Maximizing biodiversity conservation and carbon stocking in restored tropical forests

Author(s)

Brancalion, Pedro H. S. ^[1] ; Bello, Carolina ^[2] ; Chazdon, Robin L. ^{[3, 4]} ; Galetti, Mauro ^[2] ; Jordano, Pedro ^[5] ; Lima, Renato A. F. ^[6] ; Medina, Aretha ^[7] ; Pizo, Marco Aurelio ^[8] ; Leighton Reid, J. ^[9]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Forest Sci, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr ESALQ, BR-13418900 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista UNESP, Dept Ecol, Insituto Biociencias, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Connecticut, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Storrs, CT 06269 - USA

^[4] Int Inst Sustainabil, BR-22460320 Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[5] CSIC, EBD, Ave Americo Vespucio 26, E-41092 Seville - Spain

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ecol, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[7] SOS Mata Atlantica, Ctr Expt Florestais, Itu, SP - Brazil

^[8] Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Zool, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[9] Missouri Bot Garden, Ctr Conservat & Sustainable Dev, POB 299, St Louis, MO 63166 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: CONSERVATION LETTERS; v. 11, n. 4 JUL-AUG 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 13

Abstract

Assessing the conservation value of restoration plantings is critical to support the global forest landscape restoration movement. We assessed the implications of tree species selection in the restoration of Brazil's Atlantic Forest regarding carbon stocking and species conservation. This assessment was based on a comprehensive dataset of seedling acquisition records from 961 restoration projects, more than14 million seedlings, 192 forest remnants, and functional data from 1,223 tree species. We found that animal-dispersed trees with larger seeds tend to have higher seed prices, yet are underrepresented in the seedlings acquired for restoration plantations. Compared to forest remnants, fruit supply potentially offered by the species acquired for restoration plantings is lower for birds, but higher for bats. Reduced abundance of medium- and/or large-seeded, animal-dispersed trees lead to declines of 2.8-10.6% in simulated potential carbon stocking. Given the uncertainty in these estimates, policy interventions may be needed to encourage greater representation of large-seeded, animal-dispersed tree species in Atlantic Forest restorations. These findings provide critical guidance for recovering tree functional diversity, plant-frugivore mutualistic interactions, and carbon stocking in multi-species tropical forest restoration plantings. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/01986-0 - Ecological consequences of defaunation in the Atlantic Rainforest
• Grantee: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/08722-5 - The role of functional diversity in structuring tropical tree communities: a model-based approach
• Grantee: Renato Augusto Ferreira de Lima
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 04/04820-3 - Fauna and flora from forest fragments in the northwest region of São Paulo State: the basis to biodiversity conservational studies
• Grantee: Orlando Necchi Junior
• Support type: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 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
• Grantee: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
• Support type: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/22492-2 - Linking defaunation to carbon storage ecosystem services in Atlantic rainforests
• Grantee: Laura Carolina Bello Lozano
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)