Identifying hotspots for ecosystem restoration across heterogeneous tropical savannah-dominated regions

Abstract

There is high potential for ecosystem restoration across tropical savannah-dominated regions, but the benefits that could be gained from this restoration are rarely assessed. This study focuses on the Brazilian Cerrado, a highly species-rich savannah-dominated region, as an exemplar to review potential restoration benefits using three metrics: net biomass gains, plant species richness and ability to connect restored and native vegetation. Localized estimates of the most appropriate restoration vegetation type (grassland, savannah, woodland/forest) for pasturelands are produced. Carbon sequestration potential is significant for savannah and woodland/forest restoration in the seasonally dry tropics (net biomass gains of 58.2 ± 37.7 and 130.0 ± 69.4 Mg ha −1 ). Modelled restoration species richness gains were highest in the central and south-east of the Cerrado for savannahs and grasslands, and in the west and north-west for woodlands/forests. The potential to initiate restoration projects across the whole of the Cerrado is high and four hotspot areas are identified. We demonstrate that landscape restoration across all vegetation types within heterogeneous tropical savannah-dominated regions can maximize biodiversity and carbon gains. However, conservation of existing vegetation is essential to minimizing the cost and improving the chances of restoration success. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Understanding forest landscape restoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’.

A practice-led assessment of landscape restoration potential in a biodiversity hotspot

“…Prioritization of restoration based on anticipated biomass gains alone overlooks the value of restoring biodiversity and biomass in important drier ecosystems, which are generally less protected [75], increasingly vulnerable to extractions and clearance [73] and lacking in ecological restoration research [76]. This is supported by our finding that the majority of land with restoration potential coincided with savanna woodlands and/or the agro-ecological mosaic (which our maximum AGB estimates suggested to be converted savanna).…”

Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Modeling for Pinus palustris Mill. (Longleaf Pine) Restoration in the South Carolina Sandhills Wiregrass Gap

“…A valuable aspect of this study is the identification of large-parcel clustering in the hotspot analysis. Hotspot analyses have been widely applied in various disciplines (Chang 2008), including forest restoration in dry, tropical savannas (Lewis et al 2023) and northern hardwood forests (Hassegawa et al 2015). Cold spots were not indicated in this analysis, possibly due to the distance measure we used in identifying neighbor clustering (Wong 2021).…”

Fifteen essential science advances needed for effective restoration of the world's forest landscapes

“…Thus, determining where to restore forests should also involve determining where not to restore them. In this theme issue, ecosystem-specific spatial restoration assessment in the Brazilian Cerrado reveals high potential for both active and passive restoration [ 76 ]. This same work also highlights that locations identified as hotspot areas for restoration using global datasets do not always overlap with areas prioritized by national restoration commitments.…”