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

• Grant number: 16/07498-2
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Forestry
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion
• Grantee: Nino Tavares Amazonas
• Supervisor abroad: David Forrester
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Local de pesquisa : University of Freiburg, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/02070-9 - Challenges and opportunities of the use of eucalyptus as a commercial pioneer species in forest restoration, BP.DR

Abstract

The high cost of restoring tropical forests is, nowadays, the greatest obstacle to achieving large scale restoration. In order to overcome this barrier, we developed and implemented restoration plantings that included Eucalyptus grown with mid- to late-successional native tree species. The aim was to create favorable conditions for the regeneration of native species while simultaneously generating income by exploiting Eucalyptus as a commercial pioneer species, which shall be replaced by the native species after it is harvested. This project abroad aims to bring new approaches and analyses to this research, as well as filling some gaps within the original project. To better evaluate our experiments we will use tree-level approaches and neighborhood indices to better understand the stand-level dynamics. We will examine interactions relating to light, water and nutrients, and lastly, we will parameterize and test a forest growth model that has been specifically designed for mixed-species forests and that will be used to examine the effects of biotic and abiotic factors (e.g. species combinations and droughts) on growth and forest functioning and that can be used as a tool by land managers to apply. At the end of this research, we will have covered the main aspects and approaches of the effects of competition on tree growth using data from our restoration experiments and have developed a management tool for its practical application. (AU)

Scientific publications

(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. Web of Science Citations: 0.

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. Web of Science Citations: 11.