Native regeneration under tropical tree monocultures: a global synthesis.

ABSTRACT: Tree monocultures are widespread across human-modified tropical landscapes, providing financial benefits to farmers and a large share of wood products to society. However, using monoculture tree plantations to promote forest and landscape restoration have been criticized for their potential damages to biodiversity and ecosystem services provision, accordingly it is crucial to understand whether and under what conditions these plantations can contribute to biodiversity recovery. In this research, we synthetized the current knowledge about native tree species regeneration under monoculture tree plantations across the tropics. We hypothesized that tree regeneration under tropical monoculture plantations can be substantial but is strongly modulated by management practices. We systematically reviewed papers about natural regeneration under tree monocultures in the tropics and conducted a meta-analysis with the studies that included a natural reference forest. This review included sixty studies carried out in four tropical biomes, thirty-seven ecoregions, twenty-two countries and five continents. We also explored a database that comprised eighty-eight studies about tree species regeneration under Pinus sp. and Eucalyptus sp. monocultures in Brazil as a case study to investigate the potential accumulation of woody species in tree monoculture understories. The woody species richness of plantations? understory showed high variability, suggesting the role of management in the regeneration potential. Monoculture tree plantations presented on average 39% of the richness and 24% of the tree abundance of the reference forests. Longer rotation, native species monocultures, and plantations adjacent to forest remnants harbored more species. In the case study, we found eight-hundred species regenerating in approximately twenty-five hectares. Our results suggest that monoculture plantations are not always ?green deserts? and can actually harbor diverse woody species regeneration. Management practices play a crucial role in determining their conservation value. Furthermore, diversity and abundance of woody regeneration under tree monocultures are not comparable with reference areas, emphasizing that protecting forest remnants is imperative for biodiversity conservation

Microsatellite markers for the Cabreúva tree, Myroxylon peruiferum (Fabaceae), an endangered medicinal species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The Cabreúva tree, Myroxylon peruiferum, is an endangered tropical species from Brazil used in forest restoration projects. It is known for its medicinal properties. Eleven microsatellite markers were developed for this species, from a microsatellite-enriched library. Nine of these markers, characterized in 30 individuals from a semideciduous forest remnant population in southeast Brazil, were polymorphic, with allele numbers ranging from 2 to 8 per locus; expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.103 to 0.757 and 0.107 to 0.704, respectively. One locus (Mpe-C04) showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, probably due to null alleles. Two other loci (Mpe-E09 and Mpe-H07) were monomorphic in this population. These microsatellite loci should be useful for future population genetic studies of this species. The Cabreúva tree, Myroxylon peruiferum, is an endangered tropical species from Brazil used in forest restoration projects. It is known for its medicinal properties. Eleven microsatellite markers were developed for this species, from a microsatellite-enriched library. Nine of these markers, characterized in 30 individuals from a semideciduous forest remnant population in southeast Brazil, were polymorphic, with allele numbers ranging from 2 to 8 per locus; expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.103 to 0.757 and 0.107 to 0.704, respectively. One locus (Mpe-C04) showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, probably due to null alleles. Two other loci (Mpe-E09 and Mpe-H07) were monomorphic in this population. These microsatellite loci should be useful for future population genetic studies of this species13369206925CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPsem informaçã

Microsatellite Markers For The Cabreúva Tree, Myroxylon Peruiferum (fabaceae), An Endangered Medicinal Species From The Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

The Cabreúva tree, Myroxylon peruiferum, is an endangered tropical species from Brazil used in forest restoration projects. It is known for its medicinal properties. Eleven microsatellite markers were developed for this species, from a microsatellite-enriched library. Nine of these markers, characterized in 30 individuals from a semideciduous forest remnant population in southeast Brazil, were polymorphic, with allele numbers ranging from 2 to 8 per locus; expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.103 to 0.757 and 0.107 to 0.704, respectively. One locus (Mpe-C04) showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, probably due to null alleles. Two other loci (Mpe-E09 and Mpe-H07) were monomorphic in this population. These microsatellite loci should be useful for future population genetic studies of this species.136920-

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for Piptadenia Gonoacantha (fabaceae)

Microsatellite primers were designed for Piptadenia gonoacantha (Fabaceae) and characterized to estimate genetic diversity parameters. The species is a native tree from the Atlantic Forest biome commonly used in forest restoration; it has medicinal potential and the wood is economically useful. Twenty-eight microsatellite loci were identified from an enriched genomic library. Fifteen loci resulted in successful amplifications and were characterized in a natural population of 94 individuals. Twelve loci were polymorphic, with allele numbers ranging from three to 15 per locus, and expected and observed heterozygosities ranging from 0.2142 to 0.8325 and 0.190 to 0.769, respectively. The developed markers will be used in further studies of population genetics of P. gonoacantha, aimed at conservation and management of the species in natural populations and in forest restoration projects32CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP140036/2011-3sem informaçãoBiota/FAPESP-11/50296-

Adding forests to the water–energy–food nexus

Forest and landscape restoration is a promising strategy for improving water, energy and food securities. We advocate that ‘forest security’ should form a fourth, foundational dimension of a novel water, energy, food and forest security nexus framework. Key principles of this new framework support an integrated role of forests in sustainable development, and engagement of local communities in nature-based solutions, particularly in the Global South. We believe that this new approach can help to accelerate the pace and magnitude of changes needed for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. © 2020, Springer Nature Limited

When enough should be enough: Improving the use of current agricultural lands could meet production demands and spare natural habitats in Brazil

Providing food and other products to a growing human population while safeguarding natural ecosystems and the provision of their services is a significant scientific, social and political challenge. With food demand likely to double over the next four decades, anthropization is already driving climate change and is the principal force behind species extinction, among other environmental impacts. The sustainable intensification of production on current agricultural lands has been suggested as a key solution to the competition for land between agriculture and natural ecosystems. However, few investigations have shown the extent to which these lands can meet projected demands while considering biophysical constraints. Here we investigate the improved use of existing agricultural lands and present insights into avoiding future competition for land. We focus on Brazil, a country projected to experience the largest increase in agricultural production over the next four decades and the richest nation in terrestrial carbon and biodiversity. Using various models and climatic datasets, we produced the first estimate of the carrying capacity of Brazil's 115 million hectares of cultivated pasturelands. We then investigated if the improved use of cultivated pasturelands would free enough land for the expansion of meat, crops, wood and biofuel, respecting biophysical constraints (i.e., terrain, climate) and including climate change impacts. We found that the current productivity of Brazilian cultivated pasturelands is 32–34% of its potential and that increasing productivity to 49–52% of the potential would suffice to meet demands for meat, crops, wood products and biofuels until at least 2040, without further conversion of natural ecosystems. As a result up to 14.3 Gt CO2 Eq could be mitigated. The fact that the country poised to undergo the largest expansion of agricultural production over the coming decades can do so without further conversion of natural habitats provokes the question whether the same can be true in other regional contexts and, ultimately, at the global scale

Adequação de propriedades rurais ao Código Florestal Brasileiro: estudo de caso no Estado do Paraná.

O Código Florestal Brasileiro de 1965 conceitua e regulamenta as Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APP) e Reserva Legal (RL). Para regulamentar a adequação das propriedades agrícolas ao código florestal, o estado do Paraná instituiu o SISLEG - Sistema de Manutenção, Recuperação e Proteção da Reserva Legal e Áreas de Preservação Permanente. Neste estudo foram quantificadas, com auxílio do sistema de posicionamento global (GPS) e programas de Sistemas de Informações Geográficas (SIG), as APPs e RLs de 147 propriedades em oito municípios das regiões centro-oriental e sudeste do Paraná, visando analisá-las frente ao Código Florestal vigente. Observou-se expressiva cobertura florestal formada por fragmentos de Floresta Ombrófila Mista; as superfícies disponíveis para definição de RL apresentam valores superiores àqueles requeridos pela legislação. Há necessidade de recomposição das APPs em 67% das propriedades; 26% das propriedades estão de acordo com as exigências do Código Florestal. A quantificação da cobertura florestal necessária e remanescente, tal como a pequena demanda de área para readequação de APP (5% da área total) permitem inferir que esses quesitos não são entraves para a regularização ambiental da agricultura familiar, nas propriedades analisadas

Transformando a Amazônia através de "arcos de restauração".

Esta publicação aborda a necessidade de uma restauração em larga escala na Amazônia, apontando algumas soluções.Publicada também nos idiomas inglês e espanhol

Explore before you restore: Incorporating complex systems thinking in ecosystem restoration

The global movement for ecosystem restoration has gained momentum in response to the Bonn Challenge (2010) and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UNDER, 2021–2030). While several science-based guidelines exist to aid in achieving successful restoration outcomes, significant variation remains in the outcomes of restoration projects. Some of this disparity can be attributed to unexpected responses of ecosystem components to planned interventions.Given the complex nature of ecosystems, we propose that concepts from Complex Systems Science (CSS) that are linked to non-linearity, such as regime shifts, ecological resilience and ecological feedbacks, should be employed to help explain this variation in restoration outcomes from an ecological perspective.Our framework, Explore Before You Restore, illustrates how these concepts impact restoration outcomes by influencing degradation and recovery trajectories. Additionally, we propose incorporating CSS concepts into the typical restoration project cycle through a CSS assessment phase and suggest that the need for such assessment is explicitly included in the guidelines to improve restoration outcomes.To facilitate this inclusion and make it workable by practitioners, we describe indicators and methods available for restoration teams to answer key questions that should make up such CSS assessment. In doing so, we identify key outstanding science and policy tasks that are needed to further operationalize CSS assessment in restoration.Synthesis and applications. By illustrating how key Complex Systems Science (CSS) concepts linked to non-linear threshold behaviour can impact restoration outcomes through influencing recovery trajectories, our framework Explore Before You Restore demonstrates the need to incorporate Complex Systems thinking in ecosystem restoration. We argue that inclusion of CSS assessment into restoration project cycles, and more broadly, into international restoration guidelines, may significantly improve restoration outcomes