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Beyond the species pool: modification of species dispersal, establishment, and assembly by habitat restorationIntroductionThis article asserts that understanding the forces that shape species composition in plant communities, including seed dispersal, establishment, and assembly, is critical to restoration. Serving as an introduction to a special issue on seed dispersal and soil seed banks, the article reviews five major themes in relation to the process of species composition of plants. Open access copy available |
Coffee Farming and Climate Change in Ethiopia: Impacts, Forecasts, Resilience and OpportunitiesIntroductionThis document is the outcome of a two-year project by the Strategic Climate Institutions Programme (SCIP). The project aimed to established strategies for a climate-resilient coffee economy in Ethiopia in which the effects of various climate change factors on coffee production and wild coffee forests were acccessed. Open access copy available |
Revisiting IPCC Tier 1 coefficients for soil organic and biomass carbon storage in agroforestry systemsIntroductionWhile agroforestry systems cover a signifcant amount of land worldwide and have the capacity to sequester large amounts of carbon, they are often not considered in climate change mitigation. Most importantly, the IPCCC does not recognize them in carbon accounting primarily because there is so much diversity in the systems. Open access copy available |
Livelihoods diversification and gender in MalawiBACKGROUNDOpen access copy available |
A comparative study of medicinal plants used in rural areas of Namibia and ZimbabweBACKGROUNDDespite the adoption of Western pharmaceutical drugs in developing countries, traditional medicine produced from wild plants is still the source of primary health care. In some countries up to 90% of the people rely on traditional medicines. Few studies have done a comparative analysis of the herbal medicines in Africa. Open access copy available |
Assessment of causes that contribute to the occurrence of plantations forests fires in Niassa Province, North of MozambiqueBACKGROUNDThe government of Mozambique started to promote exotic forest plantations (pine & eucalyptus) because of low natural forest productivity, population growth and land use pressure. Niassa province was one of the provinces for this plantation program. However, fires in these commercial plantations have brought an enormous risk for companies, yet these companies provide the greatest source of employment for the local people. Open access copy available |
Research on Indigenous Knowledge and its Application: A Case of wild food plants of ZimbabweBACKGROUNDThere has been so much emphasis on the documentation of Indigenous Knowledge due to the fear that it is getting lost. However, little attention has been given to the application of this knowledge and how it should benefit indigenous communities. Hence this study drew its research on wild food plants of Zimbabwe and attempted to show how indigenous knowledge can be applied in education and community settings. Open access copy available |
Garden Plants in Zimbabwe: Their ethnomedicinal uses and reported toxicityBACKGROUNDIn Zimbabwe, there are several plants that have been grown in homes for primary survival and for aesthetic reasons, both exotic and indigenous species. The properties of some of these plants is unknown yet some have been discovered to be poisonous to humans and livestock. Some cases of plant poison have been accidental, hence there is need to protect the public from the toxicity of these plants. Open access copy available |
Distribution and genetic diversity of five invasive pests of Eucalyptus in sub-Saharan AfricaBACKGROUNDOpen access copy available |
Contributions of agroforestry to ecosystem services in the miombo eco-region of eastern and southern AfricaBACKGROUNDOpen access copy available |
Forests as safety nets for mitigating the impacts of HIV/AIDS in southern AfricaBACKGROUNDOpen access copy available |
Vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change in Central America and Mexico: current knowledge and research gapsBackgroundThis article recognizes that smallholder farmers are both critical to the global agricultural sector yet are one of the most vulnerable populations to climate change. Specifically, farmers in Central America and Mexico are experiences particularly high threats, thus the authors focus on this subgroup. Open access copy available |
Mangroves of Kenya: The effects of species richness on growth and ecosystem functions of restored East African Mangrove standsBackgroundThe authors of the story identify the gaps in long-term studies on the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem services in specific ecosystems. The study focuses on one of these ecosystems: mangroves, examining the effects of species diversity on above ground productivity. Open access copy available |
Stewardship Success: How Community Group Dynamics Affect Urban Street Tree Survival and GrowthBACKGROUNDOpen access copy available |
Have integrated landscape approaches reconciled societal and environmental issues in the tropics?BackgroundThe author cite that while there has been growing recognition of intergrated landscape approaches, which aims to enhance environmental and social outcomes, there is still a lack of understanding. There has been suggestions that these approaches have been undertherorized and a lack of evidence of its effectiveness. Open access copy available |
A Guide to Selecting Ecosystem Service Models for Decision-Making: Lessons from Sub-Saharan AfricaBackgroundEcosystem services provide critical resources that support human well-being; therefore, managing for them is vital. This report suggests that modeling may be an effective means of informing management when data is lacking, a problem that many developing countries experience. Open access copy available |
Money for Nothing? A Call for Empirical Evaluation of Biodiversity Conservation InvestmentsBackgroundThe authors assert that while the ecological aspects of conservation efforts are highly investigated and supported by empirical evidence, the policy aspects are not. In response, they argue that conservation policy measures must adopt program evaluation methods that would allow one to determine if intervention would be viable. Open access copy available |
Adopt a carbon tax to protect tropical forestsBackgroundThe authors states that the halting of deforestation is critical to addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, the investment in conservation is lacking. Thus, they call upon countries through out the tropics to adopt a carbon tax, which would serve as a disincentive for companies to continue deforestation. Open access copy available |
Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Latin America: Analysing the performance of 40 case studiesBackgroundPayment of Ecosystem Services (PES), which encourages landowners improve land management through market incentives, has been implemented around the world since the 1990s. This high investment requires an analysis of PES schemes and their outcomes. Open access copy available |
Fairly efficient, efficiently fair: Lessons from designing and testing payment schemes for ecosystem services in AsiaBackgroundPayment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is defined as a market-based approach yet the authors argue that it cannot be generalized or implements and often suffers due to the commoditization of these services. Open access copy available |