Montane Forest
Elevation, aspect, and climate shape blue pine (Pinus wallichiana) biomass and carbon dynamics in the Bhutanese HimalayasBackgroundForests cover over two-thirds of Bhutan and are constitutionally protected, enabling national carbon neutrality. Yet, climate change, increasing temperatures, variable precipitation, and heightened wildfire risk threaten carbon storage capacity and species distributions. Blue pine is a fast-growing, socio-economically important species dominating inner dry valleys between roughly 2200–3000 m, making it an ideal model to understand how elevation and slope aspect regulate biomass accumulation and carbon sequestration under changing climate conditions. Open access copy available |
The status of forest carbon markets in Latin AmericaBackground:Latin America (LATAM) hosts some of the world’s largest tropical forests, which provide significant carbon sequestration and a major share of global forest carbon credits. Despite these benefits, deforestation and forest degradation remain critical issues. Forest carbon markets, both compliance and voluntary, have emerged as key mechanisms to finance conservation, reduce emissions, and enhance climate resilience. Open access copy available |
Carbon dynamics with stand structure and species diversity in the Hindu Kush Himalaya ranges of PakistanBackgroundGlobal climate change and biodiversity loss underscore the importance of forests in climate change mitigation and ecosystem stability, as highlighted by UN Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15. The Hindu Kush Himalaya region in Pakistan is a critical biodiversity hotspot and a significant carbon reservoir. However, the relationships among forest structure, species diversity, and carbon storage in this region remain poorly understood, particularly under current management exclusions and anthropogenic pressures. Open access copy available |
Recalibrating burdens of blame: Anti-swidden politics and green governance in the Philippine UplandsBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Comparing Inductive and Deductive Modeling of Land Use Decisions: Principles, a Model and an Illustration from the PhilippinesBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Between a rock and a hard place: The burdens of uncontrolled fire for smallholders across the tropicsBackgroundThe growing prevalence of uncontrolled tropical landscape fires significantly threatens tropical forests and causes substantial social and economic burdens. These burdens continue to be largely overlooked in favor of aggregate-scale losses like climate change and biodiversity, despite the severe local impacts on smallholder farming communities across the forested tropics. Furthermore, people often unfairly portray smallholders as the primary culprits of fire contagion due to their customary fire-based agricultural practices. This narrative is rooted in colonial-era condemnations. Open access copy available |
Evolution of wildfires, burned areas, and affected species in Middle Atlas forests (Morocco) from 2000 to 2020BackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Evaluation of Forest Recovery over Time and Space Using Permanent Plots Monitored over 30 Years in a Jamaican Montane Rain ForestBACKGROUNDAn easily calculated recovery index would be of great value to studies of succession and restoration. The authors discuss the development of a new recovery index to assess the recovery of tropical forests after severe human disturbances. This index addresses current indices' limitations by incorporating the number and size of individuals within a community. The authors also propose a method for assessing recovery over time and space using permanent plots monitored over 30 years in the Jamaican montane forest. This provides more accurate estimates of forest conservation status. Open access copy available |
Disrupted montane forest recovery hinders biodiversity conservation in the tropical AndesBackgroundIn the U.N. Decade on Restoration, recovering degraded forests is a high priority. Andean montane forests are a biodiversity hotspot, storing large quantities of carbon, and providing many sources for human livelihood. Many parts of the Andean forests are recovering after agriculture abandonment, but it is not yet known how the dynamics of these recovery processes progress over time. Knowledge of forest regeneration trajectory is crucial for further restoration planning. Open access copy available |
Trade-offs at applying tree nucleation to restore degraded high Andean forests in ColombiaBackgroundThis article recognizes applied nucleation as a forest restoration strategy in many low to mid altitude forests and aims to compare applied nucleation to passive regeneration at high altitude forests. Applied nucleation is successful at accelerating the speed of forest regeneration, improving soil conditions, and shading out invasive species in many low-mid altitude forests of the neotropics. There are gaps in the literature about the performance of applied nucleation in other tropical regions as well as high attitude tropical forests. Available with subscription or purchase |
