Montane Forest
Targeted habitat restoration can reduce extinction rates in fragmented forestsBackgroundHabitat lost is one of the primary drivers of species extinction. This study examines two highly-fractured ecosystems, the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, and evaluates the rate at which habitat loss may lead to extinction and thus biodiversity loss. Specifically, the authors use halflife vs. area relationship to determine how long it will take to lose one-half of all tropical bird communities in each habitat. Open access copy available |
Restoration of Ecosystem Carbon Stocks following Exclosure Establisment in Communal Grazing Lands in Tigray, EthiopiaBackgroundThe study examines changes in ecosystem Carbon stocks (ECS) after the establishment of exclosures on communal grazing lands. Exclosures are areas where livestock are prohibited from grazing. Available with subscription or purchase |
Tropical Montane Forest Restoration in Costa Rica: Overcoming Bariers to Dispersal and EstablishmentBackgroundThe article addressed different types of environmental and ecological factors limiting forest regeneration on a tropical montane abandoned pasture in Costa Rica, and the subsequent forest restoration strategies that could be feasible. The authors sought to answer the following questions: 1) What factors limit tropical forest recovery in abandoned pasture? and (2) How can we use this information to design strategies to facilitate ecosystem recovery? Open access copy available |
Charaterization and Impact Assessment of Water Harvesting Techniques: A Case Study of Abreha Atsbeha Watershed, Tigray, EthiopiaBackgroundThis report gives a comprehensive overview of water harvesting techniques in a community called Abreha we Atsbeha in Tigray, Ethiopia. This community was awarded the UN Equator Prize for their restoration work in 2012. In addition to providing a detailed historical, demographic, ecological, and hydrological description of the site, the authors also detail the major water harvesting techniques employed, including: bench terracing, stone bunds, stine bunds with trenches, soil bunds with trenches, semi-circular stone bunds, percolation ponds check dams, shallow wells, diversion heads, and hand dug wells. Open access copy available |
Lattice-work corridors for climate change: a conceptual framework for biodiversity conservation and social-ecological resilience in a tropical elevational gradientBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Local ecological knowledge of trees on farms, constraints and opportunities for further integratino in Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia: A Case Study of smallholder farmers in Abreha Wa Atsbeha and Adi GudomBackgroundThe paper compared two Ethiopian sites with differing levels of on-farm tree adoption: Abreha we Atsbeha (high adoption) and Adi Gudom (low adoption). The author used a knowledge-based systems approach involving participatory rural appraisal, focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews. In both sites, farmers planted trees on their holdings for income generation, user rights, and direct benefits, and they planted trees on communal lands to comply with government policies, improve soil fertility and water harvesting, improve land for redistribution, and improve aesthetics. Open access copy available |
Trade-offs in nature tourism: contrasting parcel-level decisions with landscape conservation planningBackgroundThis article discusses the trade-offs linked to nature tourism in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Nature tourism has been used for promoting conservation in Costa Rica since the 1970s when it was adopted into developmental policy. Tourism is now the largest industry in Costa Rica; but is nature tourism an effective way to preserve ecosystem services and promote economic benefits? The study area includes Monteverde (an ecotourism town near the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve), San Luis (a coffee and dairy farming community), and Guacimal (economy based on cattle ranching and dairy). Open access copy available |
Does tree planting change minds? Assessing the use of community participation in reforestation to address illegal logging in West KalimantanBackgroundIn this study, Pohnan et al. evaluated the social impacts of the local NGO Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) restoration program that took place in Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, an area that host numerous endangered species and that has been degraded by illegal logging for the past several decades. Open access copy available |
Communal management as a strategy for restoring cloud forest landscapes in Andean EcuadorBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
A Multicountry Assessment of Tropical Resource Monitoring by Local CommunitiesBackgroundThe study compared data collected on status and trends collected independently by local community members and trained scientists for 63 taxa and five types of resource use in 34 tropical forest sites over 2.5 years so examine the assumption that local people are less objective than external scientists when monitoring natural resources. Open access copy available |
