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Florencia Montagnini - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • the role of native species Plantations in recovery of understory woody diversity in degraded pasturelands of costa rica
    Forest Ecology and Management, 2004
    Co-Authors: Daniela F Cusack, Florencia Montagnini
    Abstract:

    Tropical timber Plantations provide a variety of environmental services, including recovery of biodiversity on degraded lands. For example, Plantations can speed forest successional processes by improving microsite conditions and attracting seed dispersers, thus promoting woody regeneration. Timber species have been hypothesized to differ in understory recruitment success. In the present research, understory regeneration of woody plants was compared for six native timber species on tropical Plantations in the Atlantic humid lowlands of Costa Rica. Timber species compared were: Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess, Hieronyma alchorneoides Allemao, Terminalia amazonia (J.F. Gmel.) Exell, Virola koschnyi Warb., Vochysia ferruginea Mart., and Vochysia guatemalensis Sprague. The six species were present at each of the three sites: one experimental plantation and two small-scale Plantations belonging to farmers of the region. All Plantations were 9–10 years. The experimental plantation was 100 m from continuous forest (i.e., seed source), and the farmers’ Plantations were 1.3 and 2.5 km from continuous forest. Four plots were sampled for each timber species at each site using a randomized block design. All understory woody species were counted, identified, and separated by height class. Canopy openness and leaf litter biomass on the plantation floor were also evaluated. All of the Plantations studied showed significantly higher levels of understory regeneration than control plots on abandoned pastures ðP < 0:05Þ. In this study, plantation site was the most significant factor affecting understory woody species diversity ðP < 0:0001Þ. Different timber species were most successful at recruiting understory regeneration in each of the three sites. On the experimental Plantations at site 1, V. guatemalensis and C. brasiliense had the greatest recruitment success, with 75,581 and 69,219 regenerating individuals/ha, respectively. In the commercial Plantations, T. amazonia (16,250 regenerating individuals/ ha) had the greatest recruitment success at site 2, and V. ferruginea (29,219 regenerating individuals/ha) had the greatest recruitment success at site 3. Across sites, plots with intermediate canopy openness had greater abundance of understory regeneration than plots with low or high percentages of canopy openness ðP ¼ 0:02Þ. There was no relationship between understory regeneration and leaf litter biomass. Of the planted species most successful at restoring understory diversity, V. guatemalensis, T. amazonia, and V. ferruginea have demonstrated good form and growth for timber, making them important species for reforestation in the region. # 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.

  • facilitating regeneration of secondary forests with the use of mixed and pure Plantations of indigenous tree species
    Forest Ecology and Management, 2002
    Co-Authors: Nelida J Carnevale, Florencia Montagnini
    Abstract:

    Abstract The establishment of tree Plantations on degraded lands can facilitate the regeneration of native species that could not otherwise grow in open micro sites or in competition by herbaceous species. The present research investigated tree regeneration under mixed and pure Plantations of native species at La Selva Biological Station in the Atlantic humid lowlands of Costa Rica. The highest abundance of regenerating tree individuals was found in the understory of the mixed plantation (composed of Hieronyma alchorneoides+Vochysia ferruginea+Balizia elegans+Genipa americana) with 10,156 individuals/ha, followed by pure plantation of H. alchorneoides with 7891, V. ferruginea with 5703, B. elegans with 4219, G. americana with 1484, and the natural regeneration control with 703 individuals/ha. The highest mean number of species was found in the understory of the mixed plantation (11 species in 32 m2), followed by pure plantation of V. ferruginea (8.0), H. alchorneoides (7.0), B. elegans (5.0), G. americana (3.0) and control (1.0). Melastomataceae was the most abundant family in the understory of the mixed plantation and in the pure plantation of V. ferruginea, while Rubiaceae was the most abundant under H. alchorneoides. In constrast, Piperaceae was the most abundant family under pure Plantations of G. americana and B. elegans. In addition, species of primary forest of the region were found in the understory of the mixed plantation and under the pure Plantations of H. alchorneoides and V. ferruginea. These are promising indicators for the use of these Plantations as accelerators of natural forest succession in the region. Very few woody species were found in the control, natural regeneration plots. Factors that may impede the establishment of woody species in the control may be the lack of perches for seed dipersers and invasion by herbaceous vegetation which outcompetes the tree seedlings in their growth.

Edzo Veldkamp - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • soil carbon stocks decrease following conversion of secondary forests to rubber hevea brasiliensis Plantations
    PLOS ONE, 2013
    Co-Authors: Marleen De Blecourt, Rainer Brumme, Marife D Corre, Edzo Veldkamp
    Abstract:

    Forest-to-rubber plantation conversion is an important land-use change in the tropical region, for which the impacts on soil carbon stocks have hardly been studied. In montane mainland southeast Asia, monoculture rubber Plantations cover 1.5 million ha and the conversion from secondary forests to rubber Plantations is predicted to cause a fourfold expansion by 2050. Our study, conducted in southern Yunnan province, China, aimed to quantify the changes in soil carbon stocks following the conversion from secondary forests to rubber Plantations. We sampled 11 rubber Plantations ranging in age from 5 to 46 years and seven secondary forest plots using a space-for-time substitution approach. We found that forest-to-rubber plantation conversion resulted in losses of soil carbon stocks by an average of 37.4±4.7 (SE) Mg C ha−1 in the entire 1.2-m depth over a time period of 46 years, which was equal to 19.3±2.7% of the initial soil carbon stocks in the secondary forests. This decline in soil carbon stocks was much larger than differences between published aboveground carbon stocks of rubber Plantations and secondary forests, which range from a loss of 18 Mg C ha−1 to an increase of 8 Mg C ha−1. In the topsoil, carbon stocks declined exponentially with years since deforestation and reached a steady state at around 20 years. Although the IPCC tier 1 method assumes that soil carbon changes from forest-to-rubber plantation conversions are zero, our findings show that they need to be included to avoid errors in estimating overall ecosystem carbon fluxes.

Pute Wu - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • identifying a suitable revegetation technique for soil restoration on water limited and degraded land considering both deep soil moisture deficit and soil organic carbon sequestration
    Geoderma, 2018
    Co-Authors: Hongchen Li, Xining Zhao, Pute Wu
    Abstract:

    Abstract Revegetation is an important means to improve the ecosystem services delivered by degraded land; however, inappropriate revegetation can result in severe soil desiccation and ecosystem degradation in water-limited regions. Here we evaluated seven common revegetation techniques by considering both deep soil moisture deficit and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration on the Loess Plateau of China, attempting to identify a suitable method for soil restoration of severely degraded ecosystems. The seven revegetation techniques considered were: two single-species shrub Plantations (Caragana korshinskii and Hippophae rhamnoides), two single-species tree Plantations (Platycladus orientalis with terracing and Robinia pseudoacacia), and three mixed Plantations (P. orientalis/H. rhamnoides with terracing, R. pseudoacacia/H. rhamnoides, R. pseudoacacia/P. orientalis). A 12-year-old abandoned cropland served as the control. The results showed that the single-species plantation of P. orientalis with terracing had the lowest soil moisture deficit in deep layers (200–800 cm) but also had the lowest SOC sequestration. In contrast, the mixed plantation of R. pseudoacacia/H. rhamnoides had the highest SOC sequestration but also had significant deep soil moisture deficit. In contrast, the mixed plantation of P. orientalis/H. rhamnoides with terracing showed near-zero deep soil moisture deficit and significant, positive SOC sequestration. Therefore, this mixed plantation was identified as representing a suitable revegetation technique for this region. The results here suggest that appropriate mixed tree/shrub Plantations with appropriate land engineering measures could deliver effective soil restoration in such environments. Our results provide an insight into revegetation in areas with degraded land.

Frédéric Archaux - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Towards practices favourable to plant diversity in hybrid poplar Plantations
    Forest Ecology and Management, 2010
    Co-Authors: Frédéric Archaux, R. Chevalier, A. Berthelot
    Abstract:

    Much research effort is being devoted to developing forest management practices with limited impacts on biodiversity. While the impact of poplar Populus sp. Plantations on biodiversity is relatively wellknown at the landscape scale, the impact of alternative management practices at the plantation scale has received much less attention. Yet biodiversity is likely to be impacted by the choice of the poplar clone, stem density at plantation, type and duration of the understory control, and age at which the poplars are harvested. In this study, we investigated the impact of these factors on herbaceous plant communities with data from plant surveys conducted in 85 young (25 years) and 96 mature (1117 years) hybrid poplar high-forest Plantations in northern France. On average, ruderal or generalist plants contributed to 40.5% of the plot species richness; tall herbs (60.2%), forest (26%) and meadow plants (13.8%) contributed to the remaining 59.5% more specialised species. Soil moisture and soil nitrogen were major determinants of plant communities: wet soils were favourable to tall herbs, while meadow and forest species preferred moist soils; a significantly lower diversity of the three species groups was reported in the nutrient richer soils (in mature Plantations only for forest plants). Mean species richness decreased with plantation age except for forest species. Plant communities in young Plantations showed little differences in composition according to the type of understory control (chemical, mechanical or both). The development of a shrubby layer in mature Plantations was restricted to the drier soils and was detrimental to both meadow plants and tall herb species. Effects of previous land use on forest and tall herb species were found only in young Plantations, suggesting a rapid reset of plant communities for these two groups. This may not be the case for meadow species as the influence of previous land use was significant in mature Plantations only. Finally, clone type and stem density at plantation had no significant impact on plant communities. Adjusting age at which the poplars are harvested seems the only effective way to drive plant communities in high-forest poplar Plantations: delaying poplar harvest (probably beyond 1520 years) would benefit forest plants, while advancing poplar harvest (about 10 years) would benefit tall herbs, especially in wet soil conditions.

  • Hybrid poplar Plantations in a floodplain have balanced impacts on farmland and woodland birds
    Forest Ecology and Management, 2009
    Co-Authors: Frédéric Archaux, H. Martin
    Abstract:

    Les Plantations de peuplier hybride augmentent en surface dans le monde entier et elles sont souvent accusées d'appauvrir les communautés d'oiseaux. Nous avons réalisé 124 points d'écoute dans un paysage où les Plantations, les forêts semi-naturelles et les milieux agricoles représentent des surfaces similaires. Comme attendu,les densités des oiseaux étaient plus fortes dans les secteurs dominés par la forêt que dans ceux dominés par les Plantations, essentiellement du fait de la rareté des espèces des vieux stades forestiers dans les Plantations. Contrairement à nos attentes, les communautés étaient les plus appauvries dans les secteurs agricoles et les plus spécialisées dans les secteurs dominés par les jeunes Plantations. En effet, un certain nombre d'espèces des prairies, certaines au statut de conservation défavorable en Europe, ont été observées dans ces Plantations. Néanmoins, les Plantations ont probablement participé à la rareté de ces espèces à l'échelle du paysage en fragmentant les espaces ouverts, tout en jouant un rôle positif limité de reconnection des éléments boisés persitants. La longueur cumulée des chemins autour du point d'écoute influençait positivement les espèces spécialistes, tandis que la longueur cumulée de routes pavées et la taille moyenne des Plantations et boisements ne jouaient pas de rôle. La densité augmentait avec le développement du sous-étage dans les Plantations mature. Nous concluons que le peuplier ne doit pas être planté au détriment de zones de forte valeur patrimoniale; dans les autres cas, ces Plantations peuvent accroître la diversité globale des communautés d'oiseaux. A l'échelle de la plantation, nous recommandons d'arrêter le contrôle de la végétation herbacée et arbustive dès que ces strates ne menacent plus la croissance de la plantation, et de maintenir de vieux arbres et des haies au sein ou le long des Plantations pour les espèces susceptibles de nicher ou de se nourrir dans les Plantations. / Hybrid poplar Plantations are increasing worldwide and are often accused of impoverishing bird communities. We conducted 124 bird point counts in a landscape where Plantations, semi-natural forests and farmland occupied similar surface areas. As expected, birds occurred at higher densities in areas dominated by forests than dominated by Plantations, mostly due to the scarcity of latesuccessional forest birds in Plantations. Contrary to expectations, bird communities were the poorest in farmland dominated areas and the most specialised in areas dominated by young Plantations. Indeed, many grassland species, including some of conservation concern in Europe, frequently used young Plantations. However, Plantations have probably depleted grassland bird communities by fragmenting open areas, while playing a limited positive role on forest species. Total length of unpaved roads had a positive effect on community specialisation index, while total length of paved roads and mean forest/plantation patch size played no role. Bird density increased with the development of the understory vegetation in mature poplar Plantations. We conclude that poplar should not be planted at the expense of areas of high conservation value; in other cases, they may increase the overall diversity of bird communities. At the plantation scale, we advocate stopping understory removal as soon as possible and maintaining old trees and hedgerows alongside or within Plantations to provide suitable breeding habitats for bird species that may be foraging in the Plantations.

Yusheng Yang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • litter fall production and carbon return in cunninghamia lanceolata schima superba and their mixed Plantations
    Journal of Applied Ecology, 2010
    Co-Authors: Zhijie Yang, Guangshui Chen, Yusheng Yang
    Abstract:

    : From March 2005 to April 2007, an investigation was made on the litter fall production and carbon return of Cunninghamia lanceolata, Schima superba, and their mixed Plantations in the Jian' ou Science and Education Park of Soil and Water Conservation, Fujian. In these three Plantations, the mean annual litter fall production was from 2470.85 kg x hm(-2) x a(-1) to 4285.99 kg x hm(-2) x a(-1), and dominated by leaf litter, accounting for 68.62%-87.26% of the total production. In C. lanceolata plantation, the litter fall production peaked in April-May, July, and December; while in S. superba and mixed Plantations, this production only peaked in March. Comparing with pure Plantations, mixed plantation had a higher litter fall production per tree of broadleaved S. superba while a lower litter fall production per tree of coniferous C. lanceolata. Leaf litter in the three Plantations was the main body of the litter falls carbon return, and the total amount of the carbon return was the largest (2.12 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1)) in mixed plantation and the smallest (1.19 t C x hm(-2) x a(-1)) in C. lanceolata plantation, which was in accordance with the annual litter fall production of the Plantations. This study demonstrated that comparing with pure coniferous or broadleaved plantation, coniferous-broadleaved mixed plantation had higher annual litter fall production and carbon return, and thus, higher potential of C sequestration.