Colonization of woody seedlings in the understory of actively and passively restored tropical moist forests

Ssekuubwa, Enock; Muwanika, Vincent B.; Esaete, Josephine; Tabuti, John R. S.; Tweheyo, Mnason

doi:10.1111/rec.12850

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…Therefore, natural regeneration (i.e. passive restoration) is essential to improve vegetation recovery, and understanding the mechanisms limiting or enhancing such regeneration is of great interest in restoration ecology (Meli et al 2017;Badalamenti et al 2018;Ssekuubwa et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertebrate‐mediated seed rain and artificial perches contribute to overcome seed dispersal limitation in a Mediterranean old field

Mantia¹,

Ruhl

Massa³

et al. 2019

Restoration Ecology

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Natural regeneration of vegetation is a frequent outcome of land abandonment, although the rate and diversity of such regeneration may be severely restricted by seed dispersal limitation, among other factors. In spite of this, studies aiming to quantify seed rain and test methods to enhance it, such as artificial perches, are still underrepresented in the Mediterranean. In our study, we quantified seed rain density and richness and tested the effects of artificial perches on such rain over a distance gradient on seven Mediterranean island old fields. In each of the seven sites, we positioned three sampling stations, each consisting of 1 seed trap under an artificial perch and 1 as a control on the ground, distributed at 30, 60, and 90 m from natural vegetation remnant. All traps received seeds, suggesting no overall dispersal limitation. Of the 11 seed species found, 10 were fleshy‐fruited and dispersed by vertebrates. Seed traps under perches received significantly higher seed rain of fleshy‐fruited species dispersed by birds, while ground traps received significantly more seeds of the species also dispersed by mammals, especially Rubus ulmifolius. The distance from the seed source was nonsignificant in all cases. Our study demonstrates the key role of vertebrate‐mediated seed dispersal services to overcome dispersal limitation in old fields, as well as the effective contribution of even small artificial perches in contrasting such limitation. The lack of differences over the distance gradient reveal that the upper spatial limit of dispersal limitation was not achieved.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertebrate‐mediated seed rain and artificial perches contribute to overcome seed dispersal limitation in a Mediterranean old field

Mantia¹,

Ruhl

Massa³

et al. 2019

Restoration Ecology

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“…Similarly, Staples et al (2020) observed that forest sites under spontaneous regeneration in Australia present higher diversity of two functional groups—fleshy‐fruited species and mid‐story trees—as well as a more abundant and diverse recruit community than in planted sites. Also, in Tropical Africa, Ssekuubwa et al (2019) observed that passively restored forests had higher diversity and abundance of seedlings than similarly aged and actively restored forests. The lastest authors suggest that, depending on species selection, planting seedlings creates a more impoverished functional diversity in the early restoration stage, explaining the lower recruitment diversity in the subsequently developed understory, a hypothesis that needs further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoring riparian forest in the Atlantic Forest: does planting seedlings make a difference?

Inhamuns

Rezende

Coelho

2021

Restoration Ecology

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Planting seedlings remains the most popular method of forest restoration, but passive restoration may become a new promise to reduce costs, despite concerns about its efficacy. Here, we present a study of a riparian forest recovery program in the Southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil. The objective was to compare planting seedlings and passive restoration eight years since restoration started and assess the influence of cattle presence in the restoring areas. We analyzed the structure, diversity, and composition of the woody community in the upper (canopy) and lower strata (understory) versus six environmental variables, including edaphic, landscape and geographical variables, restoration method (planting seedlings versus passive restoration), presence of cattle inside the restoration areas, and presence of adjacent crop plantations. Passive restoration generated a more diverse woody community and a higher proportion of climax and zoochoric species in the lower stratum than active restoration. Cattle presence was significantly associated with lower species richness and density of plants, as well as a higher proportion of pioneer species and low proportion of zoochoric and climax species. The results suggest that cattle can delay forest succession, besides reducing diversity. Passive restoration should be considered suitable for the region, and the efficiency of cattle exclusion needs to be improved.

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“…Most studies focus on one plant size class which may limit our understanding of the extent to which restoration treatments foster longer term recovery (e.g. Bertacchi et al, 2016; Ssekuubwa et al, 2019). The few studies measuring restoration success for smaller and larger stems focused on species richness, composition, and stem density in only one restoration treatment (Saldarriaga et al, 1988; Wheeler et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does restoration success vary with tree size under restoration plantings and regrowth forests?

Ssekuubwa

Goor²,

Snoep³

et al. 2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

Self Cite

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Several studies evaluate active (i.e., seeding/planting) and passive (i.e., protecting forest regrowth) restoration, but few studies examine successional patterns for different plant sizes. By using biodiversity and structure, we examined whether restoration communities approach old-growth forests over time, and whether restoration success varies for different tree sizes in both active and passive interventions. We examined how initial site conditions affect active restoration. Small (dbh ≥ 5 cm), medium (≥15 cm), and large trees (≥30 cm) were measured in 2003-2017 in permanent sample plots in restoration plantings (initially 3-8 years old) and in an old-growth forest in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Trees were also measured in regrowth forests (initially 16 years old) in 2011-2017. We collated information about site conditions from restoration reports. Biodiversity and structure increased over time towards the old-growth forest. Restoration plantings and regrowth forests recovered diversity and structure of small and medium trees except for large trees. Forest recovery increased with proportions of remnant banana plants and shrubs, while isolation from the old-growth forest slowed recovery. Disaggregating vegetation inventory data by tree size may be useful in achieving a holistic measure of restoration. Restorationists could prioritize sites with remnant banana plants and shrubs, and sites closer to old-growth forests in order to achieve better results.

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Colonization of woody seedlings in the understory of actively and passively restored tropical moist forests

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

Vertebrate‐mediated seed rain and artificial perches contribute to overcome seed dispersal limitation in a Mediterranean old field

Vertebrate‐mediated seed rain and artificial perches contribute to overcome seed dispersal limitation in a Mediterranean old field

Restoring riparian forest in the Atlantic Forest: does planting seedlings make a difference?

Does restoration success vary with tree size under restoration plantings and regrowth forests?

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