Secondary & Degraded Forest Restoration
Live Fences and Landscape Connectivity in a Neotropical Agricultural LandscapeBackgroundThis article describes the role and importance of live fences in the tropical regions of Central America. The study site covered an area of 4483ha and is located in a wet tropical forest zone in the Province of Heredia, Costa Rica. The landscape is dominated by cattle pasture and possesses a small, fragmented and homogenous structure with small patches of forests. Open access copy available |
Can Pinus Plantations Facilitate Reintroduction of Endangered Cloud Forest Species?backgroundThis study tested the hypothesis that pine plantations can simulate the conditions of early forest succession, acting as a habitat for other native or endangered species to establish. In the cloud forest region of central Mexico, some tree species have become endangered due to land use change for both livestock production and tree plantations. Open access copy available |
Restoring forest landscapes for biodiversity conservation and rural livelihoods: a spatial optimisation modelBackgroundConserving nature in the presence of human settlements is especially challenging in areas where livelihoods are largely based on locally available natural resources. The restoration of forests in such contexts calls for the identification of sites and actions that improve biodiversity protection, and ensure the provision of and accessibility to other forest-related ecosystem services. This paper introduces an integer-linear programming (ILP) approach to identify reforestation priorities that achieve such goals. Available with subscription or purchase |
Restoration Ecology of Lowland Tropical Peatlands in Southeast Asia: Current Knowledge and Future Research DirectionsBackgroundWhile there has been extensive research on northern peatlands, there has been limited studies that have studied tropical peatlands. Southeast Asia in particular has experienced significant deforestation and degradation of peatlands, thus resulting in a rise of landscape-scale restoration projects. Open access copy available |
Creating Woodland Islets to Reconcile Ecological Restoration, Conservation, and Agricultural Land UseBAckgroundThe paper recognizes that there exists an agriculture and conservation paradox - agriculture is frequently in conflict with the other environmental services that forests provide. Thus, the authors review existing approaches to woodland restoration and consider the use of the woodland islets approach. Open access copy available |
Bird Perches Increase Forest Seeds on Puerto Rican LandslidesBackgroundForest regeneration is typically difficult after landslides due to loss of above- and below-ground vegetative structure, the soil seed bank, soil nutrients, and soil structure. Landslides are a common occurrence in Puerto Rico due to its steep topography and heavy rainfall periods and often transform into grass- or fern-dominated terrain. Insufficient seed rain is thought to be one contributing factor. Open access copy available |
Canal blocking strategies for hydrological restoration of degraded tropical peatlands in Central Kalimantan, IndonesiaBackgroundIn the 1990s, the Government of Indonesia sponsored the construction of thousands of km of canals in 1 million Ha of peatlands of Central Kalimantan to drain the peatlands for conversion to agriculture. The project over-drained the peatlands, leaving it unusable agriculturally and subject to fires and subsidence. Existing efforts to dam the canals to return the water table to previous levels have failed. Open access copy available |
Cultural Drivers of Reforestation in Tropical Forest Groves of the Western Ghats of IndiabackgroundThis paper looks at sacred forest groves in the Western Ghats of India, examining their socio-ecological origins. The study asks whether the groves are remnants of former continuous forest or patches of regenerated vegetation. The study also asks about the impact of surrounding vegetation on the composition of the sacred groves. Finally, the study focuses on the social and cultural drivers of forest recovery in the groves, including land tenure and religious beliefs. Open access copy available |
Effects of Invasive Alien Plants on Fire RegimesBackgroundThis article considers how invasive plant species affect native ecosystems by altering fuel properties, fire behavior and fire regime characteristics. These may impact the ability of a site to restore to its previous state. Open access copy available |
Sixty-Seven Years of Land-Use Change in Southern Costa RicaBackgroundHabitat loss and fragmentation of forests are among the biggest threats to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in tropical landscapes. This paper uses the vicinity of the Las Cruces Biological Station in southern Costa Rica as a regional case study to comment on seven decades of land-use change in one of the most intensively studied sites in the Neotropics. Open access copy available |
