Tropical Wet Forest

Rainforestation Case Study: The Cienda-San Vicente Farmers Association Experience

Background

Open access copy available

Shade-grown coffee in Puerto Rico: Opportunities to preserve biodiversity while reinvigorating a struggling agricultural commodity

Background

Coffee has been a traditional crop in Puerto Rico since the mid-1700s. As the global market became more competitive in the 20th century, the Puerto Rican government provided subsidies and policies to protect the sector as well as promoted the transition to shade grown coffee for higher yields in the 1980s. The researchers surveyed 100 farms and 5 agronomists to determine attitudes about this transition.

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Agro-Successional Restoration as a Strategy to Facilitate Tropical Forest Recovery

Background

In the review article, it compares the forestry restoration model with the agroforestry restoration model. Even though they both incorporate the same techniques for controlling weeds and preparing the site for restoration, they differ in other aspects. One of the two agroforestry methods for restoration is the taungya method, which is when mixed crops and trees are all planted together, while the other is the agro-successional restoration method. 

Open access copy available

Contributions of agroforestry to ecosystem services in the miombo eco-region of eastern and southern Africa

Background

The article discusses the functional benefits of agroforestry to the miombo region of eastern and southern Africa, which includes the following countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique.

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Development of the soil macrofauna community under silvopastoral and agrosilvicultural systems in Amazonia

Background

The Brazilian Amazon has experienced extensive land conversion from forests to cattle pasture, many of which now lay abandoned. Agro-forestry serves as one potential solution to this problem and this study examines the re-establishment of a diversified soil macrofauna in order to inform this approach.

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Infuence of tree cover on diversity, carbon sequestration and productivity of cocoa systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Background

In this study, Jadan et al. objective was to evaluate the relationship between richness and floristic diversity, carbon storage, ecosystem services, agricultural productivity, and forest use potential under three land use systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon: cocoa-based agroforestry, cocoa monoculture and primary forest. In this region, one of the most important cultivation systems is the “Chakra”, a traditional organic farming production system, mainly practiced by indigenous peoples, that consists in the cultivation of staple crops in combination with commercial valuable species such as cocoa, obtaining multiple benefits.

Open access copy available

The Contribution of Traditional Agroforestry to Climate Change Adaptation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Chakra System

Background

This article explores the amazonian-indigenous "chakra" agroforestry system, and its utility as a forest management practice that sequesters carbon, increases food security, grows valuable timber, and acts as a habitat connectivity. The size of these cultivated areas range from 0.4 - 4ha, and include species such as anioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz), banana (Musa paradisiaca L.), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth), fine-flavored cacao (Theobroma cacaoL.) and robusta coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre ex A. Froehner), and a variety of medicinals.

Open access copy available

Growing biodiverse carbon-rich forests

Background

Carbon storage and biodiversity has long been viewed as completely separate restoration objectives, resulting in parceling tracts of restoration land for one objective or the other. This study shows that the relationship between plant functional diversity and carbon sequestration rate depends on climate and habitat factors. Knowing this relationship, a restoration site can be managed for both objectives.

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Bosques de los Andes orientales de Bolivia y sus especies útiles (Forests of the western Andes of Bolivia and its useful species)

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antecedentes

Los bosques montanos sostienen no solo un gran biodiversidad, sino además los medios  de vida de poblaciones indígenas y mestizas. Es necesario conocer las especies de potencial económico que presentan los bosques montanos a fin de asegurar su conservación y manejo a largo plazo.

Open access copy available

The Potential for Species Conservation in Tropical Secondary Forests

Background

The importance of tropical secondary forests for conserving biodiversity increases with the degradation of old-growth forests, yet little is known about the role that these forests play in promoting biodiversity. Geospatial and temporal factors influence the role of secondary forests in species conservation, and this synthesis of case studies evaluates the significance of these factors on regional and landscape scales.

Open access copy available
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