Montane Forest
Participatory Forest Monitoring: An Assessment of the Accuracy of Simple Cost–Effective MethodsbackgroundThis article examines the feasibility of implementing participatory forest monitoring to conserve biodiversity and improving livelihoods for local communities. Long-term monitoring of forest conservation sites by professional scientists, is often cost prohibitive and uses techniques irrelevent to local community members, while simpler methods could be learned and implemented by local communities and more affordable. Open access copy available |
Mapping Species Composition of Forests and Tree Plantations in Northeastern Costa Rica with an Integration of Hyperspectral and Multitemporal Landsat ImagerybackgroundThis article discusses the improvement in accuracy of remote sensing to monitor and evaluate reforestation projects by combining moderate-resolution and hyperspectral imagery with multi temporal, multispectral data. The combination of these technological monitoring methods allows researchers to accurately classify general forest types and tree plantations by species composition. Open access copy available |
Can Pinus Plantations Facilitate Reintroduction of Endangered Cloud Forest Species?backgroundThis study tested the hypothesis that pine plantations can simulate the conditions of early forest succession, acting as a habitat for other native or endangered species to establish. In the cloud forest region of central Mexico, some tree species have become endangered due to land use change for both livestock production and tree plantations. Open access copy available |
Coffee Agroforests Remain Beneficial for Neotropical Bird Community Conservation across SeasonsBackgroundThis study compares bird community composition in coffee agroforestry systems with secondary forest fragments, while accounting for seasonal bird migration and differences in bird detectability between habitats. It was conducted in the San Luis Valley of northwest Costa Rica, a montane forest region that encompasses many microhabitats. Open access copy available |
Lattice-Work Corridors for Climate Change: A Conceptual Framework for Biodiversity Conservation and Social-Ecological Resilience in a Tropical Elevational GradientbackgroundIn the region of Monteverde, communities rely on ecotourism, coffee farming, dairy cattle farming and sugarcane production to making their livings. The Pacific-slope forests are highly fragmented, and while a large biological corridor has already been proposed, it neglects certain key riparian corridors that would facilitate species migrations and range shifts, as well as protect the downstream water sources. Open access copy available |
The Political, Social, and Ecological Transformation of a LandscapeBackgroundIn 1951 the Chinese Government issued the Decision on Cultivating Rubber Trees, which resulted in the establishment of large-scale rubber plantations in the tropical regions of China, including Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan. These rubber plantations, worked by relocated Han Chinese, were a manifestation of state power on the landscape. Open access copy available |
Mapping Priority Areas for Forest Landscape Restoration and Improvement of Rural Community Livelihoods in Guatemala's San Marcos HighlandsbackgroundThis study maps priority areas for forest landscape restoration in three watershades of south-western Guatemala. This rural region has received attention from local government and international socio-economic development projects. Research Goals & MethodsThis study used GIS and Multi-criteria decision analysis to generate maps. These tools enabled the integration of a wide variety of complex information to evaluate different contexts and dynamics of the landscape. Open access copy available |
Understanding Forest Transition in the Philippines: Main Farm-Level Factors Influencing Smallholder’s Capacity and Intention to Plant Native Timber TreesBackgroundSmall-scale farmers' decisions on when, where, and how to plant trees in their use of natural, human, and capital resources is critical to understand as part of any forest transition trajectory. This paper studies these questions in the Philippines. Available with subscription or purchase |
Trade-offs in nature tourism: contrasting parcel-level decisions withlandscape conservation planningBackgroundA landscape approach to conservation has increasingly taken prominence as scientists and policymakers consider the role of landscape patches and connectivities. However, understanding trade-offs in policy decisions and land management strategies in a landscape dominated by privately held patches presents a challenge. This study discusses trade-offs with the nature tourism industry in Monteverde, Costa Rica, considering effects across parcel-level decisions. Open access copy available |
Land Cover Change in Colombia: Surprising Forest Recovery Trends between 2001 and 2010backgroundThis study mapped annual land-use and land-cover from 2001 to 2010 in Colombia using MODIS (250 m) products coupled with reference data from high spatial resolution imagery (QuickBird) in Google Earth. Research Goals & MethodsThe authors evaluated land cover change at four spatial scales: country, biome, ecoregion, and municipality. Open access copy available |
