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The researchers’ study was published recently in the journal Nature. The results may be of great importance in the future, says Lars Laestadius, co-professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, who read the article.
– What the researchers have done is search satellite images for trees that are outside the forest boundary. And I found trees, which previously have not been described in a good way. And it is a breakthrough. It is very important because these trees are very important, he says.
Researchers have studied an area in West Africa, in the Sahel, that lies simply between the rainforest in the south and the Sahara desert in the north. They have used high-resolution satellite imagery and so-called deep learning, where researchers have learned an algorithm for recognizing and counting trees.
In this area of 1.3 million square kilometers, an area that corresponds to the size of Sweden three times, approximately 1.8 billion individual trees were found, which according to the researchers have not been described before.
– What we are talking about here are forgotten trees, which are no longer forgotten, says Lars Laestadius.
The trees will no longer be real now, for those who live in the area. They are important precisely for the local population, but also for the environment and biodiversity, among other things, says Lars Laestadius. And the study can help us get a better idea of how the area will change in the future, he believes.
– We will be able to return to the same area again in a few years and do a new survey. And then in a few years again, and see what happens to these trees, he says.
Reference:
Brand et al, An unexpectedly large count of trees in the Sahara and Sahel of West Africa. Nature, October 2020. DOI: 10.1038 / s41586-020-2824-5.
