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. 

The Recovery of the Lower Montane Cloud Forest in the Mucujún Watershed, Mérida, Venezuela

Background

Given the recovery of degraded forests in some landscapes throughout the tropics, the authors analyze land use change and land cover change in a mountain region of the andes of venezuela during a period of 50 years.

Research Goals & Methods

The study relies on aerial photographs taken between 1952 and 2009 of a peri-urban watershed. 

Available with subscription or purchase

Vegetation Structure, Species Diversity, and Ecosystem Processes as Measures of Restoration Success

Background

This article provides an example of how to evaluate forest restoration using integrative methods, including measures of vegetation structure, species diversity, and ecosystem processes. Specifically discussed are four measures of vegetation structure, four measures of species diversity, and six measures of ecosystem processes.

Available with subscription or purchase

Ecological Restoration of Xingu Basin Headwaters: Motivations, Engagement, Challenges and Perspectives

Background

This paper focuses on the Brazilian Amazon, specifically on the Xingu River Basin. It identifites deforestation as a threat to the Xingu River and a driver of environmental degradation.

Open access copy available

Finding the money for tropical forest restoration

Background

Open access copy available

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

background

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

Open access copy available

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

Background

Available with subscription or purchase

The Cultural Context of Forest Degradation in Adjacent Purépechan Communities, Michoacán, Mexico

Background

This study aims to understand the relationship between cultural and ecological drivers contributing to change in forest land use patterns by comparing two adjacent indigenous communities in the volcanic plateau region of Michoacán, Mexico. The study suggests that both cultural and ecological processes must be studied together to best understand the cultural causes of forest change and accurately assess ecological consequences.

Available with subscription or purchase

Effects of Dry Tropical Forest Fragmentation on the Reproductive Success and Genetic Structure of the tree Samanea saman

background

Tropical trees are particularly vulnerable to forest fragmentation due to low population densities and reproductive self-incompatibility. Forest fragmentation is likely to decrease gene flow, increase endogamy, and eventually produce a high differentiation among remnant populations.

Available with subscription or purchase

Management of the environmental restoration of degraded areas

Background

This study shares the results of an experimental method for restoration of degraded forest areas through the construction of small restoration ‘islands’ within a larger site as an impetus for further natural regeneration. The method has previously been used in Namibia and Spain and is trademarked as Revitec. This study tests the method in Brazil in a former rainforest area. Rainforest fragments remain in the area.

Open access copy available

Burning Biodiversity: Fuelwood Harvesting Causes Forest Degradation in Human-Dominated Tropical Landscapes

background

Open access copy available

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

Background

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.

Open access copy available

Seed rain under tree islands planted to restore degraded lands in a tropical agricultural landscape

Background

Open access copy available

Impact of Pine Plantations on Soils and Vegetation in the Ecuadorian High Andes

background

In the Ecuadorian Andes, pine plantations of different ages and management strategies were evaluated for soils and vegetation against natural forest and grazed grasslands. These plantations were situated on volcanic soils.

Open access copy available

Testing Applied Nucleation as a Strategy to Facilitate Tropical Forest Recovery

Background

Open access copy available

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

Background

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.

Open access copy available

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

Background

Available with subscription or purchase

Farmer Strategies for Dealing with Climatic Variability: A Case Study from the Mixteca Alta Region of Oaxaca, Mexico

background

Open access copy available

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

background

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.

Open access copy available

The Role of Silvopastoral Systems in the Rehabilitation of Andean Stream Habitats

background

Open access copy available

Differential Seedling Establishment of Woody Plants along a Tree Density Gradient in Neotropical Savannas

Background

Open access copy available