Journal Articles

Assessment of causes that contribute to the occurrence of plantations forests fires in Niassa Province, North of Mozambique

BACKGROUND

The government of Mozambique started to promote exotic forest plantations (pine & eucalyptus) because of low natural forest productivity, population growth and land use pressure. Niassa province was one of the provinces for this plantation program. However, fires in these commercial plantations have brought an enormous risk for companies, yet these companies provide the greatest source of employment for the local people.

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A comparative study of medicinal plants used in rural areas of Namibia and Zimbabwe

BACKGROUND

Despite the adoption of Western pharmaceutical drugs in developing countries, traditional medicine produced from wild plants is still the source of primary health care. In some countries up to 90% of the people rely on traditional medicines. Few studies have done a comparative analysis of the herbal medicines in Africa.

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Livelihoods diversification and gender in Malawi

BACKGROUND

More than 50% of the population of Malawi lives in rural areas, in extreme poverty. Women and men have significantly different roles in the making of livelihoods. The country’s economy is based on agriculture which is vulnerable to many shocks, forcing the people to diversify to other economic activities. Male headed and female headed homes respond differently to these shocks. Malawi’s gender policy is aiming at reducing the current gender of disparities.

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A tree-based approach to biomass estimation from remote sensing data in a tropical agricultural landscape

Introduction

Due to increasing agricultural landcover throughout the world, it is critical to develop methods that estimate above ground biomass and carbon in order to accurately monitor terrestrial carbon stocks and predicting carbo dynamics. This paper claims that while active remote sensing data may be a means to achieve these estimates, the plot-based methods may not be suitable for these agricultural areas. Thus, the authors seek an alternative.

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Revisiting IPCC Tier 1 coefficients for soil organic and biomass carbon storage in agroforestry systems

Introduction

While agroforestry systems cover a signifcant amount of land worldwide and have the capacity to sequester large amounts of carbon, they are often not considered in climate change mitigation. Most importantly, the IPCCC does not recognize them in carbon accounting primarily because there is so much diversity in the systems.

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Environment and landscape rather than planting design are the drivers of success in long‐term restoration of riparian Atlantic forest

Introduction

While identifying factors that contribute to restoration is difficult, it is ultimately critical in order to ensure the long-term sustainability and resilience of the restored landscape.

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Beyond the species pool: modification of species dispersal, establishment, and assembly by habitat restoration

Introduction

This article asserts that understanding the forces that shape species composition in plant communities, including seed dispersal, establishment, and assembly, is critical to restoration. Serving as an introduction to a special issue on seed dispersal and soil seed banks, the article reviews five major themes in relation to the process of species composition of plants.

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Restoration of plant species and genetic diversity depends on landscape‐scale dispersal

Introduction

The article cites the importance of restoration efforts that leads to resilient, self-sustaining ecosystems in order to combat immense global change. Though biological and species diversity are key to this venture, they are rarely considered a factor. Thus, this review article highlights the connection between seed dispersal and species richness and diversity to landscape restoration.

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Genetic considerations in ecosystem restoration using native tree species

Introduction

With the rising interest on rehabilitation and restoration of forest landscapes to tackle climate change, there has been a renewed focus on the use of native species. Yet, the authors point out there is a lack of attention paid to genetic diversity among these trees along with their interactions, thus resulting in a failure to adequately assess the success of tree plantings.

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Forests, atmospheric water and an uncertain future: the new biology of the global water cycle

Introduction

This article provides a review of the connection between vegetation cover and climate, with a specifical focus on forests and rain. The author details how there are shortcomings in knowledge concerning how tree cover influences water-cycles, which are both highly complex and important. In order to direct readers to potential research opportunities in this field, the article highIights advances and uncertainties in this field through reviewing it's major research themes.

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Journal Articles

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