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Effects of fire on the recruitment of rain forest vegetation beneath Pinus caribaea plantations, Sri Lanka

Background

Groundstory fires burn forest understories and can impact advance regeneration, contributing to conversion of forests to fire-sustained grasslands or fernlands. While plantations of fire-tolerant trees have been successfully established on these sites, managing fire in the newly developing understory remains an issue of concern.

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Growth characteristics of some native tree species used in silvopastoral systems in the humid lowlands of Costa Rica

Background

Degraded pastures established throughout Central America in the latter 20th C are gradually transitioning to silvopasture or secondary forest. Understanding growth characteristics of trees on these lands is important for proper management.

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Farm Forestry: An Alternative to Government-Driven Reforestation in the Philippines

Background

This study reviews literature and various case studies about growing trees at the farm level by rural farmers. In the Philippines, millions of dollars have gone to employ people to plant trees as part of reforestation programs while only about 10% of those planted areas are successful. The authors assert that paying people to plant trees is unsustainable and often hindered by the lack of prompt release of funding.

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Effects of Nutrient Addition, Mulching and Planting-Hole Size on Early Performance of Dryobalanops aromatica and Shorea parvifolia Planted in Secondary Forest in Sarawak, Malaysia

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In this study, three methods were tested for their ability to improve growth of dipterocarp seedlings planted in west Sarawak, Malaysia.

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Evaluation of Reforestation Potential of 83 Tree Species Planted on Imperata cylindrica Dominated Grassland – A case Study from South Kalimantan, Indonesia

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In this study, 83 tree species (native and exotic) were tested for their growth and survival in species selection trials in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.

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Releasing Rain Forest Succession: A Case Study in the Dicranopteris linearis Fernlands of Sri Lanka

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This study evaluates the effectiveness of different site treatments for controlling the invasive fern Dicranopteris linearis which has arrested forest succession in areas of the Sinharaja Man and Biosphere (MAB) reserve in lowland Sri Lanka. The fernlands, which had existed in the reserve for 10-20 years before this study, are favored by forest clearance for swidden agriculture and periodic fires. 

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Variability and Grouping of Leaf Traits in Multi-Species Reforestation (Leyte, Philippines)

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Research on functional diversity is an important part in ongoing efforts to identify appropriate native tree species for reforestation projects. Increasing understanding of easy to measure physiological characteristics, such as specific leaf area, can help predict a variety of functional characteristics as well as growth perfromance.

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Direct Seeding of Late-Successional Trees to Restore Tropical Montane Forest

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This study measures seed germination, seedling establishment, survival, growth and foliar nutrient content of five late-successional tree species which were directly seeded into three different habitats representing different stages of succession in tropical montane Costa Rica.The study also compares the costs of direct seeding with locally collected seeds with planting nursery-raised seedlings.

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The Effect of a Teak (Tectona grandis) Plantation on the Establishment of Native Species in an Abandoned Pasture in Costa Rica

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This study compares native tree species recruitment in the understory of a 10-year-old teak plantation in premontane wet forest in Costa Rica to the native tree species recruitment on nearby abandoned agricultural land.

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Attempting Restoration of Wet Tropical Forests in Costa Rica

Background

This article describes a reforestation effort of the Tropical Forestry Initiative using mixed stands of native species to recover abandoned pastureland in the tropical wet forest of Costa Rica.

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Early Growth and Survival of 49 Tropical Tree Species across Sites Differing in Soil Fertility and Rainfall in Panama

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This research investigates the importance of soil quality upon species survival across a gradient of differing levels of rainfall and dry season length on disturbed land in Panama.

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Early Growth of Native and Exotic Trees Planted on Degraded Tropical Pasture

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This study describes the potential of two exotic and five native tree species to restore degraded land in Costa Rica.

Research Goals & Methods

Thirty blocks were established over 25 hectares of abandoned cattle pasture and tree height was measured at 3 and 7 years and tree survival was measured after 7 years.

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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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Silvicultural and economic aspects of pure and mixed native tree species plantations on degraded pasturelands in humid Costa Rica

Background

Reforestation of degraded land in tropical regions provides one means of restoring ecosystems and improving rural livelihoods. Most plantations in humid tropical regions are established in pure plots using few species of high commercial value, generally exotics. This study compares growth and economic viability of native trees in pure and mixed plantations on degraded land.

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Performance of an Improved Fallow System in the Peruvian Amazon—Modelling Approach

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This research compares the ecological and economic potential of an improved leguminous tree fallow (using Inga edulis) to the traditional grass fallow (dominated by Imperata brasiliensis) in central Peru.

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Shade management in coffee and cacao plantations

Background

Shade trees reduce the stress of coffee (Coffea spp.) and cacao (Theobroma cacao) by ameliorating adverse climatic conditions and nutritional imbalances and increase the biodiversity of coffee farms, but they may also compete for growth resources. This review summarizes the literature on ecological aspects of shade-grown coffee and cacao and on management of shade trees, but does not address economic and social aspects of shade-grown coffee and cacao.

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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

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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.

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Rehabilitation of Degraded Tropical Forest Lands

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This article discusses the options for the rehabilitation of degraded land on high rainfall areas. It suggests that it is both environmentally and economically disadvantageous to let the degraded land remain in an unproductive and rapidly eroding state.

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Growth of dipterocarp seedlings in artificial gaps: An experiment in a logged-over rainforest in South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Background

Regeneration of dipterocarps following logging has become a crucial issue in tropical forest management. Secondary forest frequently and rapidly replaces dipterocarps in large logged-over patches. If unmanaged, these secondary forest patches are often composed of unmerchantable early-succession species. It has been hypothesized that dipterocarps grow most successfully in small gaps.

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Technical and Financial Analysis of Enrichment Planting in Logging Gaps as a Potential Component of Forest Management in the Eastern Amazon

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This study investigates the potential for managing timber tree species regeneration in disturbed areas within logged forests in the eastern Amazon through the experimental introduction of seeds and seedlings.

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