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 15N:14N 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 15N than in corresponding cold ecosystems or wet ecosystems. Below a MAT of 9.8°C, soil δ15N 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 δ15N 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.

Summary Successional gradients are ubiquitous in nature, yet few studies have systematically examined the evolutionary origins of taxa that specialize at different successional stages. Here we quantify successional habitat specialization in Neotropical forest trees and evaluate its evolutionary lability along a precipitation gradient. Theoretically, successional habitat specialization should be more evolutionarily conserved in wet forests than in dry forests due to more extreme microenvironmental differentiation between early and late‐successional stages in wet forest. We applied a robust multinomial classification model to samples of primary and secondary forest trees from 14 Neotropical lowland forest sites spanning a precipitation gradient from 788 to 4000 mm annual rainfall, identifying species that are old‐growth specialists and secondary forest specialists in each site. We constructed phylogenies for the classified taxa at each site and for the entire set of classified taxa and tested whether successional habitat specialization is phylogenetically conserved. We further investigated differences in the functional traits of species specializing in secondary vs. old‐growth forest along the precipitation gradient, expecting different trait associations with secondary forest specialists in wet vs. dry forests since water availability is more limiting in dry forests and light availability more limiting in wet forests. Successional habitat specialization is non‐randomly distributed in the angiosperm phylogeny, with a tendency towards phylogenetic conservatism overall and a trend towards stronger conservatism in wet forests than in dry forests. However, the specialists come from all the major branches of the angiosperm phylogeny, and very few functional traits showed any consistent relationships with successional habitat specialization in either wet or dry forests. Synthesis. The niche conservatism evident in the habitat specialization of Neotropical trees suggests a role for radiation into different successional habitats in the evolution of species‐rich genera, though the diversity of functional traits that lead to success in different successional habitats complicates analyses at the community scale. Examining the distribution of particular lineages with respect to successional gradients may provide more insight into the role of successional habitat specialization in the evolution of species‐rich taxa.

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 highdiversity 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.

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RESUMOSe, por um lado, plantios florestais comerciais têm sido apontados como "desertos verdes", por outro, diversos estudos realizados nas últimas duas décadas demonstram o contrário, sugerindo que tais florestas podem catalisar a regeneração natural em seu sub-bosque e, assim, contribuir para a conservação da biodiversidade. Com a finalidade de obter uma visão ampla e multifacetada sobre as plantações florestais e seu potencial para a conservação e a restauração da diversidade biológica, efetuou-se a compilação dos principais resultados de estudos que tratam da regeneração natural sob plantios florestais, com destaque para os realizados no Brasil. Os resultados compilados são bastante heterogêneos, indicando que fatores históricos e ambientais, como densidade de copas e disponibilidade de luz no sub-bosque, idade do plantio, espécie florestal plantada, distância de remanescentes de vegetação nativa, manejo das florestas plantadas e histórico de utilização da área influenciam direta ou indiretamente a riqueza, a densidade e a estrutura da regeneração natural sob os plantios. No entanto, inevitavelmente, os estudos investigados reforçam a idéia de que plantios florestais comerciais podem funcionar como redutos da biodiversidade, ao menos para alguns grupos de seres vivos, e também como facilitadores da restauração ecológica de florestas nativas. Com relação ao Brasil, conclui-se que, embora abundantes, os estudos já feitos concentram-se em determinadas regiões e biomas e são, em sua maioria, descritivos. É desejável, portanto, a realização de estudos que investiguem experimentalmente os fatores específicos que influenciam a dinâmica da regeneração natural sob os plantios e sistemas de manejo que proporcionem uma combinação ótima de produção e conservação da biodiversidade. É desejável ainda que esses estudos abranjam também outras regiões fitogeográficas do País, onde plantações florestais também são expressivas. Palavras-chave: plantios florestais; regeneração natural; restauração ecológica; conservação da biodiversidade. ABSTRACTAlthough commercial forest plantations have been termed "green deserts", several studies from the last two decades have reported the opposite. These studies suggest that forest plantations can catalyze the natural regeneration in their understory and, thus, contribute to biodiversity conservation. In order to obtain a wide and multi-faceted panorama of forest plantations and their potential contribution to biodiversity conservation and forest restoration, previous studies investigating natural regeneration under forest plantations have been reviewed, highlighting those carried out in Brazil. Methods and environmental conditions are quite variable among studies, making generalizations difficult. Nevertheless, results indicate that historical and environmental factors, such as canopy density and light availability, plantation age, forest species, distance from natural forests, silvicultural practices, and previous land use directly or indirectly affect natural regeneration richness, abun...

Edaphic macrofauna must be better studied if we want to take advantage of their full potential for the restoration of tropical ecosystems. We investigated changes in edaphic macrofauna density and diversity along a secondary succession chronosequence in the Atlantic Forest. Our results show some clear patterns of change in soil macrofauna along the chronosequence. Density did not increase along secondary succession, but was correlated with canopy cover. Diversity was characterized by high dominance of social insects and evenness among other groups. We conclude soil macrofauna has a high capacity to recolonize young forests and that its recovery is considerably fast compared to other ecosystem transformations.Keywords: edaphic macrofauna, richness, bioindicators, Seasonal Semidecidual Forest. Densidade e diversidade da macrofauna edáfica em uma cronosequência de florestas tropicais em restauração no Sudeste do Brasil ResumoA macrofauna edáfica deve ser mais bem estudada se quisermos aproveitar todo o seu potencial para a restauração de ecossistemas tropicais. Nós investigamos as mudanças de densidade e diversidade da macrofauna edáfica em uma cronossequência durante a sucessão secundária na Mata Atlântica. Nossos resultados mostram padrões claros de mudança. A densidade não aumentou ao longo da sucessão secundária, mas foi correlacionada com a cobertura de dossel. A diversidade foi caracterizada pela alta dominância de insetos sociais e equidade entre os demais grupos. Nós concluímos que a macrofauna edáfica tem alta capacidade de recolonizar florestas jovens e que sua recuperação é relativamente rápida se comparada a outras transformações ecossistêmicas.

Resumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a sobrevivência em viveiro de plântulas retiradas da regeneração natural de remanescente de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual, localizado em Bofete, SP. Indivíduos com até 30 cm de espécies arbustivo-arbóreos foram coletados em parcelas instaladas previamente em remanescente florestal, transplantados para viveiro sob sombrite 50%, e avaliados periodicamente durante nove meses. Ao todo foram transferidos para o viveiro 2.424 indivíduos, pertencentes a 110 espécies. A taxa média de sobrevivência foi de 69%, com variação nos resultados para as diferentes espécies, famílias e classes de altura dos indivíduos. Embora espécies pioneiras tenham apresentado taxa de sobrevivência significativamente maior que não pioneiras, várias espécies não pioneiras apresentaram elevada taxa de sobrevivência. Muitas das espécies sobreviventes não são encontradas nos viveiros florestais do Estado de São Paulo. A produção de mudas por meio da transferência da regeneração natural de áreas naturais é uma estratégia complementar viável, que eleva a riqueza de espécies dos viveiros florestais.Termos para indexação: produção de mudas, plântulas, transplante de plântulas, restauração florestal. Survival in nursery of native species saplings obtained from natural regeneration of forest fragmentsAbstract -Seedling survival was evaluated regarding transplanted saplings obtained from natural regeneration of a Semideciduous Seasonal Forest fragment, located at Bofete, São Paulo State, Brazil. Shrub and trees species seedlings up to 30 cm height were collected from samples sited on a forest remnant, transplanted to a nursery under 50% shade tissue, and evaluated periodically during nine months. A total of 2,424 seedlings, belonging to 110 species were transferred to the nursery. Average survival reached 69%, although this survival rate was quite variable according to the species, families and height classes of the evaluated individuals. In spite of the fact that pioneer species presented higher survival rate, several non-pioneer species also obtained high values of survival. Besides, many of the survivor species are usually not available in forest nurseries of the São Paulo State. The transference of seedlings from natural regeneration of forest fragments to forest nurseries seems to be a complementary and a viable method in order to produce saplings of native species, increasing diversity within nurseries with forest restoration purposes.

n a t u r e z a & c o n s e r v a ç ã o 1 3 (2 0 1 5) 41-46 h t t p : / / w w w . n a t u r e z a e c o n s e r v a c a o . c o m . b r Tropical forest restoration a b s t r a c tPlanting of native trees has been adopted in many tropical regions worldwide as a central forest restoration method, but little is known concerning the role that these planted species play in catalyzing forest regeneration beneath their canopies. We investigated the role of animal-dispersed tree species in catalyzing the regeneration of woody species in the understory of restoration plantings. We assessed both the density and richness of tree seedlings within plots located beneath the canopy of both animal-dispersed and abiotic-dispersed tree species planted in three riparian forest restoration sites with ages of five, six and eight years. The proportion of animal-dispersed tree seedlings increased with plantation age.The richness of animal-dispersed tree seedlings was higher beneath animal-dispersed trees in the eight-year-old planting. The density of animal-dispersed tree seedlings was higher under animal-dispersed trees when sites were analyzed altogether. The top three species in regeneration density beneath the canopy were animal-dispersed trees, and from the top ten, seven were animal-dispersed species. We suggest that animal-dispersed pioneer trees which facilitate natural regeneration and promote a high density and richness of woody species beneath their canopies should be considered as "framework" species for tropical forest restoration.