Background and Aims Cerradão (Brazilian woodland savannas) and seasonally dry forests (SDF) from southeastern Brazil occur under the same climate but are remarkably distinct in species composition. ...The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of soil origin in the initial growth and distribution of SDF and Cerradão species. Methods We conducted a greenhouse experiment growing Cerradão and SDF tree seedlings over their soil and the soil of the contrasting vegetation type. We evaluated soil nutrient availability and seedling survivorship, growth and leaf functional traits. Results Despite the higher nutrient availability in SDF soils, soil origin did not affect seedling survivorship. The three SDF species demonstrated home-soil advantage, enhanced growth with increasing soil nutrient availability and had higher growth rates than Cerradão species, even on Cerradão soils. Growth of Cerradão seedlings was not higher on Cerradão soil and, overall, was not positively correlated with soil nutrient availability. Conclusions SDF species are fast-growing species while Cerradão trees tend to be slow-growing species. Although savanna soil reduces growth of forest species, our findings suggest that soil chemical attributes, alone, does not exclude the occurrence of SDF seedlings in Cerradão and vice-versa.
Forest restoration targets are often planned, implemented, measured and reported based on few short‐term lagging indicators (i.e. indicators of realised outcomes), such as the number of seedlings and ...area planted.
We propose the use of leading indicators, which denote likelihood of a certain outcome (e.g. odds that seedlings are of quality and properly planted) to complement lagging indicators and describe how this construct differs from the current practice and how they can be used in conjunction with available frameworks for forest restoration.
Leading indicators have great promise to complement lagging indicators because they address the near‐term factors more likely to influence the progress and performance of restoration efforts. For example, secure land tenure (leading indicator) can increase the likelihood of long‐term maintenance and protection (lagging indicator), and the use of best practices in quality seedling production (leading indicator) can increase survival rate (lagging indicator).
By observing near‐term leading indicators, management can be adapted towards a goal. Long‐term impacts cannot be verified in the early stages of forest restoration, hence claiming success within the length of project cycles is often unrealistic. Reporting on leading indicators can inform the likelihood that forest restoration goals will be achieved in the longer term.
Synthesis and applications. Leading indicators complement lagging indicators and can be used in forest restoration beyond monitoring and evaluation. Indicators can also be used in the design, adaptive management and reporting of restoration interventions. Leading indicators can be used to identify issues that might prevent success in a timely manner so they can be addressed.
Resumo
Os objetivos da restauração florestal são frequentemente planejados, implementados, medidos e relatados baseados em poucos indicadores defasados (i.e. indicadores de resultados observados) de curto prazo, como o número de mudas e área plantada.
Propomos o uso de indicadores antecedentes, os quais denotam a probabilidade de um certo resultado (e.g. chances de que as mudas são de qualidade e propriamente plantadas), para complementar indicadores defasados e descrever como esse construto difere das práticas atuais e como eles podem ser utilizados conjuntamente com abordagens de enquadramento de restauração florestal atuais.
Indicadores antecetentes são promissores para complementar indicadores defasados porque eles se referem a fatores de curto prazo que mais provavelmente influenciarão o progresso e a performance de esforços relacionados a restauração. Por exemplo, seguridade de posse de terra (indicador antecedente) pode aumentar as chances de manutenção e proteção a longo prazo (indicador defasado), e o uso de boas práticas em produção de mudas de qualidade (indicador antecedente) podem aumentar a taxa de sobrevivência de mudas (indicador defasado).
Observando‐se indicadores antecedentes, o manejo pode ser adaptado em direção aos objetivos. Impactos de longo prazo não podem ser verificados nos estágios iniciais de restauração, portanto alegar sucesso durante o ciclo do projeto é comumente irrealista. O relato de indicadores antecedentes pode informar a probabilidade de que os objetivos da restauração florestal serão alcancados no longo prazo.
Síntese e aplicações. Indicadores antecedentes complementam indicadores defasados e podem ser utilizados em restauração florestal alem do monitoramento e avaliação. Indicadores também podem ser usados no planejamento, manejo adaptativo e relatório de intervenções de restauração. Indicadores antecedentes podem ser usados para a identificação de questões que podem impedir o sucesso da restauração em tempo hábil para que eles possam ser abordados.
Leading indicators complement lagging indicators and can be used in forest restoration beyond monitoring and evaluation. Indicators can also be used in the design, adaptive management and reporting of restoration interventions. Leading indicators can be used to identify issues that might prevent success in a timely manner so they can be addressed.
Invasive species pose significant challenges to successful restoration efforts worldwide. A strategy to reduce invasions is to establish communities consisting of species with varied ecological ...strategies. These strategies typically align along the conservative and plant size axes, and more recently, along a below‐ground collaboration axis. However, we lack understanding of how the diverse ecological strategies of Cerrado grass species, their combinations and their interactions with soil conditions can mitigate invasions.
Here, we investigated how native grass communities composed by species with different ecological strategies affect the invasion success in two soil types of abandoned pastures in the Cerrado. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that greater above‐ and below‐ground functional diversity reduces exotic species invasion. We also evaluated whether the isolated effects of native species on invasion were positive or negative.
We installed an experiment with species richness ranging from zero to eight native grass species. In November 2019, we sowed species combinations to create communities composed by species with different ecological strategies. We quantified the above‐ground biomass of exotic species as a measure of invasion. To characterize the species ecological strategies, we measured five functional traits.
Functional diversity of maximum height and specific root length (SRL) had the highest predictive power; however, the most parsimonious model included only SRL diversity, which represents the collaboration axis. Native above‐ground biomass was also negatively related to exotic species biomass. Furthermore, invasion was greater in less stressful soil conditions but did not interact with diversity. The effect of native species varied from facilitation to competition, with the annual fast‐growing native species favouring invasion.
Synthesis and applications. Our results show that greater functional diversity of combined above‐ and below‐ground traits reduces invasion success, shedding light on an underexplored role of specific root length diversity. The competitive and facilitative effects of different native species highlight the need for careful selection of the species to be used in restoration programmes. Furthermore, the absence of interaction between diversity and soil types highlights the need for an integrated management of the functional composition and edaphic factors to increase resistance to invasion in these Neotropical grass communities.
Resumo
As espécies invasoras representam desafios significativos para os esforços de restauração bem‐sucedidos em todo o mundo. Uma estratégia para reduzir as invasões é estabelecer comunidades constituídas por espécies com estratégias ecológicas variadas. Essas estratégias normalmente se alinham ao longo dos eixos conservador e de tamanho da planta e, mais recentemente, ao longo de um eixo de colaboração subterrânea. No entanto, falta‐nos compreender como as diversas estratégias ecológicas das espécies de gramíneas do Cerrado, suas combinações e suas interações com as condições do solo podem mitigar as invasões.
Aqui, investigamos como comunidades de gramíneas nativas compostas por espécies com diferentes estratégias ecológicas afetam o sucesso da invasão em dois tipos de solo em uma pastagem abandonada no Cerrado. Especificamente, testamos a hipótese de que uma maior diversidade funcional acima e abaixo do solo reduz a invasão de espécies exóticas. Também avaliamos se os efeitos isolados das espécies nativas na invasão foram positivos ou negativos.
Instalamos um experimento com riqueza de espécies variando de zero a oito espécies de gramíneas nativas. Em novembro de 2019, semeamos combinações de espécies para criar comunidades compostas por espécies com diferentes estratégias ecológicas. Quantificamos a biomassa aérea de espécies exóticas como medida de invasão. Para caracterizar as estratégias ecológicas das espécies, medimos cinco características funcionais.
A diversidade funcional de altura máxima e comprimento específico de raiz (CER) teve o maior poder preditivo, porém, o modelo mais parcimonioso incluiu apenas a diversidade de CER, que está relacionado com o eixo de colaboração subterrânea. A biomassa nativa acima do solo também foi negativamente relacionada com a biomassa de espécies exóticas. Além disso, a invasão foi maior em condições de solo menos estressantes, mas não interagiu com a diversidade. O efeito das espécies nativas variou de facilitação a competição, com as espécies nativas anuais de rápido crescimento favorecendo o sucesso da invasão.
Síntese e aplicações. Nossos resultados mostram que uma maior diversidade funcional de características combinadas acima e abaixo do solo reduz o sucesso da invasão, lançando luz sobre um papel pouco explorado da diversidade de CER. Os efeitos competitivos e facilitadores de diferentes espécies nativas destacam a necessidade de uma seleção cuidadosa das espécies a serem utilizadas em programas de restauração. Além disso, a ausência de interação entre diversidade e tipos de solo destaca a necessidade de um manejo integrado da composição funcional e dos fatores edáficos para aumentar a resistência à invasão nessas comunidades gramíneas neotropicais.
Our results show that greater functional diversity of combined above‐ and below‐ground traits reduces invasion success, shedding light on an underexplored role of specific root length diversity. The competitive and facilitative effects of different native species highlight the need for careful selection of the species to be used in restoration programmes. Furthermore, the absence of interaction between diversity and soil types highlights the need for an integrated management of the functional composition and edaphic factors to increase resistance to invasion in these Neotropical grass communities.
Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) is a powerful strategy for large-scale tropical forest recovery, and payment for ecosystem services (PES) is used to support FLR programs and projects on ...privately-owned land. In this article, we discuss the lessons learned from the Water Producer Project, a pioneer, multiple-stakeholder, and PES-supported FLR project in the Atlantic Forest, south-eastern Brazil. The project was implemented in four landscapes located in two municipalities. Altogether, 41 PES contracts with landowners were signed, resulting in various FLR practices being implemented in a total of 342.4 ha (64.2 ha for riparian forest restoration, 90.8 ha for soil conservation, and 187.4 for forest conservation) of land, which represents 39% of the project goal. As of the end of the project, only 50% (USD 49,250) of the available PES funds had been spent. However, funds spent on project planning, implementation, communication, and monitoring were 12 times greater than those spent on PES. Several challenges restricted the progress and monitoring of the project. The main issue was landowner participation and/or engagement. In terms of lessons learned, we highlight that PES schemes are more complex than initially thought, and that sufficient funding does not guarantee the success of FLR projects. It is essential to promote landowner participation and engagement by considering them key players in FLR projects. Finally, acceptance from landowners was higher and implementation was easier for forest conservation practices that required no land-use changes. Thus, we suggest that similar future projects should focus on targeting private properties in marginal agricultural lands with a high probability of natural regeneration. Alternatively, future projects could focus on lands with remnant forest cover of high conservation value.
Quantifying global patterns of terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycling is central to predicting future patterns of primary productivity, carbon sequestration, nutrient fluxes to aquatic systems, and climate ...forcing. With limited direct measures of soil N cycling at the global scale, syntheses of the (15)N:(14)N ratio of soil organic matter across climate gradients provide key insights into understanding global patterns of N cycling. In synthesizing data from over 6000 soil samples, we show strong global relationships among soil N isotopes, mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and the concentrations of organic carbon and clay in soil. In both hot ecosystems and dry ecosystems, soil organic matter was more enriched in (15)N than in corresponding cold ecosystems or wet ecosystems. Below a MAT of 9.8°C, soil δ(15)N was invariant with MAT. At the global scale, soil organic C concentrations also declined with increasing MAT and decreasing MAP. After standardizing for variation among mineral soils in soil C and clay concentrations, soil δ(15)N showed no consistent trends across global climate and latitudinal gradients. Our analyses could place new constraints on interpretations of patterns of ecosystem N cycling and global budgets of gaseous N loss.
Large-scale ecological restoration programs across the world have begun to extensively transform degraded lands into young native ecosystems. However, more projects like these will be necessary in ...the coming years to fulfill the goal of restoring 150 million ha established by United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Here, we present and discuss the steps required for and the lessons learned from the organization of a large-scale ecological restoration program in Brazil, the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact. These lessons are organized around 9 steps: (a) the presentation of the motivations driving the promotion of large-scale restoration, (b) the organization of the main stakeholders, (c) the definition of goals, (d) the organization of a database, (e) the indication of both available and priority areas for restoration, (f) the proposal of science-based and field-validated methods, (g) the establishment of a monitoring protocol, (h) the proposal of a communication program to unite members and interact with society, and (i) the strategies for promoting the establishment of public policies conducive to restoration. This framework may provide a template to help other initiatives to mainstream isolated restoration projects into a large and well-organized movement, which may increase the chances of successful restoration in the future.
High‐diversity reforestation can help jumpstart tropical forest restoration, but obtaining viable seedlings is a major constraint: if nurseries do not offer them, it is hard to plant all the species ...one would like. From 2007 to 2009, we investigated five different seed acquisition strategies employed by a well‐established tree nursery in southeastern Brazil, namely (1) in‐house seed harvesters; (2) hiring a professional harvester; (3) amateur seed harvesters; or (4) a seed production cooperative, as well as (5) participating in a seed exchange program. In addition, we evaluated two strategies not dependent on seeds: harvesting seedlings from native tree species found regenerating under Eucalyptus plantations, and in a native forest remnant. A total of 344 native tree and shrub species were collected as seeds or seedlings, including 2,465 seed lots. Among these, a subset of 120 species was obtained through seed harvesting in each year. Overall, combining several strategies for obtaining planting stocks was an effective way to increase species richness, representation of some functional groups (dispersal syndromes, planting group, and shade tolerance), and genetic diversity of seedlings produced in forest tree nurseries. Such outcomes are greatly desirable to support high‐diversity reforestation as part of tropical forest restoration. In addition, community‐based seed harvesting strategies fostered greater socioeconomic integration of traditional communities in restoration projects and programs, which is an important bottleneck for the advance of ecological restoration, especially in developing countries. Finally, we discuss some of the limitations of the various strategies for obtaining planting stocks and the way forward for their improvement.
Understanding the environmental factors shaping savannah and tropical forest boundaries is important to predict tropical vegetation responses to climate change and other human-mediated disturbances. ...To better understand the soil characteristics affecting the distribution of Cerradão (Brazilian woodland savannah) and seasonally dry forest (SDF), two vegetation types occurring next to each other in a similar seasonal climate in south-eastern Brazil, we compared several leaf chemical and morphological traits associated with soil pH and resource availability of Cerradão and SDF woody species. Leaf functional traits were measured for 25 Cerradão and 27 SDF species. We performed between-site comparisons with either all species pooled using phylogenetically independent contrasts or species shared between Cerradão and SDF, as well as congeneric pairs. We found higher specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen, potassium, calcium and sulfur concentrations for SDF species. We did not find higher concentrations for leaf phosphorus and manganese (Mn) for SDF species, despite a higher concentration of these nutrients in SDF soil. Cerradão plants had higher leaf iron (Fe), Mn and aluminium (Al) concentrations. For most of the traits assessed, variance was higher among species and genera than between sites. Nutrients with greater availability in the SDF soil did not invariably exhibit higher concentrations in the leaves of SDF species, indicating that these were not limiting for plant productivity. Higher concentrations in the leaves of Cerradão species for Al, Fe and Mn are probably a consequence of lower soil pH, which increases the availability of these elements. In spite of the differences in belowground resources and the divergence for some traits between Cerradão and SDF, our results show high diversity in leaf functional traits within communities and a similarity of leaf functional traits in closely related species in the contrasting habitats. Besides, we surmise that soil pH is an important factor affecting Cerradão and SDF species distribution, excluding SDF species from more acidic soils, because of the toxic effects of Al, and possibly also Mn and Fe.
Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) is considered worldwide as a powerful approach to recover ecological functionality and to improve human well-being in degraded and deforested landscapes. The ...literature produced by FLR programs could be a valuable tool to understand how they align with the existing principles of FLR. We conducted a systematic qualitative review to identify the main FLR concepts and definitions adopted in the literature from 1980 to 2017 and the underlying actions commonly suggested to enable FLR implementation. We identified three domains and 12 main associated principles—(i) Project management and governance domain contains five principles: (a) Landscape scale, (b) Prioritization, (c) Legal and normative compliance, (d) Participation, (e) Adaptive management; (ii) Human aspect domain with four principles: (a) Enhance livelihoods, (b) Inclusiveness and equity, (c) Economic diversification, (d) Capacity building; (iii) Ecological Aspects domain with three principles: (a) Biodiversity conservation, (b) Landscape heterogeneity and connectivity, (c) Provision of ecosystem goods and services. Our results showcase variations in FLR principles and how they are linked with practice, especially regarding the lack of social aspects in FLR projects. Finally, we provide a starting point for future tools aiming to improve guidance frameworks for FLR.
Monitoring is a key step for achieving restoration success. Despite increasing advances for selecting ecological indicators, monitoring sampling designs are not always available. We investigated how ...tree richness and the most used forest structure indicators vary spatially in restoration sites, aiming to provide evidence-based guidance for future monitoring protocols. We collected data from eight forest restoration sites covering overall 1,000 ha in four Brazilian Atlantic Forest regions. Canopy cover, tree density, vegetation height, and species richness were assessed in 18.2 ha of plots ranging from 60 to 300 m2 in size, in restoration sites aged 1 to 5 years old. Using resampling techniques, we calculated the sampling error for the indicators and compared them with original sampling results, and then estimated the number of plots needed to reach a 20% sampling error. The ecological indicators assessed showed high variability among restoration sites. Canopy cover and height required less plots to reach the targeted sampling error than density of trees. The number of species does not stabilize even when more than 90% of the total number of plots was resampled, indicating high spatial variation. The use of the sampling error approach for defining how much to monitor, associated to appropriate sampling methods, could increase the reliability of monitoring. In addition, they will reduce operational costs, thus providing a key contribution to the effectiveness of large-scale restoration programs expected to be implemented globally in the coming years. Thus, we recommend the incorporation of this in the forest restoration monitoring protocols being discussed worldwide.
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