Beyond preserving large intact forests, he adds, conservation efforts should aim to keep or create forested corridors to link small fragments of important habitat or to connect them to larger forests nearby.
"Even at their best, they store 20% of the carbon that intact forests do," said Zacune.
Moreover, the constant cuts we are making into intact forests are leaving them more vulnerable.
So finding old and intact forests is perhaps our greatest obstacle.
So finding old and intact forests is perhaps our greatest obstacle, particularly in the western highlands.
Scientists had feared that we'd go from some intact forests to moonscapes, but that's not likely to happen.
Decades of research shows that forest fragments are hotter, drier and more prone to fire than intact forests.
In addition, selective timber harvests of intact forests - a geographic precursor to deforestation - can now be monitored annually.
Hence, interception of precipitation in soybean fields was far greater than in intact forests.
Tree fall gaps caused by natural disturbances are a major source of heterogeneity in intact forests.
The other two vampires are primarily restricted to intact forests, where they feed on birds, reptiles, and other forest animals.
