Carbon reserves in Central American soils still affected by ancient Mayan deforestation | Dossiers

Carbon reserves in Central American soils still affected by ancient Mayan deforestation

Deforestation is suspected to have contributed to the mysterious collapse of Mayan civilization more than 1,000 years ago. A new study shows that the forest-clearing also decimated carbon reservoirs in the tropical soils of the Yucatan peninsula region long after the forests grew back. The findings underscore how important soils and our treatment of them could be in determining future levels of greenhouse gases in the planet’s atmosphere.

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