Restoring Rainforest Fragments: Survival of Mixed‐Native Species Seedlings under Contrasting Site Conditions in the Western Ghats, India

Abstract

Historical fragmentation and a current annual deforestation rate of 1.2% in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot have resulted in a human-dominated landscape of plantations, agriculture, and developed areas, with embedded rainforest fragments that form biodiversity refuges and animal corridors. On private lands in the Anamalai hills, India, we established restoration sites within three rainforest fragments (5, 19, and 100 ha) representing varying levels of degradation such as open meadow, highly degraded sites with dense Lantana camara invasion, abandoned exotic tree plantations (Eucalyptus grandis and Maesopsis eminii), and sites with mixed-native and exotic tree canopy. Between 2000 and 2004, we planted annually during the southwest monsoon 7,538 nurseryraised seedlings of around 127 species in nine sites (0.15-1.0 ha). Seedlings monitored at 6-monthly intervals showed higher mortality over the dry season than the wet season and survival rates over a 2-year period of between 34.4 and 90.3% under different site conditions. Seedling survival was higher in sites with complete weed removal as against partial removal along planting lines and higher in open meadow and under shade than in sites that earlier had dense weed invasion. Of 44 species examined, survival across sites after 24 months for a majority of species (27 species, 61.4%) was higher than 50%. Retaining regenerating native species during weed clearing operations was crucial for rapid reestablishment of a first layer of canopy to shade out weeds and enhance survival of shade-tolerant rainforest seedlings.

Selection of Native Tree Species for Subtropical Forest Restoration in Southwest China

“…Similarly, several previous studies conducted in tropical areas have demonstrated that some later successional species can perform well in open sites (e.g. [27, 34, 65, 66]). These findings indicate that with careful selection, some later successional species can be incorporated into restoration plantings.…”

Identifying dormancy class and storage behaviour of champak (Magnolia champaca) seeds, an important tropical timber tree

“…The species is often planted around Hindu and Jain temples. In addition, the plant has been identified as a well performing primary tree species in reforestation and restoration projects throughout South and South Eastern Asia (Hoque et al, 2004;Raman et al, 2009;Bhatt et al, 2010).…”

Survival of Saplings in Recovery of Riparian Vegetation of Pandeiros River (MG)

“…The first year of planting is considered a period of sapling adaptation to the adverse conditions present at the site being revegetated, and is therefore when seedlings present higher mortality (Mcdonald et al, 2003;Raman et al, 2009). The decrease in survival rates over the first year of evaluation may also be related to the climatic conditions of the region, since the rains are concentrated in the months of November to January .…”