A Tree Hugger With A Twist Summary

In A Tree Hugger, With a Twist, the author discusses the increasing liana infestation in Central and South American rainforests, specifically in Barro Colorado. Lianas are parasites that climb up trees to reach the forest canopy. The lianas are overtaking the rainforests and influencing the rainforests’ ability to act as a carbon sink, therefore threatening the rainforests’ abilities to keep greenhouse gasses minimal in the atmosphere. On Barro Colorado, one survey found that almost 75% of trees with trunk diameters of eight or more inches were overrun with lianas, increasing 57% since 1980. Lianas are notorious for taking over soil nutrients, water, and water that trees need to survive, as well as weighing down trees, causing them to fall and leaving the lianas

Although lianas can store carbon, they cannot store as much of it as trees. The biggest problem with this is that even if a tree survives a liana overtake, it has a carbon-storing reduction. This means that overall, the forest has a lower carbon storing ability. The diversity of trees is also changing due to lianas. Trees that can grow quickly can easily get away from the lianas, but these trees have a lighter density wood, and can also not store as much carbon. One idea of why lianas are outcompeting trees is that vines use carbon dioxide better, giving them an upper hand with humans increasing carbon dioxide levels. Another idea is that lianas are thought to be excellent at retrieving water from the ground, whereas trees are not as good at retrieving water, so during the dry season, lianas have the advantage. Scientists say that if climate change leads to a longer dry season, this will continue to increase. Multiple experiments are being done to test these hypotheses, although most of the experiments are long-term and will take a while for researchers to comprehend why lianas are infesting forests (Fountain,