institution warns that non-native trees invading a rainforest can change its basic ecological structure — rendering it less hospitable to the myriad plant and animal species that depend on its resources. Results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


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