Growth, Yield and Survivability
Advances and shortfalls in applying best practices to global tree‐growing effortsBACKGROUND:Over the past three decades, there has been a rapid increase in the number of organizations engaged in tree planting to meet international targets exceeding a trillion trees. These initiatives aim to sequester carbon, conserve biodiversity, enhance water quality, and reduce social inequity. Despite these goals, frequent failures and unintended ecological and social impacts have led to the creation of numerous best practice guidelines for reforestation. Open access copy available |
Restauración ecológica de bosques tropicales en Costa Rica: efecto de varios modelos en la producción, acumulación y descomposición de hojarascaBackgroundLa deforestación ha generado la necesidad de recuperar los ciclos de nutrientes y la biodiversidad en áreas degradadas. La investigación comparó tres enfoques de restauración: plantación, islas de árboles y regeneración natural, junto con bosques secundarios jóvenes, para evaluar su eficacia en la restauración de ecosistemas. Deforestation has emphasized the need to recover nutrient cycles and biodiversity in degraded areas. The research compared three strategies—plantation, tree islands, and natural regeneration—alongside young secondary forests to assess their effectiveness in ecosystem restoration. Open access copy available |
Digestibilidad in vitro de rebrote del forraje integral de dos nuevos cultivares de caña de azúcar (Saccharum spp. C97-366 y C99-374)BackgroundLa producción ganadera en épocas de sequía enfrenta desafíos por el forraje limitado en calidad. La caña de azúcar (Saccharum spp.) se evalúa como una alternativa sostenible por sus beneficios nutricionales y bajo costo para sistemas ganaderos. Investigadores estudiaron dos nuevos cultivares (C97-366 y C99-374) con características superiores al cultivar comercial (My5514). Open access copy available |
Effect of Tree Shelters and Regeneration Method on Survival and Growth of Cork Oak Plantations in the Maamora Forest, MoroccoBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Descripción de cuatro especies maderables de bosques del distrito Molinopampa, Amazonas - Perú para producción en viveros forestalesLa determinación correcta de las características botánicas de las especies maderables es escencial antes de inicial cualquier proceso de instalación de plantaciones forestales. Este reporte se enfoca en cuatro especies maderables: Alnus acuminata, Cedrela odorata, Gordonia fruticosa y Solanum pseudosycophant debido a su importancia económica y las múltiples posibilidades de utilización por parte de los reforestadores industriales y campesinos. Open access copy available |
Evaluating the success of direct seeding for tropical forest restoration over ten yearsBackgroundThe main causes of deforestation in the Amazon are large-scale agriculture and cattle ranching, which have led to the loss of millions of hectares of forest. To address this issue, different mechanisms have been implemented since 2005 to reduce deforestation and increase forest restoration. However, highly modified, degraded areas with a long history of use may take a long time to regenerate naturally or may not recover into a secondary forest. Therefore, active restoration methods are needed to accomplish this massive obligation. Available with subscription or purchase |
Shaded-Coffee: A Nature-Based Strategy for Coffee Production Under Climate Change? A ReviewBackgroundCoffee agroforestry systems are a natural climate solution that are used to reduce the impact of coffee cultivation on ecosystem health. Coffee generates over $200 billion in income globally each year, so ensuring the efficiency and success of cultivation is crucial for human livelihood. Coffee agroforestry systems are often variable, and there lacks a compiled knowledge base about these systems and practices. Open access copy available |
Assisted restoration interventions drive functional recovery of tropical wet forest tree communitiesBackgroundIntegrating 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. Open access copy available |
Drought reduces the growth and health of tropical rainforest understory plantsBackgroundPlant responses to drought are important to understand for agricultural practices and environmental stress. Susceptibility to drought varies among and between plant species. Most field studies on plant responses to drought in tropical rainforests ignore understory plant species such as saplings and shrubs. These species are important to understand because they are often more vulnerable to environmental stressors, and they contribute greatly to forest biodiversity. Open access copy available |
Density-dependent reproductive success among sympatric dipterocarps during a major mast fruiting eventBackgroundMasting or mast fruiting is the annual synchronous production of many seeds by a plant species. Masting is an important reproductive strategy that depends on the intensity of flowering and fruiting, as well as the seeds’ ability to survive herbivory and competition with other seeds. Southeast Asia, many tree species (particularly Dipterocarps) are known to synchronize their masting events and therefore, community-wide seed density is an important factor predicting successful reproduction. Open access copy available |
