1 . A recent study suggests that logging (cutting down trees to use the wood) does not necessarily mean that things can’t live in the left-over forest any more. In fact, chopping down trees sometimes attracts more plants and wildlife than in forests where the trees have been left untouched.
Experts believe that about 70% of the world’s forests have had at least some logging. Until recently it wasn’t clear exactly what impact this had on other wildlife in forests. However, new research carried out on the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia, shows that logging can encourage healthy animal and plant life.
Scientists from Oxford University used tens of thousands of camera traps (cameras connected to sensors that only photograph when movement is detected) to find out how many animals were in forests that had been logged and how many were in forests where the trees just died naturally. The scientists worked out that the total weight of birds in logged forests was more than double, and for mammals it was more than three times as much. They also found that animals in logged forests get two and a half times as much energy from food than in untouched forests. The scientists think there is more food available in logged forests because more light reaches the forest floor when some of the canopy (dense tree tops) has been cleared away. This extra light helps smaller plants grow bigger, giving more food to wildlife like insects, deer and wild pigs. Yadvinder Malhi, an ecologist, said, “The whole forest gets more edible and more tasty.”
The study makes it clear that although more animals and plants might be able to live there, logging even part of a forest is still bad. That’s because untouched forests, with more and bigger trees, absorb lots of carbon dioxide, a gas that causes climate change. However, the study is important because conservationists didn’t think logged forests were important to protect. The new research shows that even damaged forests can have lots of wildlife that needs protecting.
1. What does the recent study find?| A．More plants and wildlife will live in forests where humans don’t cut down the trees. |
| B．Cutting down the trees in a forest will attract more plants and animals to live there. |
| C．70% of the world’s forests have had at least some logging. |
| D．Plants and wildlife can’t live in the left-over forest any more. |
| A．Monitoring the changes in the number of animals. |
| B．Detecting how many trees in the forests died naturally. |
| C．Finding out how many animals were in the forests. |
| D．Connecting the sensors to detect any movement. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Conservationists are supposed to protect the wildlife in the logged forest. |
| B．Logging forests is the direct reason that causes climate change. |
| C．Conservationists think untouched forests are more important than the logged ones. |
| D．Compared with untouched forests, Logged forests can’t absorb any carbon dioxide. |
