Unravelling landscape drivers of forest recovery in a successional perspective

• Grant number: 20/06734-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Nature Conservation
• Cooperation agreement: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion
• Grantee: Catherine Torres de Almeida
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/18416-2 - Understanding restored forests for benefiting people and nature - NewFor, AP.TEM

Abstract

Recent advances describing spatial patterns of tropical forest regeneration include the influence of landscape structure among the main drivers of forest recovery. These advances have been achieved by evaluating the relative frequency of conditions under which natural forests took place in areas previously classified as anthropogenic fields. However, there is sound evidence describing second growth as a gradual process, which encompasses the succession of transitory plant communities. Conservation policies developed for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF) consider a reasonably consensual model with four recovery stages. Between them, three transitions are expected, and each transition may present particular responses related to the landscape context. Here, we aim to investigate the spatial variability of the probability of transition between successional stages in BAF, and its relations with land-use context. In this direction, regenerating BAF will be mapped in Sao Paulo State and classified for the successional stage in the two extremes of a decade. The comparison between these periods will allow assessing how probabilities of transition vary within our study area. Results are expected to enable quantifying the portions of BAF in each regeneration stage for different scenarios and provide management recommendations that are aware of successional stages and land use context. We believe that findings from this study focused on the Sao Paulo State's BAF, will be transferable for the management of new tropical forests elsewhere. (AU)