A new study by researchers from Finland, Germany, South Africa and Ethiopia highlighted the urgent need to address tree loss in these critical ecosystems, according to the Down to Earth portal.
Tropical mountain forests are fragile ecosystems located in high-altitude mountainous areas, which act as water towers, trapping liquid from fog and clouds and supplying high-quality fresh water to millions of people in lowland Africa.
The experts, whose work was published in the journal Nature Communications, concluded that deforestation accelerates warming and rising cloud levels in the highlands of Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Between 2003 and 2022, about 18 percent of African mountain forests were lost, resulting in a doubling of maximum temperatures and rising cloud levels.
Over the past two decades, air temperatures have risen 1.4 degrees Celsius and the CBH has risen 230 meters, the researchers said.
According to the experts, the increase in cloud levels reduces water collection because when the cloud touches the forest canopy, fog (water) is deposited on the surfaces of plants and soil and if the base of the clouds is higher, this phenomenon does not occur.
In addition to impacting water supply, deforestation is a major contributor to biodiversity loss in the tropics.
In addition, the raise in the CBH has an impact on biodiversity by affecting humidity, light conditions and water availability, all of which are necessary for the survival of organisms.
The main driver of mountain deforestation in Africa is the expansion of small-scale cropland, while other factors (urbanization, large-scale staple crops and forest fires) played a minor role.
The researchers used air temperature and dew point data from local weather stations in mountain forests in Ethiopia (Bale Mountain), Kenya (Taita Hills) and Tanzania (Kilimanjaro Mountain) to validate the model.
The research was carried out by scientists from the universities of Addis Ababa, Helsinki, Marburg and Bayreuth in Germany and North West, South Africa, as well as the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
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