scholarly journals Active Restoration Initiates High Quality Forest Succession In A Deforested Landscape In Amazonia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Luis Mascia Vieira ◽  
Silvia Rodrigues ◽  
Catarina Conte Jakovac ◽  
Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha ◽  
Fagno Reis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Forest Succession ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Active Restoration ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Pioneer Trees ◽  
Southern Amazonia

Abstract Background: Amazonia is well known for its high natural regeneration capacity; for this reason, passive restoration is normally recommended for the recovery of its degraded forests. However, highly deforested landscapes in southern Amazonia require active restoration. Since restoration methods can shape the quality and speed of early forest recovery, this study aimed to verify how active restoration pushes non-resilient sites towards forest recovery. Methods: We evaluated early forest succession at active restoration sites, i.e. soil plowing, direct seeding of pioneer species and seedling stock planting at low density. We analyzed forest structure, diversity and species composition in two age classes, 0.5 – 3.5 and 4.5 – 7.5 years old. As reference, we evaluated natural regeneration as performed on more resilient sites in the same region. We sampled 36 active restoration and 31 natural regeneration sites along the Madeira river, southern Amazonia. Results: Active restoration triggered succession to similar or higher levels of forest structure than sites where natural regeneration was taking place. The most dominant species did not overlap between active restoration and natural regeneration sites. The overall composition of species was different between the two restoration methods. Dominant species and size class distribution indicate that active restoration is performing successfully. Conclusions: Soil preparation combined with a high availability of seeds of pioneer trees resulted in a high stem density and basal area of facilitative pioneer trees. Planted seedlings added species diversity and increased density of large trees. Interventions to increase the odds of natural regeneration can be effective for non-resilient sites located in resilient landscapes.

scholarly journals Active Restoration Initiates High Quality Forest Succession in a Deforested Landscape in Amazonia

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1022
Author(s):  
Daniel Luis Mascia Vieira ◽  
Silvia Barbosa Rodrigues ◽  
Catarina Conte Jakovac ◽  
Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha ◽  
Fagno Reis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Forest Succession ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Exotic Grasses ◽  
Active Restoration ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Pioneer Trees ◽  
Southern Amazonia

Amazonia is well known for its high natural regeneration capacity; for this reason, passive restoration is normally recommended for the recovery of its degraded forests. However, highly deforested landscapes in southern Amazonia require active restoration. Since restoration methods can shape the quality and speed of early forest recovery, this study aimed to verify how active restoration pushes sites stably covered with exotic grasses towards forest recovery. We evaluated early forest succession at active restoration sites, i.e., soil plowing, direct seeding of pioneer species, and seedling stock planting at low density. We analyzed forest structure, diversity, and species composition in two age classes, 0.5–3.5 and 4.5–7.5 years old. As reference, we evaluated sites able to naturally regenerate in the same region. We sampled 36 active restoration and 31 natural regeneration sites along the Madeira River, southern Amazonia. Active restoration triggered succession to similar or higher levels of forest structure than sites where natural regeneration was taking place. The most dominant species did not overlap between active restoration and natural regeneration sites. The overall composition of species was different between the two restoration methods. Dominant species and size class distribution show that active restoration is performing successfully. Soil preparation combined with a high availability of seeds of pioneer trees resulted in a high stem density and basal area of facilitative pioneer trees. Planted seedlings added species diversity and increased density of large trees. Interventions to increase the odds of natural regeneration can be effective for non-regenerating sites in resilient landscapes.

scholarly journals Big trees drive forest structure patterns across a lowland Amazon regrowth gradient

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tassiana Maylla Fontoura Caron ◽  
Victor Juan Ulises Rodriguez Chuma ◽  
Alexander Arévalo Sandi ◽  
Darren Norris
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Forest Regrowth ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Amazonian Forests ◽  
Mammal Diversity ◽  
Structure Patterns ◽  
Plot Type

AbstractDegraded Amazonian forests can take decades to recover and the ecological results of natural regeneration are still uncertain. Here we use field data collected across 15 lowland Amazon smallholder properties to examine the relationships between forest structure, mammal diversity, regrowth type, regrowth age, topography and hydrology. Forest structure was quantified together with mammal diversity in 30 paired regrowth-control plots. Forest regrowth stage was classified into three groups: late second-regrowth, early second-regrowth and abandoned pasture. Basal area in regrowth plots remained less than half that recorded in control plots even after 20–25 years. Although basal area did increase in sequence from pasture, early to late-regrowth plots, there was a significant decline in basal area of late-regrowth control plots associated with a decline in the proportion of large trees. Variation in different forest structure responses was explained by contrasting variables, with the proportion of small trees (DBH < 20 cm) most strongly explained by topography (altitude and slope) whereas the proportion of large trees (DBH > 60 cm) was explained by plot type (control vs. regrowth) and regrowth class. These findings support calls for increased efforts to actively conserve large trees to avoid retrogressive succession around edges of degraded Amazon forests.

scholarly journals Tree Species Composition and Natural Regeneration Status of Southeast Region of Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Abir Dey ◽  
Aklima Akther
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Importance Value Index ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Large Trees

The study aimed to quantify and discuss the current condition of the tree species composition and natural regeneration of southeast parts of Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar North Forest Division). A total of 121 stems having dbh ≥10cm and 3481 stems of regenerating tree species (dbh <10cm) per hectare were recorded. A large trees comprised of 17 species belonging to 10 families and 14 genera and 30 regenerating tree species belonging to 19 families and 27 genera have been found. The forests were highly non-uniform, with three or four species represented most of the stands. The values of diversity indices indicated limited plant diversity, which is dominated by two or three tree species. Stems of 10-30 cm dbh contributed almost 90% of the total stem density, whereas more than 80% of the total basal area still belonged to trees with dbh 100 cm or above. Dipterocarpus turbinatus was the most dominant species which have the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) with 135.82 and embodied 37.71% of the total stand density and 72.19% of total basal area. The study will provide scientific basis for the future implementation of forest conservation strategies in tropical forests of Southeast Asia, particularly in Bangladesh. This study may also pave the way to further research on regeneration potentials of the native species for conservation and enhancement of forests in future.

scholarly journals Assessing Forest Structure and Composition along the Altitudinal Gradient in the State of Sikkim, Eastern Himalayas, India

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangchenla Bhutia ◽  
Ravikanth Gudasalamani ◽  
Rengaian Ganesan ◽  
Somidh Saha
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Altitudinal Gradient ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Lower Altitude ◽  
Eastern Himalayas ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Low Altitude

Understanding the structure and composition of native forests is a prerequisite in developing an adaptive forest management plan for Himalayan forest ecosystems where climate change is rapid. However, basic information on forest structure and composition are still limited in many places of the Eastern Himalayas. In this study, we aimed to understand the diversity, structure, and composition of forests and their variations along an altitudinal gradient in Himalayan forests. The study was conducted in the Indian federal state of Sikkim, Eastern Himalayas. We carried out a comprehensive and comparative evaluation of species diversity, stand basal area, and stem density along the altitudinal gradient from 900m a.s.l.to 3200m a.s.l. We used stratified random sampling to survey eighty-three plots each 0.1 ha in forest communities that occurred along the altitudinal gradient: (a) lower (900–1700 m) altitude forest (N = 24), (b) mid (1700–2500 m) altitude forests (N = 37), and (c) higher (2500–3200 m)altitude forests (N = 22). We measured and identified all living trees with a >3 cm diameter at breast height in each plot. We counted 10,344 individual plants, representing 114 woody species belonging to 42 families and 75 genera. The family Fagaceae and its species Lithocarpus pachyphyllus (Kurz) Rehder. were reported as the most dominant forest trees with the highest Importance Value Index. The Shannon diversity index was recorded as being the highest for the low-altitude forests, whereas measures of structural diversity varied among forests along with altitude: the mid-altitude forests recorded the highest stem density and the high-altitude forests showed the highest mean stem DBH (diameter at 1.3 m height). One significant finding of our study was the disparity of the size class distribution among forests along the altitudinal gradient. Overall, we found a reverse J-shape distribution of tree diameter signifying the uneven-agedness. However, we showed, for the first time, a complete lack of large trees (>93 cm DBH) in the lower altitude forests. Our study highlights conservation concerns for the low-altitude forests that record high species diversity, although lacked large-diameter trees. We anticipate that our study will provide a comprehensive understanding of forest diversity, composition, and structure along the altitudinal gradient to design conservation and sustainable management strategies

scholarly journals Big trees drive forest structure patterns across a lowland Amazon regrowth gradient

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tassiana Maylla Fontoura Caron ◽  
Victor Juan Ulises Rodriguez Chuma ◽  
Alexander Arévalo Sandi ◽  
Darren Norris
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Forest Regrowth ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Amazonian Forests ◽  
Mammal Diversity ◽  
Structure Patterns ◽  
Plot Type

AbstractDegraded Amazonian forests can take decades to recover and the ecological results of natural regeneration are still uncertain. Here we use field data collected across 15 lowland Amazon smallholder properties to examine the relationships between forest structure, mammal diversity, regrowth type, regrowth age, topography and hydrography. Forest structure was quantified together with mammal diversity in 30 paired regrowth-control plots. Forest regrowth stage was classified into three groups: late second-regrowth, early second-regrowth and abandoned pasture. Basal area in regrowth plots remained less than half that recorded in control plots even after 20-25 years. Although basal area did increase in sequence from pasture, early to late-regrowth plots, there was a significant decline in basal area of late-regrowth control plots associated with a decline in the proportion of large trees. There was also contrasting support for different non-mutually exclusive hypotheses, with proportion of small trees (DBH <20cm) most strongly supported by topography (altitude and slope) whereas the proportion of large trees (DBH >60cm) supported by plot type and regrowth class. These findings support calls for increased efforts to actively conserve large trees to avoid retrogressive succession around edges of degraded Amazon forests.

scholarly journals Temporal Changes in Community Structure over a 5-Year Successional Stage in a Subtropical Forest

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 438
Author(s):  
Mingfeng Xu ◽  
Ting Liu ◽  
Peiyun Xie ◽  
Hongyu Chen ◽  
Zhiyao Su
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Total Phosphorus ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Forest Succession ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Tree Biomass ◽  
Large Tree ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

In the context of global warming, the changes of forest structure, diversity, and productivity along with forest succession have always been a topic of interest for many researchers. Studying the changes in community structure, biomass, and diversity of different diameter at breast height (DBH) classes in subtropical mountainous forests during forest succession can provide data in support of future forest succession predictions and forest management. We analyzed the changes of three DBH classes in a 10-ha plot while studying subtropical mountainous forest succession in 2012 and 2017. The results showed that during forest succession, the community abundance and richness significantly decreased while biomass increased slightly. Among the three DBH classes, changes were the greatest in small trees, followed by large trees, and then medium-sized trees. The abundance, biomass, richness, and Shannon–Wiener index of small trees all decreased significantly. In forests with medium-sized trees, biomass decreased significantly and abundance did not change significantly. In large trees, abundance and biomass increased significantly. Changes were observed in environmental driving factors during forest succession. In 2012, driving factors with significant effects included total phosphorus, transmitted direct solar radiation, organic matter, and capillary water capacity. In 2017, two driving factors were total phosphorus and total potassium while the main driving factor was still total phosphorus. The results showed that during forest succession the abundance and diversity of small trees were principal components of community abundance and diversity. A reduction in small-tree abundance and diversity will decrease community abundance and diversity. Large-tree biomass was a principal component of community biomass; accumulation of large-tree biomass will increase community biomass. Schima superba Gardner and Champ. and Castanopsis carlesii (Hemsl.) Hayata are the main dominant species in this area, which can quickly form stable communities. S. superba is also a fire-resistant tree species. Therefore, in natural forest management, planting of S. superba and C. carlesii in the secondary bare land can be considered. In addition, the evergreen broad-leaved forest can be recovered to the forest structure and productivity level before selective cutting, which provides important inspiration for forest management in the region.

scholarly journals Natural Regeneration After Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon: Implications for Restoration of Tropical Forests

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Chambi-Legoas ◽  
Daigard Ricardo Ortega Rodriguez ◽  
Francisco de Marques de Figueiredo ◽  
Joel Peña Valdeiglesias ◽  
Percy Amílcar Zevallos Pollito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Regeneration Process ◽  
Peruvian Amazon ◽  
Secondary Species ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Madre De Dios

Context: Gold mining is the most destructive activity in the natural forests of the Madre de Dios region in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon. Understanding the natural regeneration process of these degraded areas is necessary to develop forest restoration projects in such conditions.Aims: We aimed to evaluate forest recovery and identify the successional and structure patterns of vegetation governing natural regeneration over time.Methods: Structure, composition, richness, diversity, and successional status were evaluated in abandoned artisanal gold mine areas in Madre de Dios, southeastern Peru. Vegetation data were recorded in 61 plots of 250 m2 established in five sites varying from 1 to 19 years of abandonment. Vegetation in abandoned areas was compared with six undisturbed forests evaluated in previous inventories.Results: In the mining lands, tree density and basal area recovered quickly, while species richness and composition were slow. Forest recovery is an initial stage of transition from pioneer to early secondary species until at least 19 years after abandonment. The most abundant and frequent species were the fast-growing species Ochroma pyramidale and Cecropia engleriana. These species could be considered potential candidates to promote restoration plans. Pioneer species represented 63% of the number of species in plots of 1–4 years, 57% in plots of 5–7 years, and 50% in plots of 8–19 years. Early and late secondary species represented 34 and 16%, respectively, of the number of species in plots of 8–19 years. Abandoned mining and reference plots present less than 5% of species in common.Conclusion: Our results highlight a slow natural regeneration process in areas for up to 19 years after gold mining. Species from different successional statuses were identified as potential candidates for recovering vegetation in such areas. Our findings may have important implications for further research focusing on the ecological restoration in tropical forests severely degraded by gold mining.

What lies beneath? The pattern and abundance of the subterranean tuber bank of the invasive liana cat's claw creeper, Macfadyena unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae).

2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olusegun O. Osunkoya ◽  
Karina Pyle ◽  
Tanya Scharaschkin ◽  
Kunjithapatham Dhileepan
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Tuber Traits ◽  
Standing Vegetation ◽  
Multiple Stems ◽  
Environmental Weed

Cat’s claw creeper, Macfadyena unguis-cati (L.) Gentry (Bignoniaceae) is a major environmental weed of riparian areas, rainforest communities and remnant natural vegetation in coastal Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. In densely infested areas, it smothers standing vegetation, including large trees, and causes canopy collapse. Quantitative data on the ecology of this invasive vine are generally lacking. The present study examines the underground tuber traits of M. unguis-cati and explores their links with aboveground parameters at five infested sites spanning both riparian and inland vegetation. Tubers were abundant in terms of density (~1000 per m2), although small in size and low in level of interconnectivity. M. unguis-cati also exhibits multiple stems per plant. Of all traits screened, the link between stand (stem density) and tuber density was the most significant and yielded a promising bivariate relationship for the purposes of estimation, prediction and management of what lies beneath the soil surface of a given M. unguis-cati infestation site. The study also suggests that new recruitment is primarily from seeds, not from vegetative propagation as previously thought. The results highlight the need for future biological-control efforts to focus on introducing specialist seed- and pod-feeding insects to reduce seed-output.

scholarly journals Forest Climax Phenomenon: An Invariance of Scale

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raimundas Petrokas
Keyword(s):  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
Forest Succession ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Habitat Dynamics ◽  
Process Pattern ◽  
Sensitivity To Initial Conditions

We can think of forests as multiscale multispecies networks, constantly evolving toward a climax or potential natural community—the successional process-pattern of natural regeneration that exhibits sensitivity to initial conditions. This is why I look into forest succession in light of the Red Queen hypothesis and focus on the key aspects of ecological self-organisation: dynamical criticality, evolvability and intransitivity. The idea of the review is that forest climax should be associated with habitat dynamics driven by a large continuum of ecologically equivalent time scales, so that the same ecological conclusions could be drawn statistically from any scale. A synthesis of the literature is undertaken in order to (1) present the framework for assessing habitat dynamics and (2) present the types of successional trajectories based on tree regeneration mode in forest gaps. In general, there are four types of successional trajectories within the process-pattern of forest regeneration that exhibits sensitivity to initial conditions: advance reproduction specialists, advance reproduction generalists, early reproduction generalists and early reproduction specialists. A successional trajectory is an expression of a fractal connectivity among certain patterns of natural regeneration in the multiscale multispecies networks of landscape habitats. Theoretically, the organically derived measures of pattern diversity, integrity and complexity, determined by the rates of recruitment, growth and mortality of forest tree species, are the means to test the efficacy of specific interventions to avert the disturbance-related decline in forest regeneration. That is of relevance to the emerging field of biocomplexity research.

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