Land Use
A Re-emerging Atlantic Forest? Urbanization, Industrialization and the Forest Transition in Santa Catarina, Southern BrazilbackgroundThe Atlantic Forest region of southern Brazil has experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization in the second half of the 20th century. Trends in other regions of the world might suggest this would lead to increased forest cover in rural areas, however a developing country such as Brazil may present a different scenario. research & methodsThis research presents an analysis of forest cover change in the Atlantic forest of Santa Catarina, Brazil between 1975 and 1995/1996. Available with subscription or purchase |
Linking Reforestation Policies with Land Use Change in Northern Vietnam: Why Local Factors MatterbackgroundBased on a case study in Vietnam, this study seeks to understand the extent to which common state policies on land management actually contribute to reforestation. Available with subscription or purchase |
Influence of Overstory Composition on Understory Colonization by Native Species in Plantations on a Degraded Tropical SitebackgroundThis study evaluates forest understory regeneration in a 4.5 year-old plantation in Puerto Rico. The plantations, established in 1989, were planted on abandoned pasture in mixtures or monocultures of three exotic species: Casuarina equisetifolia, Eucalyptus robusta, and Leucaena leucocephala. Available with subscription or purchase |
Restoring tropical diversity: beating the time tax on species lossBackgroundRemnant tropical forests are being deforested at approximately the same rates as cleared lands revert to secondary forest, leading to a fragmented or patchwork landscape. Small patches of remnant forest may remain, but these inevitably lose species to local extinction. Despite forestation rates that may appear relatively stable on paper, vegetation matrices are rapidly changing from a diversity of old-growth species to a much smaller number of early-successional and non-native species that dominate natural-regeneration and reforestation sites. Open access copy available |
Globalization, Forest Resurgence, and Environmental Politics in El SalvadorBackgroundEl Salvador was seen as a classic case study of population growth, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity, yet contemporary studies have not supported these claims. Instead, it has been found that forest cover in El Salvador today is actually greater than previously estimated, including remnant forest, reforested areas, plantations, smallholder and NTFP plantations. This resource explores the potential drivers for this unsuspected reforestation. Open access copy available |
