Direct seeded and colonizing species guarantee successful early restoration of South Amazon forests

Background

South Amazon forests have been highly deforested, including the legally protected riparian forests. Direct seeding is a low cost method, easy-to-implement at large scale. The authors emphasize the imperative to reduce the costs and enhance the outcomes of restoration efforts, which have become mainstream solutions in countering biodiversity loss and climate change around the world.

Goals and methods

The authors aim to assess the effectiveness of direct seeding in terms of seedling emergence, survival, and growth over a ten-year period, and to compare the outcomes of direct seeding with those of natural regeneration and active restoration methods. Additionally, they identify key species and functional traits that are associated with successful direct seeding, and discuss the potential of direct seeding as a cost-effective and ecologically sound approach to forest restoration.

conclusions and Takeaways

The main conclusion of this paper is that direct seeding can be an effective and cost-efficient method for restoring tropical forests in the South Amazon region, as it can result in high species richness and diversity, and can facilitate the establishment of late-successional species. The authors found that direct seeded sites showed high basal area, above-ground biomass, and vertical stratification, compared to natural regenerating resilient sites or seedling plantations. The main functional trait associated with successful direct seeding is wind-dispersed seeds and orthodox seeds, which can withstand the storage and sowing process.