High-diversity Atlantic Forest restoration plantings fail to represent local floras

Author(s)

de Almeida, Crislaine ; Reid, J. Leighton ; de Lima, Renato A. Ferreira ; Pinto, Luis Fernando Guedes ; Viani, Ricardo Augusto Gorne

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION; v. 23, n. 1, p. 6-pg., 2025-01-01.

Abstract

One goal of ecological restoration is species conservation, so selecting tree species from local floras in restoration plantings is important to restore native species populations and avoid biotic homogenization. We evaluated if species planted to restore the Brazilian Atlantic Forest adequately represent the tree flora from local reference forests, comparing the tree seedlings selected for 1,073 restoration plantings with inventory data from 268 forest remnants, for three different Atlantic Forest types. We compared the floristic composition between plantings and remnants and calculated the Jaccard dissimilarity index to assess beta diversity among plantings, among remnants, and between plantings and remnants. Overall, plantings have lower beta diversity and higher nestedness than remnants. Furthermore, plantings form a single floristic group while remnants are split into three forest types. Plantings are more floristically similar to one another than to regional remnant forest types. Tree species selected for Atlantic Forest restoration poorly represent local floras, which could favor biotic homogenization. Incentivizing greater representation of local floras and threatened and endemic species is needed for forest restoration to facilitate biodiversity recovery at large spatial scales. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 22/13398-1 - Optimizing high-diversity restoration: perceptions and approaches to add tree diversity in tropical forest restoration plantings
• Grantee: Ricardo Augusto Gorne Viani
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• 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 Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 18/18416-2 - Understanding restored forests for benefiting people and nature - NewFor
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants