Científicos identifican 204 especies exóticas e invasoras en el nororiente de la Amazonía ecuatoriana

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El territorio mapeado incluye también tres importantes áreas protegidas: Parque Nacional Yasuní, Reserva de Producción de Fauna Cuyabeno y Reserva Biológica Limoncocha. La composición de las especies exóticas invasoras es 73 % plantas, 26 % animales y 1 % hongos.
Los científicos obtuvieron la información a través de la recopilación de 6898 registros espaciales de distintas bases de datos nacionales e internacionales y tres salidas de campo a puntos claves de la región. Se priorizaron 12 especies invasoras que presentan un riesgo alto y muy alto para la salud de los ecosistemas, entre ellas destacan varias especies de pastos, la rata negra, la tilapia, el caracol africano y la garza bueyera.

Why Is the Amazon So Important for Climate Change?

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Viewed from high above, the Amazon in South America is a lush emerald quilt, home to millions of animals and the planet’s largest river by volume. It is also key to protecting our planet from the detrimental effects of climate change.

But why? And what could happen to the global climate if we lost it?

The Amazon’s sheer size—it covers nearly seven million square kilometers, or about the area of Australia—makes it shine on the climate stage. With so many trees covering such an enormous swath of land, everything the forest “does” is big and impactful. Some of its actions are downright unique: The Amazon makes its own weather, generating some of its rainfall and keeping itself cool, while also stabilizing regional temperatures. Add that to the gobs of greenhouse gas that its biomass stores and you’ve got a natural climate protector. Yet we are steadily dismantling this valuable landscape, aggravating climate change in several ways scientists are just beginning to understand.