New study examines the flow of ecological energy across old-growth forests, logged forests and oil palm. The study surveys mammal and bird species across these landscapes to calculate food energetic pathways: how photosynthetic energy cascades from sunlight to be distributed among organisms. Relative to energy flow in old-growth forests, study finds 2.5 times more total energy flows in logged forests. The study findings question the use of the word ‘degraded’ to describe logged tropical forests.
