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Biodiversity Persistence in Highly Human-modified Tropical Landscapes Depends on Ecological Restoration

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This paper shows how forest restoration can enhance biodiversity using case studies from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. 

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Tropical rain forest fragmentation and its ecological and species diversity changes in Southern Yunnan

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Animal species richness is understood to decline with fragmentation of tropical forests. While the same is assumed of plant species richness, fewer studies have been undertaken on this subject. This study on sacred groves in southern Yunnan, southwestern China, evaluates the plant species richness of these tropical rainforest fragments.

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Effects of Fragmentation of the Atlantic Forest on Mammal Communities in South-Eastern Brazil

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

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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

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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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Degraded Lands Worth Protecting: the Biological Importance of Southeast Asia's Repeatedly Logged Forests.

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The study examines the impacts of second logging cycles on biodiversity by comparing species richness, species composition and population-level responses of birds and dung beetle species across unlogged forest, first rotation forest, and second rotation forest in Sabah, Malaysia.

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Drought, Fire, and Tree Survival in a Borneo Rainforest, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

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While draughts and fires are seen as important components of tropical forests, large-scale assessments of the effects of these events are scarce. This paper compares the forest stand level impact between severe drought and a subsequent extensive fires on forest stand in a lowland rainforest in East Kalimantan.

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Interactions among Amazon Land Use, Forests and Climate: Prospects for a Near-Term Forest Tipping Point

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This study concerns the interaction of anthropogenic and natural threats on the Amazon forest and considers the possibility of a tipping point in the near future. The authors argue that the interaction of various factors may lead to a large-scale forest dieback, for example a deforestation of about 31% of the Amazon closed-canopy forest formation.

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Monitoring Forest Degradation in Tropical Regions by Remote Sensing: Some Methodological Issues

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This review examines different remote sensing techniques to monitor vegetation cover at a regional scale. The objective was to discuss implications related to monitoring of open forest degradation.

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Tropical rainforest regeneration in an area degraded by mining in Mato Grosso State, Brazil

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Gold mining has been a major cause of environmental degradation in the rainforests in the north of Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Regulations on mining activity are beginning to be developed, including standards for forest recovery methodologies. This study characterizes natural tropical rainforest regeneration in Matupa County, Mato Grosso State, Brazil.

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Early Effects of Four Fast-Growing Tree Species and Their Planting Density on Ground Vegetation in Imperata grasslands

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This study aims to test the success of fast-growing exotics tree species and alternative planting densities on the development of ground vegetation. The study was conducted in Riam Kiwa, South Kalimantan, Indonesia in Imperata grasslands. The four fast-growing exotic tree species used in the study were Acacia mangium, Acacia crassicarpa, Gmelina arborea, and Paraserianthes falcataria.

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Priority Setting for Scaling-Up Tropical Forest Restoration Projects: Early Lessons from the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact

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Biodiversity–Productivity Relationships in Small-Scale Mixed-Species Plantations Using Native Species in Leyte Province, Philippines

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

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Overcoming Ecological Barriers to Tropical Lower Montane Forest Succession on Anthropogenic Grasslands: Synthesis and Future Prospects

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This review attempts to address the difficulty in restoring grasslands to secondary tropical forest through reforestation. Proposed strategies are discussed for future recruitment methods for woody vegetation.

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Identifying Hotspots of Deforestation and Reforestation in Colombia (2001–2010): Implications for Protected Areas

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This article uses satellite imagery, MODIS MOD13Q1 Vegetation Indices 250 , the Virtual Interpretation of EarthWeb-Interface Tool (VIEW-IT) to conduct a land-use analysis of Colombia, mapping trends and "hotspot" areas of deforestation and of reforestation from 2001 to 2010.

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Designing Mixed Species Tree Plantations for the Tropics: Balancing Ecological Attributes of Species with Landholder Preferences in the Philippines

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This paper reports on the assessment of forest stands planted as part of the Rainforestation Farming Program and the management of plantations by local landowners regarding the original intent of planting.

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Seed Dispersal by Birds and Bats in Lowland Philippine Forest Successional Area

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While seed dispersal by birds and bats can be an important driver of succession, few studies have studied this dynamic in the tropical forests of SE Asia. This study compares the role of bird and bat dispersal in the lowland dipterocarp forest of the Subic Watershed Forest Reserve (SWFR) in Luzon Island, Philippines.

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Land Cover Change in Colombia: Surprising Forest Recovery Trends between 2001 and 2010

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This study mapped annual land-use and land-cover from 2001 to 2010 in Colombia using MODIS (250 m) products coupled with reference data from high spatial resolution imagery (QuickBird) in Google Earth.

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Does Tree Planting Change Minds? Assessing the Use of Community Participation in Reforestation to Address Illegal Logging in West Kalimantan

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Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia has experienced illegal logging and fires that led to degradation and conversion of forests to grasslands in a state of arrested succession. A local NGO named Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) began a restoration effort to restore degraded forest areas and provide jobs to local community members that might otherwise participate in illegal logging.

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