Secondary & Degraded Forest Restoration
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 |
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 |
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 |
Variation in the Population Structure Between a Natural and a Human-Modified Forest for a Pioneer Tropical Tree Species not Restricted to Large GapsBackgroundThe study was conducted in a permanent plot in a primary forest at Caetetus Ecological Station (CES), and in an early successional forest adjacent to the state reserve at Torrão de Ouro Farm, state of São Paulo, Southeast Brazil. This forest originally covered nearly the entire plateau in the state of São Paulo, and it is currently the most threatened forest in the State due to past fragmentation. Open access copy available |
Functional Diversity Changes during Tropical Forest SuccessionbackgroundThis paper evaluates changes in species richness and functional diversity during tropical secondary forest succession following shifting cultivation in Chiapas, Mexico. It examines whether speces richness is a good predictor of functional diversity. Research Goals & MethodsFunctional diversity was calculated based on a combination of nine functional traits and two individual traits important for primary production: specific leaf area and carbon sequestration (wood density). 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 |
Four Opportunities for Studies of Ecological SuccessionBackgroundThe authors introduce two approaches to the study of forest succession: 1) Standardized experimental manipulation - removal or addition of abiotic and biotic factors - across ecological gradients can help elucidate the drivers of succession and 2) the use of meta-analyses of successional data improve the ability to observe temporal changes across broader geographical scales. Available with subscription or purchase |
Succession and Management of Tropical Dry Forests in the Americas: Review and New PerspectivesBackgroundThis article emphasizes the importance of understanding of successional processes in tropical dry forests. It provides an overview of the current knowledge of the ecology of tropical dry forest ecosystems and discusses management implications . The authors describe rapidly increasing degradation and destruction of these ecosystems and identify gaps in knowledge to be addressed by future research. Available with subscription or purchase |
Changes in vegetation structure and composition along a tropical forest chronosequence: implications for wildlifeBackgroundChanges in tropical forest structure and species composition that occur during regeneration following land abandonment may have important consequences for wildlife populations. Many animals rely on forest resources as sites for foraging, nesting, and protection that may vary in abundance in forests of different ages. This study examines aspects of forest composition and structure thought to be important to wildlife along a tropical moist forest chronosequence in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument of central Panama. Available with subscription or purchase |
