Heliocarpus americanus
Can Intensive Management Accelerate the Restoration of Brazil’s Atlantic Forests?backgroundThis study takes place in the heavily degraded Atlantic Forest region of eastern Brazil, where only 7% of the original forest cover remains. The study tests the question of whether intensive management methods similar to those used to establish fast-growing Eucalyptus plantations could also be applied to restoration of rainforest on former pasture-land dominated by grasses. Available with subscription or purchase |
Enriquecimiento de plantaciones forestales como herramienta para la rehabilitación de ambientes degradados en la region sur Ecuatoriana (Enrichment and rehabilitation of degraded environments in southern Ecuador)EspañolAntecedentesEl estudio analiza el potencial de adaptación de especies nativas a las condiciones de plantaciones de Pinus patula, en una plantación cerca de la Estación Científica San Francisco en la región sur del Ecuador. Objetivos y MetodologíaEl trabajo estudia dos micro-ambientes: claros y bajo dosel de plantación, instalando cuatro parcelas en cada uno de ellos, con un total de 648 individuos de nueve especies nativas. Open access copy available |
Application of Mycorrhizal Roots Improves Growth of Tropical Tree Seedlings in the Nursery: A Step Towards Reforestation with Native Species in the Andes of EcuadorbackgroundEcuador’s tropical mountain rainforests are rich in biodiversity but are facing the highest deforestation rate in South America (1.7%). Tree plantations are one method being used to restore these forests, however these plantations often use fast-growing introduced species rather than native species. To improve the success of native species in order to encourage their greater use in plantations, this study proposes inoculation of nursery seedlings with the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that is associated with these native species in the forest. Open access copy available |
Reforestation of Abandoned Pastures: Silvicultural Means to Accelerate Forest Recovery and BiodiversityBackgroundDespite the 2736 native tree species in Ecuador, the majority of forestation activities in the country are based on exotic pines and eucalypts. In this book chapter, the authors describe the reason for this neglect being the lack of knowledge on the ecology and silvicultural treatment and the lack of nurseries growing these species. Available with subscription or purchase |
Species-Rich but Distinct Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Communities in Reforestation Plots on Degraded Pastures and in Neighboring Pristine Tropical Mountain Rain ForestbackgroundThis study compares the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of 4 native species saplings growing in three types of fire-degraded pasture (recently abandoned, bracken covered, and shrub covered pasture) to the AMF richness and composition of 30 adult tree species in neighboring primary forest. Research Goals & MethodsThe authors sequenced a segment of fungal 18S rDNA from the mycorrhizas; in total, 193 glomeromycotan sequences were analyzed, with 130 of them being published for the first time. Open access copy available |
