Challenges and opportunities of the use of eucalyptus as a commercial pioneer species in forest restoration

• Grant number: 14/02070-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2014
• End date: November 04, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion
• Grantee: Nino Tavares Amazonas
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/50718-5 - Ecological restoration of riparian forests, native forest of economic production and of degraded forest fragments (in APP and RL) based on restoration ecology of reference ecosystems in order to scientifically test the precepts of the New Brazilian Forest Code, AP.BTA.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/07498-2 - Using mixed-species plantations to restore native tropical forests: from a process based understanding of growth dynamics to the development of tools for their application and implementation, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Ecological restoration is seen as a global priority and still is a new and emerging science. Demands for knowledge in this field are urgent, as for the new Brazilian Forest Act, which changed recently the old federal law and brought changes of major implications without scientific support, as the authorization of mixing native and exotic species for forest restoration. In order to contribute to the awareness of this permission and, at the same time, to try to overcome the economic barrier that hinders large scale restoration in Brazil, this project focuses on economic models of forest restoration that use Eucalyptus as a "commercial pioneer" species. Our goal is to evaluate the positive and negative impacts of combining Eucalyptus as the "commercial pioneer" species with the native species in forest restoration plantings. We will compare trees in combined plantings and in traditional restoration plantings through their growth in three experimental sites and also the ecophysiological mechanisms of competition for water and light in one of the sites. Forest inventory will provide data of growth and will allow the evaluation of competition indirectly. Ecophysiological parameters related to the use of water and light by the species will allow to evaluate competition directly and understand the processes that cause growth differences. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; AMAZONAS, NINO T.; CHAZDON, ROBIN L.; VAN MELIS, JULIANO; RODRIGUES, RICARDO R.; SILVA, CARINA C.; SORRINI, TAISI B.; HOLL, KAREN D.. Exotic eucalypts: From demonized trees to allies of tropical forest restoration?. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, OCT 2019. (18/18416-2, 13/50718-5, 14/02070-9, 16/07498-2)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; SILVA, CARINA CAMARGO; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL SILVA; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. Light- and nutrient-related relationships in mixed plantations of Eucalyptus and a high diversity of native tree species. NEW FORESTS, JAN 2021. (14/02070-9, 13/50718-5, 16/07498-2, 18/21338-3)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; SILVA, CARINA CAMARGO; ALVES ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. High diversity mixed plantations of Eucalyptus and native trees: An interface between production and restoration for the tropics. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 417, p. 247-256, MAY 15 2018. (13/50718-5, 14/02070-9, 16/05219-9, 16/07498-2)

BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; AMAZONAS, NINO T.; CHAZDON, ROBIN L.; VAN MELIS, JULIANO; RODRIGUES, RICARDO R.; SILVA, CARINA C.; SORRINI, TAISI B.; HOLL, KAREN D.. Exotic eucalypts: From demonized trees to allies of tropical forest restoration?. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, v. 57, n. 1, p. 12-pg., 2019-10-12. (13/50718-5, 18/18416-2, 14/02070-9, 16/07498-2)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL SILVA; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. Combining Eucalyptus wood production with the recovery of native tree diversity in mixed plantings: Implications for water use and availability. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 418, n. SI, p. 34-40, JUN 1 2018. (13/50718-5, 14/02070-9)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; SILVA, CARINA CAMARGO; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL SILVA; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. Light- and nutrient-related relationships in mixed plantations of Eucalyptus and a high diversity of native tree species. NEW FORESTS, v. 52, n. 5, p. 807-828, SEP 2021. (14/02070-9, 16/07498-2, 18/21338-3, 13/50718-5)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL SILVA; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. Combining Eucalyptus wood production with the recovery of native tree diversity in mixed plantings: Implications for water use and availability. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 418, p. 7-pg., 2018-06-01. (13/50718-5, 14/02070-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

AMAZONAS, Nino Tavares. High diversity mixed plantations in Brazil: Eucalyptus intercropped with native tree species. 2018. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) Piracicaba.