Journal Articles

Restoring dense vegetation can slow mountain erosion to near natural benchmark levels

Background

Tropical mountain areas may undergo rapid land degradation as demographic growth and intensified agriculture cause more people to migrate to fragile ecosystems. To assess the extent of the resulting damage, an erosion rate benchmark against which changes in erosion can be evaluated is required. Benchmarks reflecting natural erosion rates are usually not provided by conventional sediment fluxes, which are often biased due to modern land use change, and also miss large, episodic events within the measuring period.

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Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Soil and Water Erosion and Nutrient Losses of a Severely Eroded Clayey Plinthudult in Southeastern China

Background

In this study, researchers compare erosion from reforested and degraded sites in subtropical southeastern China.

Goals & Methods

The objective of the study was to estimate the long-term influences of reforestation on soil and water erosion and nutrient losses in regions of southeast China that are characterized by severely eroded bare land derived from Quaternary red clay. The study examined surface runoff, soil erosion, and soil nutrient content.  

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Deforestation and Reforestation of Latin America and the Caribbean (2001–2010)

background

This study examines contrasting forest cover change dynamics in Latin America and the Caribbean using MODIS satellite imagery. Many studies have documented deforestation, while others report forest recovery. This study seeks to analyze these trends on a large scale and connect them to environmental and population variables.

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Uses, Management and Economic Potential of Garcinia kola and Ricinodendron heudelotii in the humid lowlands of Cameroon

Background

This article describes two common fruit and medicinal trees (non-timber) that grow in secondary forests in the lowlands of Cameroon. The trees are found to have a mixed effect in an agroforestry environment; sometimes they improve crop production, sometimes they do not. Fruit are consumed by families and sold in markets.

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Domestication of Dacryodes edulis: State-of-the-art

Background

This article provides an overview of the work being done to domesticate Dactryodes edulis, a fruit tree widespread to the humid lowlands of Central Africa. It focuses on a program in Cameroon coordinated by ICRAF that is based on a participatory approach of domesitcating D. edulis. 

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Philippine Dipterocarp Forests

  • This study provides a detailed description of Philippine dipterocarp forests, including details on climatic conditions and composition in the first pages. Page 430 has a table of natural stand regeneration studies of a range of plots (natural and cut over), listing seedling numbers and size class distribution of 5 species in “virgin Negros rainforest” (Table 3); 7-10 species of Bataan are listed on p. 433-437 (Table V-VII), 6 species in Laguna are listed on p. 438-441 (Table VIII-IX), and multiple species of Mt Maquiling are listed on p. 444-450 (Table X-XII).
  • Succession pathways on cleared land are described starting on p. 451.
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Sobrevivência em viveiro de mudas de espécies nativas retiradas da regeneração natural de remanescente florestal (Survival in nursery of native species sapling obtained from natural regeneration of forest fragments)

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Using ecosystem valuation to protect the Atlantic Rainforest: the case of the Oasis Project

Background

The article explores the Oasis Project, which is a payment for ecosystem services program that aims to protect the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The program was established in 1990 in response to the destruction of the forest. The Oasis Project aims to provide drinking water to approximately 17 million in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region by financially compensating landowners engaged in maintaining forest cover in their proprieties. 

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Deep Soil Moisture Storage and Transpiration in Forests and Pastures of Seasonally-Dry Amazonia

background

This study, conducted in the seasonal rainforest of Northern Brazil (Para), compares re-growth of pasture, mature forest, and natural forest (capoeira). 

Goals & Methods

The study assessed the impacts of land-use change on plant-available water (PAW) and evapotranspiration (ET). To do so, they measured volumetric water content (VWC) at 8 m below three nearby ecosystems over four years, including a mature evergreen forests, an adjacenet pasture, and a second-growth forest on abandoned pasture land. 

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Recuperación estructural en bosques sucesionales andinos de Porce, Antioquia, Colombia (Structural recuperation in secondary successional Andean forests in Porce, Antioquia, Colombia)

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Antecedentes

Durante décadas los bosques de la región de Porce (Antioquia, Colombia) han sido talados y quemados para establecer fincas ganaderas y, en menor proporción, agricultura. Este tipo de prácticas pudieron ser decisivas para el proceso sucesional del sitio, ya que la degradación producida en el suelo pudo afectar las características estructurales de la vegetación secundaria establecida.

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