Forest Restoration Projects Research Articles

Potential and Investment Attractiveness of Implementing Climate Projects on Disturbed Lands

Forest restoration projects can be categorized as climate projects, investments in the implementation of which exceed the investment costs of forest-climate projects, which reduces their attractiveness to investors. An algorithm for assessing investment costs of climate reforestation projects on disturbed lands has been developed. The potential of territories for the implementation of such project initiatives is available in all regions of Russia and amounts to more than 381 thousand hectares. For five studied polygons of disturbed lands (Kuzbass basin, Moscow basin, Western Siberia basin, as well as basins of Chelyabinsk and Belgorod Regions), the aggregated costs for the implementation of measures to create carbon-depositing plantations and ground cover were calculated. Investment costs for restoration of 1 hectare of disturbed land under the climate project vary from 82.6 thousand rubles to 116.9 thousand rubles. Cost analysis shows that the carbon intensity of investment in such projects on disturbed lands is quite high (Ccii > 1.0). The highest investment potential is observed in the Kuzbass basin, where Ccii is 2.01. To organize and implement the afforestation project on disturbed lands of the Kemerovo Region, investments in the amount of 66.7 thousand rubles/ha for capital expenditures and 24.7 thousand rubles/ha for current expenses will be required. The payback period of such an investment project, taking into account the discount rate, is 13.1 years, and during the study period (20 years) the income from the project will cover 228% of the spent funds. These data confirm that the investment potential of forest-climatic projects on disturbed lands is quite high.

Fire history in northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient in productivity

BackgroundUnderstanding the role of fire in forested landscapes is fundamental to fire reintroduction efforts, yet few studies have examined how fire dynamics vary in response to interactions between local conditions, such as soil productivity, and more broadscale changes in climate. In this study, we examined historical fire frequency, seasonality, and spatial patterning in mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient of soil productivity in the northern Sierra Nevada. We cross-dated 46 different wood samples containing 377 fire scars from 6 paired sites, located on and off of ultramafic serpentine soils. Forests on serpentine-derived soils have slower growth rates, lower biomass accumulation, and patchier vegetation than adjacent, non-serpentine sites. Due to these differences, we hypothesized that historical fire frequency and spatial extent would be reduced in mixed conifer forests growing on serpentine soils.ResultsFire scars revealed a history of frequent fire at all of our sites (median composite interval: 6–22.5 years) despite clear differences in soil productivity. Fire frequency was slightly shorter in more productive non-serpentine sites, but this difference was not consistently significant within our sample pairs. While fires were frequent, both on and off of serpentine, they were also highly asynchronous, and this was largely driven by differing climate–fire relationships. Fires in more productive sites were strongly associated with drought conditions in the year of the fire, while fires in less productive serpentine sites appeared to be more dependent on a cycle of wet and dry conditions in the years preceding the fire. Widespread fires that crossed the boundary between serpentine and non-serpentine were associated with drier than normal years.ConclusionsIn our study, fine-scale variation in historical fire regime attributes was linked to both bottom-up and top-down controls. Understanding how these factors interact to create variation in fire frequency, timing, and spatial extent can help managers more effectively define desired conditions, develop management objectives, and identify management strategies for fire reintroduction and forest restoration projects.

How does restoration ecology consider climate change uncertainties in forested ecosystems?

Forest restoration is a powerful tool that combats forest loss and mitigates climate change. Our review asks how climate change considerations are integrated into forest restoration. We asked: (1) How many articles about forest restoration practices discuss climate change; (2) has this changed over time; and (3) when climate change is mentioned, how is it considered? We used the framework created by Simonson et al. in 2021, which describes seven unique areas where practitioners can consider climate change impacts in their projects. These areas include adjusting species and location for projected changes to fitness, mitigating risks, and aligning practice with policy. We reviewed the literature through Web of Science and evaluated publications for inclusion of these considerations. We found that the number of publications about forest restoration projects has increased significantly since the early 2000s, exceeding 200 in 2021. The proportion of these including the terms “climate change” or “global warming,” has also increased (35% in 2021). Climate change concepts were only considered in what we defined as an “in‐depth” context in 83 of the 186 publications we reviewed (45%). However, the majority of publications (115 of 186, 61%) did incorporate at least one of the seven considerations, even if they did not satisfy our definition for in‐depth climate change consideration. Several articles discussed other considerations not described by Simonson et al. (2021), leading us to recommend adding an eighth criterion to their framework: consider place‐based communities and Indigenous Knowledge Holders' responses to climate change in forest restoration.

Mangrove forest ecological function is influenced by the environmental settings and the benthic fauna composition

Benthic communities perform many important roles within mangrove ecosystems and are responsible for facilitating many of the functions attributed to mangrove forests. For instance, they are instrumental in mediating mangrove system productivity, and provide crucial food for juvenile nekton. Despite their importance, very few studies have investigated the benthic community of mangrove forests, and among those the results are inconsistent. This variability manifests in strong location effects, with low organism density and species richness in Indo-Pacific mangroves, compared to West Atlantic sites. These regional difference are confounded by differences in within-region environmental settings (e.g. rainfall, tidal range, spatial location along the coastal mosaic), and this complicates the development of a clear understanding of underlying consistencies. To assess the influence of contrasting environmental influences on the benthic community of mangrove forests we studied the benthic community of Rhizophora stylosa forests at two coastal estuaries and along the shores of two islands within a 75 km radius. The results showed that the community composition differed among settings, with several taxa only occurring at one of the two forests type. Furthermore, Peracarida, a common prey found in the gut of juvenile fish, was only found through the island forests, but never observed within the estuarine forests. This indicates that environmental setting can play a key role in determining the nature of mangrove benthic assemblages and their potential ecological roles. Consequently, caution is required when attributing the ecological roles of mangrove forests without accounting for changes in settings. Additionally, we only investigated a single mangrove species within the same climatic region, meaning that even greater variability is likely when the full range of mangrove types, conditions and areas are assessed. Understanding this variation is important because it implies that mangrove forest restoration projects are unlikely to achieve their desired outcomes unless setting-specific conditions are understood and taken into account.

From Stand to Forest: Woody Plant Recruitment in an Andean Restoration Project.

The growing deforestation of tropical forests requires the implementation of restoration actions capable of assisting the recovery of biodiversity and the functioning of these ecosystems. This research aimed to identify the environmental factors that influence the abundance and diversity of woody plant recruitment in an Andean forest restoration project in Medellin (Colombia). Data from woody plant individuals taller than 80 cm were collected in 22 plots of 200·m-2. The environmental factors selected were edaphic variables, plantation structure, slope, elevation, prior land use, and landscape forest cover. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to analyze recruitment densit and Linear Mixed Models (LMM) to assess recruited species richness, diversity, and dominance. Woody plant recruitment attributes in our study area were similar to those of secondary succession in an Andean forest, but planted trees contributed little to recruitment density and diversity. While recruitment density was affected by slope, canopy closure, and landscape forest cover, recruitment diversity was influenced by physical (bulk density) and chemical (pH, aluminum, Cation Exchange Capacity) edaphic factors, planted tree diversity (species richness and composition), canopy closure, and the mortality rate of planted trees. We conclude that sites with lower mortality rates of planted trees and denser canopies enhance both recruitment density and diversity, indicating a synergy between active restoration and passive regeneration processes.

Assessment of the Monitoring and Evaluation System’s Effectiveness in a Forest and Landscape Restoration Project Under Ethiopia’s REDD+ Investment Program

Assessment of the Monitoring and Evaluation System’s Effectiveness in a Forest and Landscape Restoration Project Under Ethiopia’s REDD+ Investment Program

Land Cover Classification of Remote Sensing Imagery with Hybrid Two-Layer Attention Network Architecture

In remote sensing image processing, when categorizing images from multiple remote sensing data sources, the deepening of the network hierarchy is prone to the problems of feature dispersion, as well as the loss of semantic information. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes to integrate a parallel network architecture HDAM-Net algorithm with a hybrid dual attention mechanism Hybrid dual attention mechanism for forest land cover change. Firstly, we propose a fusion MCA + SAM (MS) attention mechanism to improve VIT network, which can capture the correlation information between features; secondly, we propose a multilayer residual cascade convolution (MSCRC) network model using Double Cross-Attention Module (DCAM) attention mechanism, which is able to efficiently utilize the spatial dependency between multiscale encoder features: the spatial dependency between multiscale encoder features. Finally, the dual-channel parallel architecture is utilized to solve the structural differences and realize the enhancement of forestry image classification differentiation and effective monitoring of forest cover changes. In order to compare the performance of HDAM-Net, mountain urban forest types are classified based on multiple remote sensing data sources, and the performance of the model is evaluated. The experimental results show that the overall accuracy of the algorithm proposed in this paper is 99.42%, while the Transformer (ViT) is 96.92%, which indicates that the proposed classifier is able to accurately determine the cover type.The HDAM-Net model emphasizes the effectiveness in terms of accurately classifying the land, as well as the forest types by using multiple remote sensing data sources for predicting the future trend of the forest ecosystem. In addition, the land utilization rate and land cover change can clearly show the forest cover change and support the data to predict the future trend of the forest ecosystem so that the forest resource survey can effectively monitor deforestation and evaluate forest restoration projects.

Understanding the seasonal growth patterns of seedlings in forest restoration of post-bauxite mining area: insights for monitoring in the Atlantic Forest

Understanding the behavior of planted seedlings and how they respond to changes in the rainfall regime is a challenge for forest restoration projects. This study aimed to assess the phytosociological structure and compare height and diameter at ground level (DGL) increments between the dry and rainy seasons in a forest restoration area post-bauxite mining in Descoberto-MG, Southeast Brazil. The study area features a dry season (from April to September) and a rainy season (from October to March). Three assessments were conducted for height and DGL increments: at the beginning, end of the dry season, and end of the rainy season. Three plots of 15x15m were established, and all planted individuals were measured over one year. Phytosociological parameters and diversity indices were calculated to select the 10 species with the highest importance value index (IVI). Welch's t-test (p<0.05) was used to compare average increments between seasons. Height and DGL increments during the rainy season were statistically higher than during the dry season for all 10 evaluated species. In height, the greatest increments were observed in Inga vera (590%), Enterolobium contortisiliquum (458.8%), and Piptadenia gonoacantha (343.8%). In DGL, the highest increments were observed in Schinus terebinthifolia (1427.2%), Anadenanthera peregrina (849.2%), and Peltophorum dubium (745.7%). Seasonal monitoring of planted seedlings is essential to understanding growth patterns, especially in Atlantic Forest restoration projects. These findings enable adjustment of management strategies, optimization of maintenance actions, and assistance in selecting species adapted to specific environmental conditions, particularly regarding water availability.

Characteristics and Driving Mechanisms of Understory Vegetation Diversity Patterns in Central and Southern China

Large-scale forest restoration projects significantly reduce the net rates of forest loss. However, as a key component of forest restoration, planted forests have failed to restore biodiversity. China has implemented a large-scale afforestation program, which includes pure planted forests in particular, leading to various changes in ecosystem processes. Despite this, a comprehensive analysis of understory vegetation diversity patterns in these pure planted forests is still lacking. This study aimed to analyze the data on understory vegetation diversity from three typical pure and natural forest ecosystems of Hunan ecological forests to reveal their diversity patterns. The results revealed no significant difference in the understory diversity index between natural and pure forest types, although natural forests had a bigger species pool. The Zipf–Mandelbrot model was a better fit for species abundance distribution. The fitted results suggested that both environmental filtering and neutral processes affected the species abundance distribution and pure understory communities during restoration succession. Natural forests had the most stable understory diversity structure, whereas pure Phyllostachys heterocycla (Carr.) Mitford forests had the least stable structure. Multivariate regression tree analysis identified indicator species for each community. The gradient boosting model indicated that isothermality and slope direction were the most important factors affecting diversity. The β-diversity analysis showed that community establishment in the four forest types was affected via different mechanisms. The findings of this study have significant implications for understanding the impact of afforestation on the mechanisms for maintaining diversity.

The carrying capacity for vegetation of forest land across China: Near real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting based on satellite observation

Ecological restoration projects implemented over the past 20 years have substantially increased forest coverage in China, but the high tree mortality of new afforestation forest remains a challenging but unsolved problem. It is still not clear how much vegetation can be sustained by the forest lands with given water, energy and soil conditions, i.e., the carrying capacity for vegetation (CCV) of forest lands, which is the prerequisite for planning and implementing forest restoration projects. Here, we used a simplified method to evaluate the CCV across forest lands nationwide. Specifically, based on leaf area index (LAI) dataset, we use boosted regression tree and multiple linear regression model to analyze the CCV during 2001–2020 and 2021–2030 and explore the contribution of environmental factors. We find that there are three typical regions with lower CCV located in the Loess Plateau and the southern region of the Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Hengduan Mountain region, and the Tianshan Mountains. More importantly, the vegetation in the regions near the dry-wet climate transition zone show excess local carrying capacity for vegetation over the past two decades and they are more susceptible to potential climatic stress. In comparison, in the Greater Khingan Mountains and Hengduan Mountains, there is high potential to improve the forest growth. Temperature, precipitation and soil affects the CCV by shaping the vegetation in the optimal range. This indicates that more consideration should be given to restrictions of regional environmental constraints when planning afforestation and forest management. This study has important implications for guiding future forest scheme in China.

Citizens’ Perceptions and Assessment of an Urban Mountainous Forest Restoration: Nature, History, and Changes

Background and objective: Most cities in South Korea have mountainous forests as hinterland green space in their centers, which are used as urban parks. This study was conducted to analyze citizens' perceptions of a mountainous forest restoration project being carried out in Jinju City.Methods: The research site is part of Bibongsan Mountain in Jinju City. Visitors' perceptions of the Bibongsan Restoration Project (BRP), carried out since 2015, were surveyed and analyzed regarding nature, history, and changes. The survey was conducted from August to October 2019, and the collected data were statistically analyzed.Results: The main socio-demographic changes were an increase in the proportion of men among visitors, aging, and an increase of unemployed people in the occupational distribution. The overall assessment of BRP implementation was positive. Visitor perceptions of the value, revival, and restoration of historical resources were more vital than in 2015 and had a strong positive correlation with each other. Visitors identified a high need for safety facilities for elderly visitors, improved wireless communication services, facilities for various recreational activities, outdoor learning facilities and programs for nature study, expanded parking lots, and improved transportation services.Conclusion: The urban mountainous forest restoration project is overall satisfactory and needs to be continued. The results showed that urban mountainous forests are not only recognized as spaces for walking and exercise for health but also recently as historical spaces expressing the unique or featured identity of the city, educational spaces for interest and understanding of nature, and recreational spaces that reflect local lifestyle changes. Thus, urban forests need to be restored in the context of local historical and cultural resources as well as natural resources. In addition, there is a need to be aware of various changes in the population, including aging and an increase in retirees.

Community Tree Nurseries in the UK: Promise, Potential and Pitfalls

Forest restoration and tree-planting projects initiated as a response to climate change and biodiversity loss are increasingly important around the globe. Small-scale and community-based tree nurseries have been promoted as a potential route to meeting some local or regional supply-side bottlenecks. A study in the UK used a mixed methods approach to assess the potential contribution of community tree nurseries (CTNs) to tree material supply. Semi-structured interviews (SSIs) were undertaken with 16 CTNs across the UK to generate a sector-wide characterisation of CTNs. A UK-wide online survey assessed the total number of CTNs, production methods and volumes, biosecurity practices and benefits of community involvement. Another 13 CTNs receiving support to establish and extend their operations took part in SSIs assessing their development. The results indicate that there are four broad types of CTN (Organisation- and project-based, Community-based, Enterprise and Network CTNs). A significant number of CTNs in Britain are new and establishing. The sustainability of CTNs relies in large part on grant support rather than income from tree sales. Production is almost exclusively native broadleaves and local provenances. There are policy implications concerning: i. the suitability of species being produced to future climatic and market conditions and ii. the tension around financial viability, grant dependence and CTN sustainability for those CTNs focused on social and environmental benefits rather than income generation. Identifying gaps in the provision of trees by commercial nurseries, e.g., uncommon or recalcitrant species, could be a feasible financial strategy. It is likely that financial support and skills development are likely to be required as social innovation in the community-supported tree nursery sector establishes and develops. Judging the success and impact of some types of CTNs in terms of production and finance measures may be unfair, as other social and environmental benefits may be as important and valuable. It is clear that more evaluative research is needed to quantify and better understand these kinds of outcomes and the added value they accrue.

Design of arboretum and ecotourism complex on Kahatex green open space in Jatiroke Village

Jatinangor district, located in Sumedang regency, is experiencing forest degradation due to rapid development spurred by its designation as a transport hub between Bandung, Garut, and Sumedang. In order to facilitate more environmentally sustainable developments in Jatinangor, approaches involving local communities in land rehabilitation is essential. One such proposal is the development of 8.18 ha of land in Jatiroke Village. In collaboration with Jatiroke locals and Geulis Mountain Communications Forum (GMCF) and PT. Kahatex, the land is planned to be transformed into a green open space for ecotourism complex based on the DEWA (Desa Edukasi Wisata Agro or Agro-tourism Educational Village) concept ensuring sustained benefits for the environment and the local populace. The complex is planned to have intensive and non-intensive zones. The intensive zone facilitates the visitors and supporting utilities while the non-intensive zone facilitates vegetation cultivation. The area’s planned main conservation facility is the Arboretum of Textile Dyeing Trees which hosts 20 tree species, 2 bush species, and 4 herb species traditionally used as dyes and are native to Western Java. This forest restoration project, involving collaboration with villagers and a corporation, is slated to exemplify the importance of environmental sustainability through ecotourism and education for all involved.

Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Driving Community-assisted Forest Landscape Restoration in Endane Biodiversity Corridor, Sri Lanka

The ecosystem services: direct or indirect benefits of ecosystems to human well-being, need to be recognized in conservation and restoration decision-making. In the human-dominated southwest Sri Lanka, we have established a forest landscape restoration project (Endane Biodiversity Corridor) linking a peripheral forest reserve to Sinharaja Rainforest Complex. The ecosystem services provided by tea monocultures, abandoned tea lands, and lowland home gardens were estimated employing a range of methods for estimating respective ecosystem service values with data collected from household surveys, key stakeholder interviews, and survey of tree flora in 20 m × 20 m plots for estimating aboveground carbon stock. The benefit transfer approach was used to value the supporting and regulating services. The total value of ecosystem services provided by this forest corridor landscape was 6,465 USD ha/yr in 2021. This amount included: provisioning services of 1,950 USD ha/yr, supporting services of 645 USD ha/yr, regulating services of 3,807 USD ha/yr, and cultural services of 38.8 USD ha/yr. Overall, our forest corridor landscape of 59.3 ha provided 382,362 of USD of ecosystem services a year. In comparison to tea monoculture, species-rich home gardens generate a high amount of provisioning services. Our study site is prone to ecosystem degradation due to human activities like forest land encroachment, illegal gem mining, and over-harvesting of forest products. However, we recognize the opportunity of enhancing the biodiversity of monoculture tea gardens and home gardens of the corridor following the principles of agroforestry and enrichment planting. These results i.e., the ecosystem service values among different land uses, are imperative for financing and encouraging community participation for forest restoration activities.
 Keywords: Forest resources assessment, Forest restoration, Common-based restoration

Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Driving Community-assisted Forest Landscape Restoration in Endane Biodiversity Corridor, Sri Lanka

The ecosystem services: direct or indirect benefits of ecosystems to human well-being, need to be recognized in conservation and restoration decision-making. In the human-dominated southwest Sri Lanka, we have established a forest landscape restoration project (Endane Biodiversity Corridor) linking a peripheral forest reserve to Sinharaja Rainforest Complex. The ecosystem services provided by tea monocultures, abandoned tea lands, and lowland home gardens were estimated employing a range of methods for estimating respective ecosystem service values with data collected from household surveys, key stakeholder interviews, and survey of tree flora in 20 m × 20 m plots for estimating aboveground carbon stock. The benefit transfer approach was used to value the supporting and regulating services. The total value of ecosystem services provided by this forest corridor landscape was 6,465 USD ha/yr in 2021. This amount included: provisioning services of 1,950 USD ha/yr, supporting services of 645 USD ha/yr, regulating services of 3,807 USD ha/yr, and cultural services of 38.8 USD ha/yr. Overall, our forest corridor landscape of 59.3 ha provided 382,362 of USD of ecosystem services a year. In comparison to tea monoculture, species-rich home gardens generate a high amount of provisioning services. Our study site is prone to ecosystem degradation due to human activities like forest land encroachment, illegal gem mining, and over- harvesting of forest products. However, we recognize the opportunity of enhancing the biodiversity of monoculture tea gardens and home gardens of the corridor following the principles of agroforestry and enrichment planting. These results i.e., the ecosystem service values among different land uses, are imperative for financing and encouraging community participation for forest restoration activities.
 
 
 
 
 Keywords: Forest resources assessment, Forest restoration, Common-based restoration
 
 
 

Principles of people‐centric forest restoration projects in south‐eastern Bangladesh: implications for sustainability

Forest and landscape restoration is considered worldwide as a powerful approach to recovering ecological functionality and improving human well‐being in degraded and deforested landscapes. A comprehensive study including the social, ecological, management, and regulatory aspects of restoration projects can help to understand the sustainability of these interventions. The purpose of this study was to comprehend the principles of Bangladeshi community‐based forest restoration (CBFR) projects. Empirical data was collected from four CBFR projects, of which two were Bangladesh forest department (BFD)‐led and two were community‐led. We used a comprehensive list of principles covering management and governance issues and human and ecological aspects along with Ostrom's design principles. Data were collected through 223 semi‐structured interviews, four focus group discussions, and personal observation. A 5‐point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) was used to assess participants' agreement on different statements of principles. In BFD‐led projects, participants had restricted harvesting rights, state control over management, land, planning, and the formation of rules, and they perceived lower scores for some important statements (e.g., project planning, selection of tree species, local knowledge, income generation activities, livelihood benefits, food security, and skill development). Therefore, participants presumed that these CBFR projects are moderately sustainable. On the other hand, participants in community‐led projects scored high (mean score above 4.0) for most of the principles across different aspects, and a bundle of Ostrom's design principles was also observed. Hence, the evidence of sustainability in community‐led CBFR projects is high. Project authorities in developing countries can take lessons from this study and undertake appropriate actions toward the sustainability of forest restoration programs.

Influence of wildfire and feral horse use on mule deer summer range occupancy

Context Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are a species of social, economic and cultural importance that are experiencing a population decline throughout much of their range. Factors such as disease, landscape-level changes in nutritional output of forage species, winter habitat degradation, habitat fragmentation, competition for resources with both domestic and wild ungulates, and predation have all been implicated in the decline. Recently, summer habitat quality in Oregon has been identified as a potentially strong limiting factor for mule deer population performance. Competition and habitat degradation from feral horses (Equus caballus) have been proposed as factors potentially exacerbating existing habitat limitations for mule deer. Aims The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting mule deer summer range occupancy within a study area that experienced both wildfires and the presence of feral horses. Methods We deployed 72, 77 and 75 camera traps throughout the Murderers Creek and Northside wildlife management units located in north-eastern Oregon during summer 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. We used an occupancy modelling framework to build and evaluate models of mule deer summer range occupancy related to competition, vegetation and abiotic variables. Key results Our final model set included four covariates: (1) an index of feral horse use; (2) whether the site was disturbed by wildfire; (3) distance to forest edge; and (4) eastness of the site. Model averaging indicated that mule deer probability of occupancy was negatively related with increased feral horse use and distance to forest edge, and positively related to eastern slopes and sites within a wildfire perimeter. Conclusions Our results add to the growing body of literature indicating that wildfires in forested ecosystems benefit mule deer and add to the limited body of literature indicating that feral horse use of a site negatively impacts mule deer. Implications Managers should incorporate fire into forest restoration projects when possible to benefit mule deer. Where feral horses and mule deer overlap, increased management of feral horse herds could potentially benefit mule deer. Lastly, our research showcases the utility of camera traps coupled with occupancy modelling to answer research questions that, in the past, were mainly answered through radio collaring.

Справочная информационная система FLR-Library для адаптивного лесовосстановления: кластерный анализ дескрипторов

The lack of uniform terminological and technological approaches to the procedure of adaptive reforestation suggests the justification of the principles of creating a reference information system (FLR-Library), taking into account the specifics of implementing a joint decomposed FLR algorithm to reduce its execution time and rational forecasting of future forest landscape restoration projects. Collected and analyzed more than 120 definitions for more than 30 descriptors, such as "forest", "forest landscapes", "adaptive reforestation", "concepts of adaptive reforestation", "reforestation", "afforestation", "stand", "forest plantation", "forest complex", "forest landscape", "type of forest" and others. Both distinctive features and common points in the definitions of different countries and authors of the same descriptor are found. Technically, an approach to clustering of the most common descriptors is implemented: "forest", "forest landscapes", "reforestation", "afforestation". To do this, for each descriptor, based on the hierarchical clustering module, the combination of a cluster of recalibrated distances was determined and a cluster diagram was constructed based on «variables» (criteria for the descriptors effectiveness) and «observations» (by countries containing a source of information with a descriptor). Common to all sources will be that adaptive reforestation implies adaptation to climate change, but then there are two options for development: 1) planting (sowing) breeds resistant to climate change; 2) import and adaptation of "southern" breeds to northern latitudes. In the future, based on the analysis of descriptors and the principle of decomposition, it is planned to develop an algorithm for the functioning of the FLR system.

The role of palaeoecology in reconciling biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and carbon storage in Madagascar

Planting trees is proposed as an important climate mitigation tool, but can be detrimental to biodiversity and livelihoods if not carefully planned and managed, with landscape history and livelihoods in mind. In Madagascar, deforestation is of concern, and a threat to forest-adapted biota. However, much of Madagascar’s landscape harbours ancient mosaic and open ecosystems that are home to unique suites of flora and fauna and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Though guidelines for ecologically and socially responsible reforestation are emerging, the potential role of landscape history and palaeoecology has been generally underemphasised. Here, using Madagascar as a case study, we argue that forest restoration projects need a sound understanding of landscape history that includes a greater integration of palaeoecological data. This would help establish the former composition and extent of forests and also investigate the antiquity of open and mosaic ecosystems. When economic interests are strong, information from palaeoecology and environmental history can help reduce biases when identifying appropriate locations and suites of species for forestation. Furthermore, a reflective approach to landscape history can contribute to restoration projects that integrate cultural and livelihood considerations. A transdisciplinary approach that considers local needs and cultural context can facilitate the design and implementation of restoration projects that share benefits equitably. Underpinning this ambition is a more comprehensive consideration of ecosystem service benefits in a changing climate that includes accurate carbon storage calculations, as well as other ecosystem services including water provision, soil formation and erosion prevention, grazing resources, medicine and cultural components.

Functional diversity affects tree vigor, growth, and mortality in mixed-conifer/hardwood forests in California, U.S.A, in the absence of fire

Mixed tree-species forest management can increase forest resilience by reducing the impacts of disturbances that disproportionately affect a single tree species or closely related groups of tree species. Beyond disturbance-risk reduction, tree-species diversification may foster functional-diversity effects (e.g., complementarity or facilitation) that alter the performance of a given tree species in mixed versus pure stands, potentially benefitting carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. Tree species-mixture effects have been explored to only a limited degree in western US forests and, particularly, in California. Establishing whether vigor, growth, and mortality of common tree species vary with stand composition would help inform restoration and modeling of these forests under climate change. Using data from USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots from California, we examined how individual-tree vigor, as indicated by live crown ratio (LCR), periodic basal area increment (BAI), and mortality odds varied with functional dissimilarity (FDis). We quantified FDis using an index based on 11 traits related to resource acquisition, competition, environmental tolerances, and fire ecology. We classified major tree species into ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), true firs (Abies spp.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), live oaks (Quercus spp.), and deciduous oaks (Quercus spp.) response groups. We tested for the main effects of FDis on tree responses, as well as for interactions with tree, site, stand, and climate factors. We found that initial tree height modulated the effects of FDis on ponderosa pine, Jeffrey pine, incense-cedar, and true fir LCR, whereas FDis interacted with climate to alter live oak and deciduous oak LCR. FDis decreased BAI in ponderosa pine and increased BAI in live oaks. FDis interacted with tree size to influence BAI for Jeffrey pine, Douglas-fir, and true firs. We found no evidence that climate or site quality modulated FDis effects on BAI for any species group. Tree mortality was not responsive to FDis, except for the true firs, where both initial tree height and competition interacted with FDis to increase and decrease mortality odds, respectively. FDis effects commonly shifted from positive to negative along gradients of stand structure and site quality, indicating that these effects vary with site and stand conditions. Our results have implications for balancing the ecosystem benefits of mixed stands, such as disturbance risk, carbon sequestration, and habitat during forest restoration projects in the region, as well as for more accurate modeling of complex stands.