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Biodivers Conserv (2010) 19:38933915 DOI 10.1007/s10531-010-9936-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
Leah L. Bremer Kathleen A. Farley
Received: 12 March 2010 / Accepted: 20 October 2010 / Published online: 11 November 2010 The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract Plantations are established for a variety of reasons including wood production, soil and water conservation, and more recently, carbon sequestration. The effect of this growing land-use change on biodiversity, however, is poorly understood and considerable debate exists as to whether plantations are green deserts or valuable habitat for indigenous ora and fauna. This paper synthesizes peer-reviewed articles that provide quantitative data on plant species richness in plantations and paired land uses, most often representative of pre-plantation land cover. The results of this synthesis suggest that the value of plantations for biodiversity varies considerably depending on whether the original land cover is grassland, shrubland, primary forest, secondary forest, or degraded or exotic pasture, and whether native or exotic tree species are planted. The results of this study suggest that plantations are most likely to contribute to biodiversity when established on degraded lands rather than replacing natural ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands, and shrublands, and when indigenous tree species are used rather than exotic species. These ndings can help guide afforestation and reforestation programs, including those aimed at increasing terrestrial carbon sequestration.
Keywords Afforestation Reforestation Plantations Land-use change Biodiversity
Plant diversity Species richness Carbon sequestration
Abbreviations
FAO Food and Agricultural OrganizationSR Species richness
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9936-4
Web End =10.1007/s10531-010-9936-4 ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
L. L. Bremer (&) K. A. Farley
Department of Geography, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-4493, USAe-mail: [email protected]
L. L. Bremer
Department of Geography, 1832 Ellison Hall, U.C. Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4060, USA
Does plantation forestry restore biodiversity or create green deserts? A synthesis of the effects of land-use transitions on plant species richness
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Introduction
Deforestation continues at a rate of 13 million hectares per year with devastating effects on biodiversity, particularly in the tropics. At the same time, afforestation and reforestation have led to an increase in forest and tree cover in some areas, lowering...