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Promoting Biodiversity: Advances in Evaluating Native Species for Reforestation

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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.

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An Evaluation of Farmers' Experiences Planting Native Trees in Rural Panama: Implications for Reforestation with Native Species in Agricultural Landscapes

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Screening trial of 14 tropical hardwoods with an emphasis on species native to Costa Rica: Fourth year results

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Commercial forestry plantations have consistently relied on a limitd number of species, often favoring exotic species over native ones. This is mainly due to a lack of information or understanding related to the silviculture of native species plantations. This article uses a long-term experiement site in Costa Rica's La Selva Biological Station to work towards filling this knowledge gap. 

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Root architecture and allocation patterns of eight native tropical species with different successional status used in open-grown mixed plantations in Panama

Background

While an increasing number of native tropical trees are under study for reforestation and commercial plantations, the majority of studies on trees in the tropics have concentrated on the aboveground aspects of tree growth. This study investigates biomass allocation and root architecture of eight tropical species with different successional status.

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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.

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A Financial Analysis of Small-Scale Tropical Reforestation with Native Species in Costa Rica

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This article describes the financial expenses and revenues incurred by the 15th year of a small native species plantation in Costa Rica.

research goals & methods

Forecasting models incorporate growth patterns, production costs, and wood prices to determine the net present value and internal rate of return for the project.

Open access copy available

Canopy development in tropical tree plantations: a comparison of species mixtures and monocultures

Background

The establishment of plantation monocultures has dominated much of the intensive forest management practiced in the humid tropics of the Americas, with most forestry research and practice concentrating on a small number of non-indigenous species. Growing interest exists in modifying these practices both by creating mixed-species plantations and by making greater use of native tree species.

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Is Tree Diversity an Important Driver for Phosphorus and Nitrogen Acquisition of a Young Tropical Plantation?

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This article presents the effect of native species diversity on the nitrogen and phosphorous pools above-ground in a plantation in the Canal Zone of Panama.

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Initial Performance and Reforestation Potential of 24 Tropical Tree Species Planted Across a Precipitation Gradient in the Republic of Panama

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The authors of this study  planted trees from 22 native species and two exotic species to use in selection trials testing the growth and survivability of trees in plantations in three different sites.

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Factors Affecting Community Composition of Forest Regeneration in Deforested, Abandoned Land in Panama

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This study tests how Saccharum spontaneum, an invasive grass, affects early forest succession and community composition in an area of previously abandoned pasture.

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

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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.

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Understory Development in Young Cordia alliodora Plantations

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This article presents the findings of a study evaluating the biomass and composition of understory plants in 1- and 5- year old plantations at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica.

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

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The Role of Rustic Coffee Plantations in the Conservation of Wild Tree Diversity in the Chinantec Region of Mexico

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This study examines the potential of shade coffee systems to promote native tree diversity across the landscape of southern Mexico.

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Coffee Agroforestry Systems in Central America: I. A Review of Quantitative Information on Physiological and Ecological Processes

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Open access copy available

Coffee Agroforestry Systems in Central America: II. Development of a Simple Process-Based Model and Preliminary Results

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A Review of the Agroforestry Systems of Costa Rica

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This literature review provides a historical overview of agroforestry systems in Costa Rica from the 1970s to the present.

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A Survey of Small-Scale Farmers Using Trees in Pastures in Herrera Province, Panama

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The Herrera Province on the Azuero Peninsula of Panamá has experienced significant deforestation for the purpose of cattle ranching.

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Hacia una silvicultura sostenible en el trópico seco: el caso de la Finca Piedra Rala, Nicaragua (Towards sustainable silviculture in dry tropical forests: the case of Finca Piedra Rala, Nicaragua)

El autor explica la experiencia de los productores en el manejo racional de pequeñas áreas de bosque tropical seco y analiza como la silvicultura racional tiene una capacidad de regeneración de los bosques naturales poco productivos en la zona del Pacífico de Nicaragua. En la finca estudiada, el bosque es sometido a un sistema de aprovechamiento tradicional, desarrollado como una iniciativa del propietario.

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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