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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Amazonia is well known for its high natural regeneration capacity; for this reason, passive restoration is normally recommended for the recovery of its degraded forests. However, highly deforested landscapes in southern Amazonia require active restoration. Since restoration methods can shape the quality and speed of early forest recovery, this study aimed to verify how active restoration pushes sites stably covered with exotic grasses towards forest recovery. We evaluated early forest succession at active restoration sites, i.e., soil plowing, direct seeding of pioneer species, and seedling stock planting at low density. We analyzed forest structure, diversity, and species composition in two age classes, 0.5–3.5 and 4.5–7.5 years old. As reference, we evaluated sites able to naturally regenerate in the same region. We sampled 36 active restoration and 31 natural regeneration sites along the Madeira River, southern Amazonia. Active restoration triggered succession to similar or higher levels of forest structure than sites where natural regeneration was taking place. The most dominant species did not overlap between active restoration and natural regeneration sites. The overall composition of species was different between the two restoration methods. Dominant species and size class distribution show that active restoration is performing successfully. Soil preparation combined with a high availability of seeds of pioneer trees resulted in a high stem density and basal area of facilitative pioneer trees. Planted seedlings added species diversity and increased density of large trees. Interventions to increase the odds of natural regeneration can be effective for non-regenerating sites in resilient landscapes.

Details

Title
Active Restoration Initiates High Quality Forest Succession in a Deforested Landscape in Amazonia
Author
Mascia Vieira, Daniel Luis 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Silvia Barbosa Rodrigues 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Catarina Conte Jakovac 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha 4 ; Reis, Fagno 5 ; Borges, Augusto 6 

 Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Parque Estação Biológica, PqEB, Av. W5 Norte (Final), Brasília 70770-917, DF, Brazil 
 Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília 70919-900, DF, Brazil; [email protected] 
 International Institute for Sustainability, Estrada Dona Castorina, 124, Rio de Janeiro 22460-320, RJ, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Tikré Brasil Soluções Ambientais, Rua Almery de Paiva 255, Catalão 75702-390, GO, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Cooperativa de Produtores Rurais do Observatório Ambiental Jirau (COOPPROJIRAU), Rua Pitomba, 1 Quadra B1, Nova Mutum Paraná 76842-000, RO, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Energia Sustentável do Brasil S.A. (ESBR), Rodovia BR-364, KM 824, Porto Velho 76840-000, RO, Brazil; [email protected] 
First page
1022
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19994907
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2565239578
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.