South Asia

Effect of Adult Density on Regeneration Success of Woody Plants in Natural and Restored Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Fragments in Puducherry Region, India

Background

This study tested variables contributing to successful regeneration of Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF) species in southern India, a forest type that is highly biodiverse but fragmented and commonly designated as “sacred groves”.

Conclusions & Takeaways

The researchers found that whether in longstanding “groves” or in reforested areas, adult tree density more strongly enhances the regeneration of any given species than do other factors such as the species’ dispersal mode or life form (e.g. tree, shrub, or liana).

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Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) Projects: Lessons for Future Policy Design and Implementation

Background

This study reviews six representative Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) initiatives, two each from Africa, Asia and Latin America, by presenting their strengths, weakensses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).

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Forest Transition Pathways in Asia – Studies from Nepal, India, Thailand, and Cambodia

background

This study draws on data from Nepal, India, Thailand, and Cambodia to examine trajectories of forest-cover change along gradients of deforestation and reforestation.

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Social and Ecological Synergy: Local Rulemaking, Forest Livelihoods, and Biodiversity Conservation

Background

Decentralized forest management with local community involvement is often viewed as a way to incentivize sustainable forest use through enhanced local knowledge, shared accountability, and perceived legitimacy. However, the effectiveness of decentralized management towards these goals is unclear both theoretically and in practice. There are few systematic multicountry empirical analyses that identify important factors and their complex relationships with social and ecological outcomes.

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Forest Conservation, Afforestation and Reforestation in India: Implications for Forest Carbon Stocks

background

This article presents an assessment of the implications of past and current forest conservation and regeneration policies and programmes for forest carbon sinks in India.

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Explaining Success on the Commons: Community Forest Governance in the Indian Himalaya

background

This study describes how a range of causal influences shape forest conditions in diverse ecological and institutional settings in the Indian Himalaya.

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Tree density, basal area and species diversity in a disturbed dry tropicalforest of northern India: implications for conservation

Background

Dry tropical forest communities are among the world’s most threatened systems. Rapid measures are required to protect and restore them in degraded landscapes. For planning conservation strategies, there is a need to determine the essential measurable properties, such as number of species and basal area, that best describe the dry forest vegetation and its environment, and to document quantitative relationships among them.

Open access copy available

The Ecophysiology of Pioneer Tree Species in Relation to their Disturbance Ecology in a Wet Lowland Rainforest, Sri Lanka

Background

This dissertation evaluates pioneers species and their response to light availability and disturbance characteristics in the Shorea-Mesua vegetation type (an aseasonal, mixed dipterocarp forest) around the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest Reserve in southwest Sri Lanka.

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Ecological Significance of Crown Functional Traits Across Size Classes and Disturbance Environments in Eight Pioneer Species in a Sri Lankan Rain Forest

background

This article evaluates the tree crown characteristics of eight pioneer tree species in the Shorea-Mesua vegetation type (an aseasonal, mixed dipterocarp forest) around the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest Reserve in southwest Sri Lanka.

Research Goals & Methods

The crown surface area, crown volume, and live crown ratio were measured as well as evaluated for their correlation with tree size classes and disturbance causes.

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Restoration of a Sri-Lankan rainforest: Using Caribbean Pine Pinus caribaea as a nurse for establishing late-successional tree species

Background

In the moist tropics, studies have demonstrated poor seedling establishment of late-successional trees on lands cleared of forest. This study examines the potential for establishing late-successional tree species that dominate the canopy of rainforest by planting within and adjacent to experimental openings that were created within a Pinus caribaea plantation.

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