Assisted restoration interventions drive functional recovery of tropical wet forest tree communities

Background

Integrating science and practice is one of the main goals of the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. A variety of factors can influence the application of restoration treatments across tropical ecosystems. Deciding where to apply a restoration strategy on the spectrum between natural regeneration an active restoration planting can be challenging and there is not enough current knowledge that compares these methods.

Goals and Methods

The authors conduct a large-scale field study in Coto Brus County, Costa Rica to compare the results of low, intermediate, and high intervention restoration methods. The authors survey tree saplings in all restoration sites annually over 12 years and record functional traits of the regeneration.

Conclusions and Takeaways

The authors observations of functional traits of regenerating tree species show that assisted restoration promotes functional recovery more than natural regeneration. Overall, based on costs and results, the authors recommend an intermediate method of restoration strategy such as applied nucleation to achieve restoration goals.