General

Seeding ecological restoration of tropical forests: Priority setting under REDD+

Background

Tropical deforestation continues to be the major driver of biodiversity loss and a considerable contributor to climate change. Increasing numbers of forest-dependent rural poor rely on degraded forest for their livelihoods. Ecological restoration of tropical forests has the potential to not only contribute to biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation, but also poverty alleviation. REDD+ provides a potentially powerful mechanism for supporting ecological restoration of tropical forests in developing countries.

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Edge-Effects Drive Tropical Forest Fragments Towards an Early-Successional System

Background

This paper argues that edge effects trigger a rapid and inevitable successional process that drives most remaining neotropical forest fragments towards a persistent early-successional system.

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Ecological Implications of Harvesting Non-Timber Forest Products

Background

This article examines 70 case studies on the ecological effects of harvesting plant-species NTFPs in an attempt to draw broader conclusions for both forest resource management and future research.

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Microbiological Indicators of Soil Quality and Degradation Following Conversion of Native Forests to Continuous Croplands

Background

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Self-restoration of post-agrogenic soils of Calcisol-Solonetz complex: Soil development, carbon stock dynamics of carbon pools

Background

Abandoned land may move towards self-restoration without human intervention. In the European part of Russia, over half a million km2 was abandoned between 1987 and 2007; another 200,000 km2 was abandoned in Eastern Russia. The majority of abandonments occurred in unirrigated dry steppe, land that is arable but less favorable for agriculture. This study compares differences in self-restoration based on underlying soil types, climate, and land-use history across a chronosequence of abandoned land in the dry steppe zone of Russia in a Calcisol–Solonetz complex, reporting on vegetation and soil characteristics.

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Assessing and Monitoring Forest Biodiversity: A Suggested Framework and Indicators

background

This study looks at afforestation and reforestation (A/R) projects that are part of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. The study seeks to determine whether large-scale A/R projects meet the twin goals of carbon sequestration and sustainable development, using projects in India's Karnataka State as case studies.

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The Enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis Program—National Sampling Design and Estimation Procedures

background

This report explains the changes in approach used in the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The FIA Program was designed to standardize national practices among regional FIA programs.

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Carbon Sequestration Potential of Indian Forestry Land Use Systems

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The paper presents an overview of studies done on the carbon sequestration potential of varied forestry land use systems in India at regional, country, and site-specific levels.

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Restoration success: how is it being measured?

Background

Global criteria of restoration success should be clearly established to evaluate restoration projects. Various governments, institutes, and authors use varying criteria, leading to potential misprioritization of goals. Recently, the Society of Ecological Restoration International (SER) produced a Primer that includes key ecosystem attributes that should be considered when evaluating restoration success.

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Restoring Ecological Functions

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