Nurse Trees

Expediting Reforestation in Tropical Forests Grasslands: Distance and Isolation from Seed Sources in Plantations

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This study investigates the potential use of tree plantations to facilitate regeneration of indigenous trees in successionally arrested grassland. It focuses on how characteristics of the plantations and native species can determine the type of regeneration occurring in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Open access copy available

Restoration of Dry Afromontane forest using pioneer shrubs as nurse-plants for Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata

Background

Shrubs are often considered competitive barriers for seedlings planted in reforestation programs, although they can facilitate tree recruitment, especially in ecosystems under high abiotic stress. An alternative reforestation technique using pioneer shrubs as nurse-plants for Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata was tested in exclosures in northern Ethiopia.

Open access copy available

The Savanna Tree Acacia polyacantha Facilitates the Establishment of Riparian Forests in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

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This study tests if stands of Acacia polyacantha facilitate the establishment of forest trees by examining the distribution, growth, and survival of juvenile forest trees. The influence of stand size, locations within the stand, presence of canopy trees, competition from grasses, effects of fires and effects of thorny shrubs on herbivore exclusion and conditions for establishment of A. polyacantha in grasslands were examined in Serengeti National Park of Tanzania.

Open access copy available

Enrichment Planting Does Not Improve Tree Restoration when Compared with Natural Regeneration in a Former Pine Plantation in Kibale National Park, Uganda

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This study assesses the rate of biomass accumulation of planted seedlings relative to natural regeneration in a harvested plantation in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Enrichment planting was carried out in an area where a pine plantation had been harvested to determine the relative value of these management options.

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Effects of Canopy Cover and Understory Environment of Tree Plantations on Richness, Density and Size of Colonizing Woody Species in Southern Ethiopia

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This study investigates the effects of canopy characteristics and associated understory environmental factors of tree plantations on native woody species colonization in two broadleaved and two coniferous plantations in southern Ethiopia. The plantation forests investigated are surrounded by dry Afromontane natural forest.

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Establishment of Broad-leaved Thickets in Serengeti, Tanzania: The Influence of Fire, Browsers, Grass Competition, and Elephants

Background

In Tanzania, thickets are declining due to frequent fires yet when the fires are removed the thickets fail to regrow. As a fire-resistant tree, seedlings of E. divinorum are potentially an ideal species to restore these land covers. 

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Intensive Tree Planting Facilitates Tropical Forest Biodiversity and Biomass Accumulation in Kibale National Park, Uganda

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This study investigates how intensive planting affects tropical forest regeneration and biomass accumulation in reforested sites in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The study assessed species richness of naturally regenerating (i.e. non-planted) species in the park and compared the biomass accumulation of planted versus naturally regenerating trees in sites replanted by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

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Effect of Taungya on Regeneration of Endemic Forest Tree Species in Nigeria: Edo State Nigeria as a Case Study

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This study aims to investigate the number of native species that can regenerate under natural conditions in a 3-year Taungya system in Edo State, Nigeria. Taungya is an agroforestry system that combines forestry practices with agriculture and agriculture-related activities.

Open access copy available

Restoration and Rehabilitation of Arid and Semiarid Mediterranean Ecosystems in North Africa and West Asia: A Review

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This study systematically analyzes extensive literature on exclosures, afforestation, reafforestation, rehabilitation and other regeneration operations over several million hectares. It also includes 50 years of the author’s personal field experience in 17 of the 20 Mediterranean bioclimatic areas from the Atlantic Ocean to the Aral Sea.

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Understory Vegetation in Fast-Growing Tree Plantations on Savanna Soils in Congo

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The study investigates the hypothesis that tree plantations established adjacent to natural forests may catalyze the regeneration of natural forest biodiversity in the Congo.

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