New publication on economic impacts of ecosystem service change in Central America

Climate change causes severe decline in ecosystem services of tropical forests

Tropical forests provide a variety of ecosystem services that are also of great global relevance, such as climate regulation and the provision of habitat for animals and plants. However, climate change can impair these services, which also has serious economic consequences. For the forest ecosystems of Central America, climate effects cause a reduction in the services of climate regulation and provision of habitat in 24 to 62 percent of the study area, depending on the scenario - and cause associated economic costs of 51 to 314 billion dollars per year by the end of the 21st century. This is shown in a study by the Freiburg forest scientists Lukas Baumbach, Prof. Dr. Marc Hanewinkel and Dr. Rasoul Yousefpour and Prof. Dr. Thomas Hickler of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt a. M. The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications. The research work was funded by the German Research Foundation DFG (project number 416575874).

For more information:

Original publication: Baumbach, L., Hickler, T., Yousefpour, R., Hanewinkel, M.: High economic costs of reduced carbon sinks and declining biome stability in Central American forests. Nat Commun 14, 2043 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37796-z

Press Release of the University of Freiburg here