{"id":138866,"date":"2024-10-21T20:10:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T14:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=current-affairs&#038;p=138866"},"modified":"2024-10-22T19:42:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T14:12:06","slug":"african-baobab-trees","status":"publish","type":"current-affairs","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/current-affairs\/african-baobab-trees","title":{"rendered":"African Baobab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, New research by South African ecologists has refuted the claim that the African Baobab (Adansonia digitata) tree is dying due to climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>African Baobab Background<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-138873 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/227-6716c89338064.webp\" alt=\"African Baobab\" width=\"302\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/227-6716c89338064.webp 586w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/227-6716c89338064-276x300.webp 276w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>2018 Study<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Published in Nature Plants, claimed 10 of 15 oldest and largest African baobabs were dying due to climate change.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>New Study (2024)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Conducted by South African ecologists, refutes the 2018 claim, stating baobabs are not dying due to climate change.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>African Baobab, Key Findings<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Speculative Claim:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The 2018 climate change claim was speculative and went viral, misleading public perception.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Baobab Resilience:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Baobabs are resilient and have historically survived extreme climate fluctuations such as droughts and floods.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tree populations in mainland Africa are thriving, including the oldest and largest baobabs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deaths reported in the 2018 study were due to natural causes like hydraulic failure and excess water retention, not climate change.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pw.live\/batches\/upsc?utm_source=seo+upsc+batch&#038;utm_medium=seo+upsc&#038;utm_campaign=seo&#038;utm_id=upsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enroll now for UPSC Online Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>About Baobab Trees<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The trees belong to the<\/span><b> genus Adansonia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which comprises <\/span><b>eight distinct species.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Origin of Lineage:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> According to DNA studies, the trees first arose in Madagascar <\/span><b>21 million years ago.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their seeds were later carried on ocean currents to Australia and also to mainland Africa, evolving into distinct species.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Characteristics:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Baobabs are known for their great heights, with some extending up to<\/span><b> 50 metres<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and exceptionally long <\/span><b>lifespans going up to 1,000 years.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India too, a few baobab trees exist, including one near the Golconda Fort in Andhra Pradesh that is believed to be more than 400 years old.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Keystone Species:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 It is a <\/span><b>Keystone Species <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which provide \u201cessential resources, such as food or shelter, for a guild of animals in return for which the guild of animals provides an essential service, or mobile links, such as pollination or diaspore dispersal.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Role of Baobabs in Ecosystem:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Known as the &#8216;<\/span><b>Tree of Life&#8217;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, baobabs are crucial to African ecosystems, providing food and shelter for wildlife and humans.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fruit of the baobab tree is a rich source of income for farmers and is recognized for its high nutritional value <\/span><b>(Vitamin C, potassium, calcium, antioxidants, fibre).<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Cultural and Socio-economic Significance:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Cultural Role<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Baobabs are deeply embedded in African traditions, and their parts (leaves, fruits, seeds, trunks) are used for sustenance and medicinal purposes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Economic Potential<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Baobab fruit is considered a &#8220;superfruit&#8221; with potential to expand a <\/span><b>market worth $10 million.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"vc_table_green\"><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.043%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 130.811%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\" colspan=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Must Read<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50.5357%; 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Store<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New research by South African ecologists has refuted the claim that the African Baobab (Adansonia digitata) tree is dying due to climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"paper-wise":[2089],"subject":[4642],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/138866"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/current-affairs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138866"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/138866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139163,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/138866\/revisions\/139163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138866"},{"taxonomy":"paper-wise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper-wise?post=138866"},{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=138866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}