Dominican Republic

Forty Years of Tropical Forest Recovery from Agriculture: Structure and Floristics of Secondary and Old-growth Riparian Forests in the Dominican Republic

BACKGROUND:

The value of secondary forests in the tropics has received increased attention in recent years. The recovery of tropical forests from agricultural use, given the increase in abandoned agricultural lands, has gained momentum. Yet, few long-term studies of post-agriculture vegetation recovery in the tropics exist. The study compares 40-year-old secondary forests regenerating naturally after agricultural abandonment with old-growth forests in the Dominican Republic's Cordillera Central.

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Small-scale disturbance and regeneration dynamics in a neotropical mangrove forest

Background

This study focuses on regeneration dynamics of mangrove species in lightening-created gaps, in the Dominican Republic.

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A Strategy for Restoration of Montane Forest in Anthropogenic Fern Thickets in the Dominican Republic

Background

This study looked at the potential of different tree species to grow in clearings in fern-dominated thickets in a state of arrested succession. It was conducted in the Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve in the Dominican Republic with subtropical montane forest.

Research Goals & Methods

The authors cleared fern-dominated shrubs with machetes and planted 18 species of early and late successional trees and shrubs with and without a single application of fertilizer.

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La vegetación leñosa en helechales y bosque de ribera en la reserva científica Ebano Verde, República Dominicana (Woody vegetation in fernlands and riparian forests in Ebano Verde scientific reserve, Dominican Republic)

Spanish

Antecedentes

De 1940 a 1970, áreas deforestadas en la Cordillera Central de la República Dominicana fueron sujetas a incendios rutinarios lo cual causó erosión intensa y llevo al establecimiento de Dicranopteris pectinate, una especie de helecho de sotobosque. Esta especie de helecho rápido forma comunidades estables que inhiben el crecimiento de especies maderables e impide la sucesión natural del bosque. Se ha observado un fenómeno similar dentro de la Reserva Científica Ébano Verde en la República Dominicana.

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