Decades after mass deforestation, scientists encounter ‘miraculous’ new plant species
By ASHLEY STIMPSON, Science.
Excerpt: To botanists, there is perhaps no story more infamous than that of Centinela, an isolated 40-square-kilometer ridge on the western slope of the Andes Mountains. ...the area’s lush cloud forests were written off by conservation biologists in the 1990s after extensive deforestation wiped out much of the native vegetation. The tragedy inspired a new phrase, “Centinelan extinction,” to describe the disappearance of a species before it could be described by scientists. But recent announcements have provided a glimmer of hope amid the gloom. This month, scientists published a description of a species new to science that persists in small remnant patches of forest.... Roads and agriculture crept across western Ecuador and untold tracts of forest were bulldozed to make way for cacao, coffee, and banana plantations on the fertile slopes. In 1991, two influential biologists, Cal Dodson and Alwyn Gentry of the Missouri Botanical Garden, published a seminal paper describing the habitat destruction in the region, focusing on the Centinela Ridge. ...“an undetermined number of …species are now apparently extinct.” ...With Centinela back in focus, scientists and conservationists are making up for lost time. Schaefer’s land trust is in the process of purchasing tracts of land containing primary cloud forest. Scientists have started their own campaign, called Viva Centinela, to promote research and the preservation of the area’s unique biodiversity. And two full-time botanists are working to document the species that persist. If their work is successful, the forest that was once the poster child for deforestation and loss could someday become a symbol for conservation and resilience....