Viña et al. imply that native forests account for China’s marked increase in tree cover and that tree plantations play a minimal role. All 71 tweets linked to the article reinforce the idea that China’s native forests are returning, whereas a review of theirmethodology indicates that it is not likely accurate. Referring news articles (n = 19) were dominated by terms associated with native forests, whereas tree plantations were rarely mentioned.
Keywords: tree cover, forest cover, forest recovery, tree plantations
Citation: Van Holt, T. and F.E. Putz. 2017. Perpetuating the myth of the return of native forests. Science Advances Vol. 3, no. 5, e1601768. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601768.