Ecosystem Services and Ecological Processes

Seed Dispersal and Potential Forest Succession in Abandoned Agriculture in Tropical Africa

Background

Forest succession on disturbed and post-agrarian lands is often slow because the resources necessary for succession – such as soil nutrients, seeds, and moisture – are depleted. In such areas, succession may depend on bat- and bird-dispersed seeds arriving from distant forest patches.

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Evidence of Incipient Forest Transition in Southern Mexico

background

This study uses satelite images (Landsat) to analyze land cover change in southern Mexico from 1990 to 2006.

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Seeing the fruit for the trees in Borneo

Background

Lowland dipterocarp tropical rainforests reproduce during infrequent community-wide events known as ‘general flowering.’ These unpredictable cycles, thought to be influenced by El Niño cycles, are the primary reproductive driver across this forest type. During a time of rapid deforestation across the highly diverse, but highly sensitive, dipterocarp-dominated landscape of Borneo, capitalizing on general flowering is critical for seed collection for restoration efforts and for species preservation.

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The Value of Rehabilitating Logged Rainforest for Birds

Background

This study examines a lowland, dry dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia that had been selectively logged in 1988-89. One area was rehabilitated (enrichment planting and liberation cutting of vines, bamboos, and noncommercial species). This area was surrounded by a naturally reforesting area. The authors suggest that rehabilitation of selectively logged forests is a more effective carbon sink than plantations.

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Trees and regeneration in rubber agroforests and other forest-derived vegetation in Jambi (Sumatra, Indonesia)

background

Rubber agroforests (RAF) in Sumatra, introduced in the early 1900s, represent a managed forest type that is an intermediate ecosystem between natural forest and agricultural land. While understory vegetation and some trees are allowed to remain in RAF, as agriculturally managed forests, they may differ from unmanaged forests. This study compares forest regeneration in RAF and secondary forests.

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Seed inputs to microsite patch recovery on two tropandean landslides in Ecuador

Background

Regeneration of landslides is typically initiated by seed rain. This study reports on seed rain, seed pool, and plant cover on two Ecuadorian landslides.

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Vegetation recovery on earthquake-triggered landslide sites in the Ecuadorian Andes

Background

In this study, researchers surveyed vegetation in a landslide on the Quijos river in Ecuador and inventoried species distribution at distances along the landslide.

Conclusions & Takeaways

The authors found that species composition at the upper limit of the landslide is most similar to the plant composition of the forest, indicating that the forest is an important pool of colonizers. The authors suggest that earthquake landslides are common and an important contributor to floristic diversity

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Impacts of Early- and Late-seral Mycorrhizae during Restoration in Seasonal Tropical Forest, Mexico

background

This study examines the degree to which arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are associated with early vs. late successional forests in Quintana Roo, Mexico. It considers how such fungi aid seedling growth of six native early-, mid- or late-successional tree species. The researchers hypothesize that the application of mycorrizae associated with a tree species' associated successional sere will better promote that species' seedling growth and that associated AMF are therefore key for forest restoration success in degraded or disturbed areas.

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Ecosystem services from forest restoration: thinking ahead

Background

This paper examines broad trends in our understanding of ecosystem services and how different restoration strategies can be based on distinct motives (biodiversity preservation, bioenergy production, or carbon sequestration) and may rely on diverse tools.

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Landscape Pattern Dynamics and Mechanisms during Vegetation Restoration: A Multiscale, Hierarchical Patch Dynamics Approach

Background

This study examines patterns of restoration using permanent plots and remote sensing of a nature reserve from 1979 to the present using a multiscale, hierarchical patch dynamic framework.

Research Goals & Methods

This study attempts to document changes in time and space during the restoration of forests with the purpose of understanding its patterns and processes.

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