Resource Library Search

Type any text into the search box. Narrow your search using the dropdown boxes or the filters in the sidebar. If there are no results, try using fewer filters or broder dropdown options. 

Advanced Search Options

Subject Areas

Species

Promoting Biodiversity: Advances in Evaluating Native Species for Reforestation

background

This article describes the design of a long-term species screening trial conducted at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica.

Research Goals & Methods

Growth and survivability data is presented for 84 species (17 popular exotics used for timber and 67 little-known local species with timber potential) at 3 years of age.

Available with subscription or purchase

Restoration of dry tropical forests in Central America: A review of pattern and process

Background

Much information on restoration and management exists for wet tropical forests of Central America but comparatively little work has been done in the dry forests of this region. Such information is critical for reforestation efforts that are now occurring throughout Central America. This paper describes processes of degradation due to land use and provides a conceptual framework for the restoration of dry tropical forest, of which less than 2% remains intact.

Open access copy available

The Agua Salud Project, Central Panama

Background

The Agua Salud Project is located in the watershed that includes and surrounds the Panama Canal, an engineering feat that largely relies on natural hydrological systems. Much of this watershed has been deforested, thus an official policy has been put into place to reforest and regain ecosystem services. This project seeks to utilize the globalize role of the canal to bring attention to the ecosystem services of the region. 

Open access copy available

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.

Available with subscription or purchase

The Structure and Composition of a Tropical Dry Forest Landscape After Land Clearance; Azuero Peninsula, Panama

background

Available with subscription or purchase

Pure and Mixed Forest Plantations with Native Species of the Dry Tropics of Costa Rica: A Comparison of Growth and Productivity

background

This research monitored the growth and survival of 13 natives species in pure and mixed-species plantations, and compared the results to measurements of T. grandis, an exotic species commonly planted in the area.

Open access copy available

Restoring abandoned pasture land with native tree species in Costa Rica: Effects of exotic grass competition and light

Background

Available with subscription or purchase

Reforestation with Native Species in the Dry Lands of Panama

BACKGROUND

Natural populations of precious timber species in Panama are being overexploited, and some have been registered in the IUCN Red List in recent years. Within the overall framework of natural resource scarcity and mounting effects of climate change, the need for sustainable production of native trees that offer added values of water cycle regulation, soil improvement, and biodiversity conservation is stressed.

Open access copy available

Foliar herbivory and leaf traits of five native tree species in a young plantation of Central Panama

Background

Timber plantations often provide economic incentives for land owners to restore abandoned pastures or agricultural land to forest, yet the threat of insect herbivory can diminish these new plantations and compromise the efforts. This study seeks to understand the extent of these threats on tree plantations in Panama. 

Open access copy available

Crecimiento Comparativo de Especies Nativas y Teca plantadas en parcelas puras y mix

Español

antecedentes

El interés por la reforestación como una alternativa a la deforestación se ha incrementado en los últimos años en Panamá. Sin embargo, en las iniciativas de reforestación las exigencias de las plantas no son usualmente consideradas y las mas utilizadas son especies introducidas.

Open access copy available

Artisan Non-Timber Forest Products in Darien Province in Panama: The Importance of Context

Background

Open access copy available

Carbon Sequestration and Plant Community Dynamics Following Reforestation of Tropical Pasture

Background

Conversion of abandoned cattle pasture to secondary forest in the tropics is a potential means to increase carbon sequestration as well as to enhance local biodiversity. This study uses data from a long-term tropical reforestation project – Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico – to estimate rates of above- and belowground carbon sequestration.

Open access copy available

Amazonian Forest Restoration: An Innovative System for Native Species Selection Based on Phenological Data and Field Performance Indices

background

In this article, data is presented from 14 years of evaluating native species from primary forests in Para State, Brazil for their potential use as reforestation trees on a bauxite mine.

Available with subscription or purchase

Árboles de uso multiple en El Salvador: Un manual para propagación y reforestación (Multipurpose trees in El Salvador: a manual for propagation and reforestation)

Español

Antecedentes

El Salvador es uno de los países del hemisferio oeste con mayor deforestación . En el año  1998 este país contaba con tan solo el 2% de sus bosques originales en pie. A pesar del interés de la población en realizar actividades de reforestación, existe una gran falta de información sobre especies nativas adecuadas para este fin.

Available with subscription or purchase

The Agroforestree Database

About

The Agroforestree (AFT) Database was created in 2009 by the World Forestry Centre and provides specifics and selection guides on both native and exotic agroforestry trees. 

Open access copy available

A Comparative Study of Tree Establishment in Abandoned Pasture and Mature Forest of Eastern Amazonia

Background

This study compares seedling establishment, seed availability, seed predation, seedling herbivory, and abiotic barriers to tree establishment in recently abandoned pasture, treefall gaps, and mature forest understory in Pará State, Brazil.

Open access copy available

Tree biodiversity in farmer cooperatives of a shade coffee landscape in western El Salvador

background

Conservation of tropical biodiversity in agricultural landscapes has become more important as the area covered by natural ecosystems decreases. Understanding the types of biodiversity common in agriculturally managed lands, and involving farmers in conservation planning, is important for regional conservation goals.

Available with subscription or purchase

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

background

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.

Available with subscription or purchase

Evaluación técnica y financiera de la silvicultura desarrollada en un bosque natural de la Guayana venezolana (Technical and financial evaluation of silvicultural management in the Venezuelan Guayana)

Los autores analizan el funcionamiento de una empresa forestal que ejecuta, desde 1996, un plan de ordenación y manejo forestal en un bosque seco tropical, El Dorado- Tumeremo, con una superficie productiva 66 000 ha (Estado Bolívar, Venezuela). Se aprovechan unas 30 especies según diámetros mínimos de corta, clasificadas según su potencial comercial: las comerciales (Hymenaea courbaril, Pouteria caimito, Spondias mombin, Cordia alliodora, Andira sp., Manilkara bidentata y Peltogyne pubescens), las potenc

Open access copy available

Can Intensive Management Accelerate the Restoration of Brazil’s Atlantic Forests?

background

This study takes place in the heavily degraded Atlantic Forest region of eastern Brazil, where only 7% of the original forest cover remains. The study tests the question of whether intensive management methods similar to those used to establish fast-growing Eucalyptus plantations could also be applied to restoration of rainforest on former pasture-land dominated by grasses. 

Available with subscription or purchase