Erythrina excelsa

Consequences of plantation harvest during tropical forest restoration in Uganda

Background

Timber plantations have recently received considerable attention as a forest restoration strategy for heavily degraded lands in the humid tropics. Plantations can facilitate secondary forest regrowth by providing an understory environment more favorable for native plant recruitment than unmanaged degraded habitats. This study explores how using plantations as a restoration tool affects forest succession; how initial floristics affect successional pathways; and the effect of fire exclusion or other interventions.