Environment and landscape rather than planting design are the drivers of success in long‐term restoration of riparian Atlantic forest

Abstract

Question:Identifying the factors that lead to the success of restoration projects has been a major challenge in ecological restoration. Here we ask which factors, aside from time since restoration began, drive the recovery of tree biomass, density and richness of the understorey in riparian forests undergoing restoration.Location: Semideciduous Atlantic Forest with tropical climate and deep, fertile soils, southeast Brazil. Methods:We sampled tree basal area (DBH ≥ 5 cm), density and richness of the understorey (DBH < 5 cm) in 26 riparian forests undergoing restoration (a chronosequence spanning 4-53 years). We assessed the following variables as possible factors, besides time, influencing community attributes: (1) planting design: density and richness of seedlings planted; (2) landscape features: proximity index measuring forest cover within a 1.5-km radius, distance and size of the nearest forest remnant; and (3) environmental factors: invasive grasses, soil fertility, drought, average annual precipitation and proportion of fine particles in the soil. We performed correlation analyses including predictor and response variables, followed by stepwise backward regression (AIC), multiple and simple linear regressions, to investigate the relationships between those factors and the community attributes.

Relationships between Soil Nutrients and Plant Diversity in Riparian Woodlands Along the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yellow River, China

“…However, the relationship between plant species richness, evenness, diversity and soil TOC and TN content in this study was not significant. This may be attributable to many factors, including not only sitespecific environmental conditions, but also to landscape configuration and hydrological connectivity across riparian subzones [1,53,56].…”

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

“…We expected that a higher forest cover near the restoration sites could favor regeneration, at least in the lower stratum, through zoochoric seed dispersal. Also, fertility could influence stem density and diversity (Suganuma et al 2018).…”

Alternativas para restauração florestal de pastagens

“…Se em um primeiro momento essa ou essas espécies não cumprem tão bem a função de conservar a biodiversidade, essa função pode ocorrer ao longo do tempo com a colonização da área por novas espécies (CHADA et al, 2004;FERRACIN et al, 2013;LONGWORTH;WILLIAMSON, 2018), uma vez que as condições ambientais locais e os fragmentos do entorno serão os principais responsáveis por atuar nesse processo (MELO et al, 2015;BIZUTI et al, 2016;SUGANUMA et al, 2018).…”

“…Tanto a condução da regeneração natural quanto o plantio de mudas, se forem realizados próximos a fragmentos florestais, favorecem a ação de dispersores, acelerando o processo de sucessão em virtude da formação de uma comunidade mais abundante e biodiversa e com interações mais complexas GÜNTER et al, 2007;HOLL et al, 2017;SUGANUMA et al, 2018). Alguns estudos têm evidenciado que estando próxima a fragmentos florestais, a identidade da espécie pode ser sobrepujada pela estrutura dos indivíduos (altura e copa), demonstrando a importância da construção do ambiente florestal para posterior colonização da fauna dispersora SUGANUMA et al, 2018 As espécies T. micrantha (66% dos indivíduos plantados) e C. myrianthum (33% dos indivíduos plantados)…”