Journal Articles

Tropical forest restoration under future climate change

Background

Climate change mitigation requires a large amount of carbon sequestration from the atmosphere. One major avenue for accomplishing this is looking to tropical forests. These ecosystems are heavy carbon sinks and bring a multitude of benefits to people and the planet. However, these ecosystems are frequently degraded and forest restoration projects may be hindered in the future due to altered fire regimes, extreme heat or drought, and other characteristics of severe climate change.

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Tropical Forest Landscape Restoration in Indonesia: A Review

Background

Indonesia has an exceptionally high amount of biodiversity and endemic species. As the timber industry has grown, deforestation and degradation drive biodiversity loss, air pollution, deteriorating water quality, and greater emissions. Restoration projects and policies are in place to balance ecological health and human livelihood across landscapes like the ones in Indonesia. Restoration projects are particularly complex in Indonesia due to land tenure clarity issues, disorganized institution, and other social aspects. The authors review forested landscape restoration progress in Indonesia and examines inhibiting factors in institution and policy as well as indicators of restoration benefits.

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A standard framework for assessing the costs and benefits of restoration: introducing The Economics of Ecosystem Restoration

Background

Policy behind restoration projects and efforts is stronger than ever before, however the funding and financial structure to keep these efforts going is drastically underdeveloped. Ecological restoration finance is not usually in the expertise of restoration practitioners and communities, thus requiring those people to bring in someone with that expertise for aid. The authors emphasize that restoration projects are long-term investments and therefore a better financial understanding is needed to properly plan and execute those projects. Better understanding the costs and benefits of restoration will help gain easier access to financial support.

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How are biodiversity and carbon stock recovered during tropical forest restoration? Supporting the ecological paradigms and political context involved

Background

Ecological restoration is a tool for achieving global environmental agendas and climate mitigation. There are many studies on the restoration of ecosystem biodiversity, as well as on the restoration of ecosystem functioning. The relationship between these two ecological features is not yet clearly known beyond a positive correlation between the two. The authors conduct this meta-analysis to explore the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the context of ecological restoration.

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Ecosystem restoration job creation potential in Brazil

Background

Ecosystem restoration is recognized globally for its environmental benefits. Other benefits from ecosystem restoration such as job creation may be of high interest to key stakeholders. The leverage of job creation may motivate additional investments and long-term commitment from stakeholders into restoration projects.

Goals and Methods

The authors aim to assess ecosystem restoration jobs in Brazil based on an online survey. Job structure, distribution, and abundance are measured. In total, the authors analyze results from 356 organizations’ responses covering almost the entirety of Brazilian estates.

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Post-fire ecological restoration in Latin American forest ecosystems: Insights and lessons from the last two decades

Background

Forests make up a significant portion of the earth’s aboveground biodiversity. Human-caused wildfires are a main driver of forest loss across Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors review literature to understand the causes of fires and strategies of post-fire restoration. They focus their search on more recent literature within the last two decades in order to highlight the most advanced methods. The authors also search for gaps in knowledge or application of fire restoration practices that may be hindering progress.

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Regeneration Status and Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Cloud Forest Ecosystem Restoration in Ecuador

Background

Forests are a crucial component of global biodiversity. Ecuador has a long history of deforestation and forest degradation. Historical contexts such as colonization and governmental initiatives have shaped and will continue to shape the way people and forests interact. Emerging evidence supports the integration of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into ecological restoration practices in order to more effectively manage natural resources while incorporating the needs of local communities. The authors use this study to evaluate human disturbance impacts on cloud forest species and what TEK in the area can provide to aid in restoration.

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Multidimensional tropical forest recovery

Background

Tropical forests are disappearing at a high rate due to deforestation. They also have the potential to regenerate to diverse and high-quality forest once more. The authors analyze 12 forest attributes to assess how forest recovery and succession progresses. This review is a compiled analysis done in a chronosequence across three continents and multiple latitudes globally.

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The role of land-use history in driving successional pathways and its implications for the restoration of tropical forests

Background

Across tropical landscapes, large portions of forest have been removed or degraded. Regenerating or secondary forests are becoming increasingly valuable to maintaining and restoring the biodiversity and ecosystem services in the tropics. However, it is apparent that succession does not always happen at the same rate or in the same patterns/quality. It is thought that the history of the land and its usage heavily impact the regeneration patterns of a forest landscape.

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The importance of insects on land and in water: a tropical view

Background

Insects provide a wide variety of ecosystem services such as pollination, nutrient cycling, and seed dispersal. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are thought to be supported by the conservation of diverse insect communities. The roles of tropical insects in ecosystem services and their contributions are summarized in this literature review. The authors identify research trends, knowledge gaps, and potential avenues for future investigations.

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