scholarly journals Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6505) ◽  
pp. 838-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Philipson ◽  
Mark E. J. Cutler ◽  
Philip G. Brodrick ◽  
Gregory P. Asner ◽  
Doreen S. Boyd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Aboveground Carbon Density ◽  
Paris Climate Agreement ◽  
Tropical Forest Restoration ◽  
Modal Values ◽  
Carbon Losses ◽  
Carbon Prices

More than half of all tropical forests are degraded by human impacts, leaving them threatened with conversion to agricultural plantations and risking substantial biodiversity and carbon losses. Restoration could accelerate recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD), but adoption of restoration is constrained by cost and uncertainties over effectiveness. We report a long-term comparison of ACD recovery rates between naturally regenerating and actively restored logged tropical forests. Restoration enhanced decadal ACD recovery by more than 50%, from 2.9 to 4.4 megagrams per hectare per year. This magnitude of response, coupled with modal values of restoration costs globally, would require higher carbon prices to justify investment in restoration. However, carbon prices required to fulfill the 2016 Paris climate agreement [$40 to $80 (USD) per tonne carbon dioxide equivalent] would provide an economic justification for tropical forest restoration.

scholarly journals Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes in southern Macaronesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (40) ◽  
pp. e2022215118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Castilla-Beltrán ◽  
Lea de Nascimento ◽  
José-María Fernández-Palacios ◽  
Robert J. Whittaker ◽  
Kathy J. Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Canary Islands ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Cabo Verde ◽  
Human Colonization

The extinction of iconic species such as the dodo and the deforestation of Easter Island are emblematic of the transformative impact of human colonization of many oceanic islands, especially those in the tropics and subtropics. Yet, the interaction of prehistoric and colonial-era colonists with the forests and forest resources they encountered can be complex, varies between islands, and remains poorly understood. Long-term ecological records (e.g., fossil pollen) provide the means to understand these human impacts in relation to natural change and variability pre- and postcolonization. Here we analyze paleoecological archives in forested landscapes of the Canary Islands and Cabo Verde, first colonized approximately 2,400 to 2,000 and 490 y ago, respectively. We demonstrate sensitivity to regional climate change prior to human colonization, followed by divergent but gradual impacts of early human settlement. These contrast with more rapid transformation in the colonial era, associated with significant increases in anthropogenic pressures. In the Canary Islands, at least two native tree taxa became extinct and lowland thermophilous woodlands were largely converted to agricultural land, yet relictual subtropical laurel forests persisted with limited incursion of nonnative species. In Cabo Verde, in contrast, thermophilous woodlands were depleted and substituted by open landscapes and introduced woodlands. Differences between these two archipelagos reflect the changing cultural practices and societal interactions with forests and illustrate the importance of long-term data series in understanding the human footprint on island ecosystems, information that will be critically important for current and future forest restoration and conservation management practices in these two biodiversity hotspots.

scholarly journals Trade-driven trapping dampens the biodiversity benefits of forest restoration in Southeast Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
H S Sathya Chandra Sagar ◽  
James J Gilroy ◽  
Tom Swinfield ◽  
Ding Li Yong ◽  
Elva Gemita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Avian Community ◽  
Pet Trade ◽  
Tropical Forest Restoration

Tropical forest restoration stands to deliver important conservation gains in lowland Southeast Asia, which has suffered some of the world's highest rates of forest degradation and loss. This promise, however, may be undermined by defaunation driven by ubiquitous wildlife trapping in the region, particularly for forest birds that are part of the multi-million-dollar pet trade. To date, quantification of the impacts of trade-driven trapping on rates of biodiversity recovery from forest restoration has been limited. Here, we use a unique long-term survey dataset to ask how trade-driven trapping may interfere with the expected recovery of avian community under forest restoration, at a flagship ecosystem restoration site in the lowland rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. We show that tropical forest restoration is associated with the increases in the abundance of 88% of bird species over time. However, impacts of trapping within more accessible areas of the forest meant that this recovery was dampened for 74% of bird species, relative to levels expected as a result of the magnitude of forest recovery observed. Most species (80%) showed increasingly positive relationships between abundance and site remoteness over the period, a pattern that was found for both species targeted for the pet trade (85% of species) and those trapped opportunistically or as 'bycatch' (78% of species). We emphasize the urgency of tackling the emerging threat of pet trade to Southeast Asia's avian diversity, not least to ensure the effectiveness of efforts towards forest restoration.

scholarly journals Resistance of African tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. e2003169118
Author(s):  
Amy C. Bennett ◽  
Greta C. Dargie ◽  
Aida Cuni-Sanchez ◽  
John Tshibamba Mukendi ◽  
Wannes Hubau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
El Niño Event ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Carbon Losses

The responses of tropical forests to environmental change are critical uncertainties in predicting the future impacts of climate change. The positive phase of the 2015–2016 El Niño Southern Oscillation resulted in unprecedented heat and low precipitation in the tropics with substantial impacts on the global carbon cycle. The role of African tropical forests is uncertain as their responses to short-term drought and temperature anomalies have yet to be determined using on-the-ground measurements. African tropical forests may be particularly sensitive because they exist in relatively dry conditions compared with Amazonian or Asian forests, or they may be more resistant because of an abundance of drought-adapted species. Here, we report responses of structurally intact old-growth lowland tropical forests inventoried within the African Tropical Rainforest Observatory Network (AfriTRON). We use 100 long-term inventory plots from six countries each measured at least twice prior to and once following the 2015–2016 El Niño event. These plots experienced the highest temperatures and driest conditions on record. The record temperature did not significantly reduce carbon gains from tree growth or significantly increase carbon losses from tree mortality, but the record drought did significantly decrease net carbon uptake. Overall, the long-term biomass increase of these forests was reduced due to the El Niño event, but these plots remained a live biomass carbon sink (0.51 ± 0.40 Mg C ha−1 y−1) despite extreme environmental conditions. Our analyses, while limited to African tropical forests, suggest they may be more resistant to climatic extremes than Amazonian and Asian forests.

scholarly journals Long-Term Nitrogen Addition Decreases Soil Carbon Mineralization in an N-Rich Primary Tropical Forest

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 734
Author(s):  
Xiankai Lu ◽  
Qinggong Mao ◽  
Zhuohang Wang ◽  
Taiki Mori ◽  
Jiangming Mo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Carbon Mineralization ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Soil Carbon Mineralization ◽  
N Additions

Anthropogenic elevated nitrogen (N) deposition has an accelerated terrestrial N cycle, shaping soil carbon dynamics and storage through altering soil organic carbon mineralization processes. However, it remains unclear how long-term high N deposition affects soil carbon mineralization in tropical forests. To address this question, we established a long-term N deposition experiment in an N-rich lowland tropical forest of Southern China with N additions such as NH4NO3 of 0 (Control), 50 (Low-N), 100 (Medium-N) and 150 (High-N) kg N ha−1 yr−1, and laboratory incubation experiment, used to explore the response of soil carbon mineralization to the N additions therein. The results showed that 15 years of N additions significantly decreased soil carbon mineralization rates. During the incubation period from the 14th day to 56th day, the average decreases in soil CO2 emission rates were 18%, 33% and 47% in the low-N, medium-N and high-N treatments, respectively, compared with the Control. These negative effects were primarily aroused by the reduced soil microbial biomass and modified microbial functions (e.g., a decrease in bacteria relative abundance), which could be attributed to N-addition-induced soil acidification and potential phosphorus limitation in this forest. We further found that N additions greatly increased soil-dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and there were significantly negative relationships between microbial biomass and soil DOC, indicating that microbial consumption on soil-soluble carbon pool may decrease. These results suggests that long-term N deposition can increase soil carbon stability and benefit carbon sequestration through decreased carbon mineralization in N-rich tropical forests. This study can help us understand how microbes control soil carbon cycling and carbon sink in the tropics under both elevated N deposition and carbon dioxide in the future.

scholarly journals Degree of intervention affects interannual and within‐plot heterogeneity of seed arrival in tropical forest restoration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leland K. Werden ◽  
Karen D. Holl ◽  
Jose Miguel Chaves‐Fallas ◽  
Federico Oviedo‐Brenes ◽  
Juan Abel Rosales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Tropical Forest Restoration

Changes in microbial dynamics during long-term decomposition in tropical forests

2013 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 60-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. DeAngelis ◽  
Dylan Chivian ◽  
Julian L. Fortney ◽  
Adam P. Arkin ◽  
Blake Simmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Microbial Dynamics

Accelerating tropical forest restoration through the selective removal of pioneer species

2016 ◽  
Vol 381 ◽  
pp. 209-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Swinfield ◽  
Roki Afriandi ◽  
Ferry Antoni ◽  
Rhett D. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Selective Removal ◽  
Pioneer Species ◽  
Tropical Forest Restoration

scholarly journals Forest restoration increases isolated wetland hydroperiod: a long‐term case study

Ecosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. W. Golladay ◽  
B. A. Clayton ◽  
S. T. Brantley ◽  
C. R. Smith ◽  
J. Qi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Isolated Wetland ◽  
Wetland Hydroperiod

scholarly journals Practitioner views on the determinants of tropical forest restoration longevity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Nerfa ◽  
Sarah Jane Wilson ◽  
J. Leighton Reid ◽  
Jeanine M. Rhemtulla
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Tropical Forest Restoration
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document