Largest Tropical Rainforest Research Articles

Sustainable Development as a Wicked Problem: The Case of the Brazilian Amazon Region

The global importance of the Amazon rainforest is abundantly evident. It is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, home to incredible biodiversity, and arguably an essential part of the earth’s already fragile climate system. Exploiting the Amazon beyond planetary boundaries, in other words, beyond a threshold the forest cannot regenerate itself from, may have catastrophic, global impacts. Conversely, Brazil is an industrialized yet developing country far from realizing its potential to become an economic superpower. To this day, millions of Brazilians still live below the poverty line. Hence, Brazil cannot afford to ignore the economic potential of the Amazon’s vast resources. The issue becomes how to use those resources effectively and efficiently for economic development. The key is perhaps a sustainable development approach. Considering the diversity of internal (i.e., Brazilian) and external (i.e., foreign) stakeholders, there is no agreement of what sustainable development would mean when it comes to the Brazilian Amazon Region (BAR). The challenge is the fact that environmental and social problems are not just complex problems. According to Brown et al (2010), they are very hard to properly define. Buchanan (1992) concluded these types of problems do not fit within any specific subject matter. In this research, we propose the sustainable development of the BAR as a wicked problem (Rittel and Webber, 1973). The main purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of stakeholders to confirm this hypothesis. This study employs systems thinking, specifically Peter Checkland’s (1989) Soft System Methodology as the conceptual foundation of the analysis of evidence from the field. Preliminary findings are summarized, and conclusions with conceptual and practical considerations are provided. Limitations and opportunities for future studies are also included.
 Keywords: sustainable development, wicked problems, Brazilian Amazon, system thinking, soft system methodology.

Meta-analysis of the responses of tree and herb to elevated CO2 in Brazil

The CO2 concentration has increased in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel consumption, deforestation, and land-use changes. Brazil represents one of the primary sources of food on the planet and is also the world's largest tropical rainforest, one of the hot spots of biodiversity in the world. In this work, a meta-analysis was conducted to compare several CO2 Brazilian experiments displaying the diversity of plant responses according to life habits, such as trees (79% natives and 21% cultivated) and herbs (33% natives and 67% cultivated). We found that trees and herbs display different responses. The young trees tend to allocate carbon from increased photosynthetic rates and lower respiration in the dark—to organ development, increasing leaves, roots, and stem biomasses. In addition, more starch is accumulated in the young trees, denoting a fine control of carbon metabolism through carbohydrate storage. Herbs increased drastically in water use efficiency, controlled by stomatal conductance, with more soluble sugars, probably with a transient accumulation of carbon primarily stored in seeds as a response to elevated CO2.

Training on Making Soap from Kitchen Herbs in Bancaran Village, Bangkalan Regency

Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest tropical rainforest in the world. This situation causes Indonesia to have the potential to become a country producing herbal ingredients, or spices, which we often encounter in the kitchen. Herbal ingredients are from nature and have many benefits, especially for health. Aside from being consumed, herbs can also be added to products used by the external body, such as herbal soaps. Herbal ingredients in soap can brighten, moisturize, and solve skin problems. The purpose of this community service is to train the community in Bancaran Village regarding making soap from herbal ingredients that are easy to find in the kitchen using simple tools. The methods used are the lecture method and demonstration simulation. The results of the community service show that the people in Bancaran village are very enthusiastic about this training, and the community can make handmade herbal soaps with attractive packaging and then market them.

Struktur komunitas Tumbuhan Bawah di Zona Pemanfaatan Blok Ireng-Ireng Taman Nasional Bromo Tengger Semeru (TNBTS)

Indonesia is a country that has a very large tropical rain forest. The forest is a unified biological system as part of the earth there is an ordinary organic wealth covered with trees which in cooperation in their nature and current state cannot be separated. Groundcover is a basic vegetation component under forest stands other than tree rejuvenation, which consists of grasses, herbs and shrubs. Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) is a conservation area with abundant biodiversity, both in terms of flora and fauna. The purpose of this study was to determine the genus of the undergrowth and dominancefound in the Ireng-Ireng Block Utilization Zone, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The research method uses line and transect plots with 4 transects 20 m long, each with 5 plots measuring 1 x 1 m with a distance between plots of 3 m. Result research Found 13 genera as follows Davallia, Strychnos, Homalomena, Nheprolepis, Pheghopteris, Pteris, Ageratina, Sceleria, Molineria, Didymochlaena, Adiantum, Begonia, and Ruellia. The understorey plants that had the highest cover were from the Strychnos genus group with an important value index of 26.87 .
 
 Keywords: structure, komposition, Groundcover, ireng ireng block utilization zone Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.

Forest conservation in Indigenous territories and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon

Conflicts between forest conservation and socio-economic development in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) have persisted for years but the effects of Indigenous territory (ITs) and protected area (PAs) status on deforestation there remain unclear. To address this issue, we analysed time-series satellite images and qualified annual forest area in the BLA under different governance and management regimes. Between 2000 and 2021, areas classified as ITs or PAs increased to cover 52% of forested areas in the BLA while accounting for only 5% of net forest loss and 12% of gross forest loss. In the years (2003–2021) after establishment, gross forest loss fell 48% in PAs subject to ‘strict protection’ and 11% in PAs subject to ‘sustainable use’. However, from 2018 to 2021 the percentage rate of annual gross forest loss in ITs/PAs was twice that of non-designated areas. Our findings reveal the vital role of, and substantial progress achieved by, ITs and PAs in Amazonian forest conservation as well as the dangers of recent weakening of Brazil’s forest policies. The Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) has Earth’s largest tropical rainforest and a history of tension around its fate. Between 2001 and 2018, this study finds that Indigenous territories and protected areas in the BLA have expanded and reduced deforestation markedly, with some gains eroded in recent areas.

What Lula means for Brazilian science

At the end of October, Brazil held presidential elections. Left-leaning Luiz Inácio da Silva—better known as Lula— won with around 51% of the vote, unseating right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. Lula previously served two terms as president from 2003 to 2010. He rose to victory despite his reputation suffering significantly after a 19-month stint in prison for corruption. The charges were ultimately dismissed in 2021. What does this mean for science in Brazil? Lula is the only candidate who mentioned science during his campaign. During his acceptance speech, Lula confirmed that he is committed to putting the environment back at the top of the agenda and also vowed to combat the deforestation of the Amazon—the world’s largest tropical rain forest and home to a diversity of species not duplicated anywhere else on Earth. And he has a good track record. During his earlier presidencies, Lula took steps to protect the Amazon

Reconstruction and variability of tropical pollination networks in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Loss of biodiversity comprehends not only the extinction of individual species, but also the loss of the ecological interactions among them. Survival of species, continuation of ecosystem functioning in nature, and ecosystem services to humans depend on the maintenance of well-functioning networks of species interactions (e.g. plant–pollinator networks and food webs). Analyses of ecological networks often rely on biased and incomplete survey data, especially in species-rich areas, such as the tropics. We used a network inference method to reconstruct pollination data compiled from a large tropical rainforest habitat extent. To gain insight into the characteristics of plant–pollinator interactions across the region, we combined the reconstructed pollination network with species distribution modelling to obtain local pollination networks throughout the area. We explored how global network properties relate to natural forest cover and land cover heterogeneity. We found that some network properties (the sum and evenness of link weights, connectance and nestedness) are positively correlated with forest cover, indicating that networks in sites with more natural habitat have greater diversity of interactions. Modularity was not related to forest cover, but seemed to reflect habitat heterogeneity, due to the broad spatial scale of the study. We believe that the methodology suggested here can facilitate the use of incomplete network data in a reliable way and allow us to better understand and protect networks of species interactions in high biodiversity regions of the world.

Checklist of Amazonian gasteroid fungi (Agaricomycetidae, Phallomycetidae, Basidiomycota)

ABSTRACT The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, with high biodiversity of organisms. Despite the increasing knowledge about fungal diversity in the last few years, many fungal taxa, including gasteroid clades, are still poorly known. Gasteroid fungi are recognized by the maturation of basidiospores inside the basidiomata and by the passive release of spores. We conducted a detailed survey of published data on the species that occur in Amazon forests. We confirmed the occurrence of 83 species distributed in 22 genera, eight families and four orders. The most representative genera was Geastrum, followed by Cyathus, Lycoperdon and Phallus. We present an identification key for Amazonian gasteroid genera and a map of record distribution. This review is expected to contribute to identify distribution gaps for further research on gasteroid fungi and to subsidize policies for the conservation of fungi in the Amazon region.

Use of Complementary Methods to Sample Bats in the Amazon

Mist nets set at ground level is the traditional method of surveying bats and in the Amazon, almost half of the bat surveys used this methodology. The sole use of ground-level mist nets biases surveys because of the lack of records of aerial insectivorous bats, which forage above the canopy or in other open areas. Canopy mist nets, roost searches and acoustic surveys are methods to survey bat assemblages, but their efficiency compared to ground-level mist nets has not been fully evaluated in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest. Here, we test how the complementarity of sampling methods contributes to the number of species recorded in bat surveys in the Amazonian rainforest. We simultaneously sampled bats using ground mist nets and ultrasonic recorders at the Ducke Reserve (Central Amazon) in Brazil and did a literature review of bat surveys conducted in the Amazon to assess how these methods have been used in field research during the recent decades. Forty-three bat species were identified using ground mist nets, and seventeen species and five acoustic sonotypes were identified using ultrasonic recorders in Ducke Reserve. The combination of ground mist nets and acoustic recorders registered the largest number of bat species. However, for phyllostomid species the sole use of mist nets was efficient in recording the highest number of species, whereas for aerial insectivores acoustic surveys was the most effective. Of the 54 bat surveys made in the Amazon, 27 localities used complementary methods: roost search, canopy mist nets, harp traps and acoustic surveys. The combination of ground and canopy nets, and ground nets with roost search did not record more phyllostomid bat species than the use of ground nets alone. However, the sole use of acoustic surveys recorded more aerial insectivorous species than any other combination of sampling methods. Using mist nets and acoustic surveys simultaneously, as in our study, results in a dramatic increase in species diversity and different guilds than using only mist nets in the Amazon. Canopy nets and roost search did not increase the total number of species or the number of phyllostomid species in bat surveys. By combining different survey methodologies, we can optimize the recorded diversity of bats, especially using both mist nets and acoustic monitoring.

Monitoring the Multiple Functions of Tropical Rainforest on a National Scale

National Forest Inventory (NFI) protocols have traditionally been designed to assess land coverage and the production value of forest. We propose that this approach needs to evolve toward multipurpose resource survey with broader scope, including data on plant and animal biodiversity, forest carbon pools, and carbon sequestration, given the role of forests in addressing climate change. New Guinea hosts the third largest tropical rainforest in the world and is a globally recognized center of biological diversity and endemism. Here, we report on the NFI by the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG); designed to assess and monitor the country’s forests for multiple parameters including timber and nontimber resources, greenhouse gases sequestration and storage, and biodiversity. Stratified sampling with clusters of plots was applied to collect quantitative data on a wide range of variables including soil, tree and nontree species as well as birds and three types of insects: ants, geometrid moths, and fruit flies. In total 43 cluster sites, each with multiple plots were assessed. These partial results, from the projected total of 200 clusters, have demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of the expanded approach to national forest surveys. They contributed to the Biennial Update Report on climate change for PNG and the formation of climate change policies such as the National Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation+ Strategy and the developments of PNG’s Forest Reference Level, and the enhanced (second) Nationally Determined Contributions for PNG. They will also inform the biodiversity conservation and forestry policies in the future.

Environmental surveying systems and effectiveness of actions in the Brazilian mazon

Weak governance over the Brazilian Amazon is jeopardizing both social and environmental balance. Moreover, the loss of this balance can have severe social, economic, and political consequences at local, national, and global levels. Therefore, we plan to answer how the Brazilian forest is being protected based on the perspective of the environmental military police integrating all states of the so-called Legal Amazon. The study came from a field survey conducted through a questionnaire sent to those police agencies. The research is based on exploratory and descriptive methods of qualitative and quantitative approach with both field research and literature review on the subject. We sought to evaluate publications that satisfactorily described the “state of the art” of the main research on the topic, as we strove for the quality and comprehensiveness of the research, and a field survey through a questionnaire applied to law enforcement agencies. The responses were organized into four groups, allowing an overview of the environmental inspection in the region. Although the Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, it has been found that states in the region devote little human and material resources to its protection. They are insufficient, tactically, and strategically under-employed, poorly distributed, and for the most part, far below the national average, which is already lower than recommended by international bodies which dedicate to the protection of nature.

New insights into large tropical tree mass and structure from direct harvest and terrestrial lidar.

A large portion of the terrestrial vegetation carbon stock is stored in the above-ground biomass (AGB) of tropical forests, but the exact amount remains uncertain, partly owing to the lack of measurements. To date, accessible peer-reviewed data are available for just 10 large tropical trees in the Amazon that have been harvested and directly measured entirely via weighing. Here, we harvested four large tropical rainforest trees (stem diameter: 0.6–1.2 m, height: 30–46 m, AGB: 3960–18 584 kg) in intact old-growth forest in East Amazonia, and measured above-ground green mass, moisture content and woody tissue density. We first present rare ecological insights provided by these data, including unsystematic intra-tree variations in density, with both height and radius. We also found the majority of AGB was usually found in the crown, but varied from 42 to 62%. We then compare non-destructive approaches for estimating the AGB of these trees, using both classical allometry and new lidar-based methods. Terrestrial lidar point clouds were collected pre-harvest, on which we fitted cylinders to model woody structure, enabling retrieval of volume-derived AGB. Estimates from this approach were more accurate than allometric counterparts (mean tree-scale relative error: 3% versus 15%), and error decreased when up-scaling to the cumulative AGB of the four trees (1% versus 15%). Furthermore, while allometric error increased fourfold with tree size over the diameter range, lidar error remained constant. This suggests error in these lidar-derived estimates is random and additive. Were these results transferable across forest scenes, terrestrial lidar methods would reduce uncertainty in stand-scale AGB estimates, and therefore advance our understanding of the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle.

Surveillance et mise en application de la loi par les écogardes dans le Domaine de chasse de la Lwama-Kivu : un outil simple de collecte de données pour l’efficacité des aires protégées dans la conservation de la biodiversité à l’Est de la RD Congo.

Central Africa has the second largest tropical rainforest in the world. These forests contain a great diversity in terms of their fauna and flora. Despite this diversity, both in forest and savannah areas, several threats weigh on them to the point of making these habitats vulnerable. This is especially the demographic explosion and poverty, the abusive exploitation of natural resources and sometimes the low existence of surveillance personnel of protected areas coupled with the manifest scarcity of funds allocated to the surveillance of their physical integrity.Effective management of DCLK depends on information on legal habitat use by humans, ecological and behavioral needs of key species, and trends in resource availability and ecological processes. To achieve this, a ranger-based surveillance system, using basic protocols for data collection that guide protected area staff in site management was adopted. This program was launched in 2012 and allowed the collection of detailed information on illegal activities, the main species of key flora and fauna of the DCLK. Law enforcement oversight by environmental guards is a simple and cost-effective tool that can be maintained in the DCLK as well as other protected areas in DR Congo with limited external support. It provides fleet managers with information that encourages them to react appropriately to threats weighing on the ecosystem. This information about the distribution of illegal activity determines targeted patrol coverage to address specific threats. The system's bottom-up approach to ranger enforcement includes a strong capacity building component and empowers field staff in park management activities.

Status of Nahan’s Partridge Ptilopachus nahani (Dubois, 1905) (Aves: Galliformes: Odontophoridae) in Uganda

We carried out a survey of Nahan’s Partridge Ptilopachus nahani in the Ugandan forests of Mabira, Bugoma, and Budongo from December 2016 to December 2017, using a point count method employing a call playback technique. The aim was to establish the population status of this globally threatened species, which was last surveyed in 2003. Separate analyses of the number of groups per point and those involving use of the Distance Program yielded the same density estimates, indicating that either method reliably estimates the density of the species. The density estimates for the three reserves were 31.6, 25.2, and 13.3 groups per km2 for Bugoma, Budongo, and Mabira forest reserves, respectively. In the last 14 years, it appears that the density of the species for Uganda has increased from 16.3 to 23.4 groups per km2, which when extrapolated translates to 16,000 and 23,000 groups, respectively. This represents a 44% increase in density, or a group growth rate of 450 per year. The lowest density and population increment was registered in Mabira and we attribute this to the apparently high incidence of disturbance and degradation of this forest compared to the other two. Since Mabira, Bugoma, and Budongo are the only remaining large tropical rainforest reserves in Uganda, strengthening their conservation or upgrading their conservation status to national parks is required to save the species.

Investors can help rein in Amazon deforestation

[Extract] The Brazilian Amazon—the largest tropical rainforest in the world—has reached its highest level of deforestation since 2008 (Display footnote number:1). In 2019, 10,897 km2 of land were deforested, a 50.7% jump over the previous year (Display footnote number:1). A combination of threats, including tens of thousands of forest fires (Display footnote number:2), expanding road networks (Display footnote number:3, 4), weakened environmental laws (Display footnote number:5, 6), and a failure to enforce environmental laws and regulations (Display footnote number:6), is responsible. Given the staunchly pro-development policies of Brazil’s current government, a coalition of key actors in the financial sector is needed to help protect the embattled Amazon rainforest.

A AMAZÔNIA E A SUSTENTABILIDADE DA SUA BIODIVERSIDADE

A Amazônia é reconhecida como a maior floresta tropical existente, o equivalente a 40% das reservas de florestas tropicais úmidas e o maior banco genético do planeta. Cada vez mais temas relacionados à Amazônia ocupa um lugar preponderante no cenário das grandes questões humanas. Este artigo tenta contribuir para uma reflexão sobre a biodiversidade da Amazônia, mostrando que a preservação não se limita apenas em manter íntegro o meio ambiente, mas diz respeito ao modelo de desenvolvimento econômico, às relações políticas e às opções de vida e de consumo de toda a comunidade que ali vive.

CARBON MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN PAPUA REGION

Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest tropical rainforest area, especially in Papua Island together with Papua New Guinea accounted the third largest tropical rainforests in the world, after the Amazon (336.7 million ha) and Congo (181.3 million ha). The total tropical rainforest area is 68.7 million ha contained Papua about 57% (39.2 million ha) and 43% (29.5 million ha) Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, deforestation rates in the few decades increased from 1.39 million ha in the period 1985 – 1997 and 0.6 million ha in the period 2000 – 2005. The direct impact of rapid LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change & Forestry) changes since 1980`s has accumulated critical land by 29.0% of forest area in West Papua and 31.4% of forest area in Papua. Climate change affected in Papua region due to rapid amount GHG`s emissions into the atmosphere by increasing average temperature about 0.7oC, minimum temperature (0.7oC) and maximum temperature (1.2oC) during period 1996 – 2005. Other effects of climate change the decreased rainfall up to 26% per month in the last decade, 50% reduced total agriculture productivity, expanded malaria diseases, and increased extreme condition such as drought with intensity of forest fire detected in Sorong due to inter-annual climate variability events, such as the El-Niño event and flood due to the La-Niña event. However, it is difficult task to build mitigation and adaptation planning in the region or local scale due to the lack information, the lack human resources, and local topography and phenomena. In that case, so far, no study has been conducted in Papua region to build mitigation and adaptation planning for carbon management. Therefore, this study tries to promote a carbon management program for help local government to solve forest environmental problems consideration of climate change.

Annual dynamics of forest areas in South America during 2007–2010 at 50-m spatial resolution

South America has the largest tropical rainforests and the richest biodiversity in the world. It is challenging to map tropical forests and their spatio-temporal changes because forests are facing fragmentation from human activities (e.g., logging, deforestation), drought, and fire, as well as persistent clouds. Here we present a robust approach to map forests in South America during 2007–2010 and analyze the consistency and uncertainty among eight major forest maps in South America. Greenness-relevant MOD13Q1 NDVI and structure/biomass-relevant ALOS PALSAR time series data recorded 2007 through 2010 were coupled to identify and map forests at 50-m spatial resolution. Both area and spatial comparison were conducted to analyze the consistency and uncertainty of these eight forest maps. Annual 50-m PALSAR/MODIS forest maps were generated during 2007–2010 and the total forest area in South America was about 8.63×106km2 in 2010. Large differences in total forest area (8.2×106km2–12.7×106km2) existed among these forest products, especially in the forest edges, semi-humid tropical, and subtropical regions. Forest products generated under a similar forest definition had similar or even larger variation than those generated with contrasting forest definitions. We also find out that one needs to consider leaf area index as an adjusting factor and use much higher threshold values in the Vegetation Continuous Field (VCF) datasets to estimate forest cover areas. Analyses of PALSAR/MODIS forest maps in 2008/2009 showed a relatively small rate of loss (3.2×104km2year−1) in net forest cover, similar to that of FAO FRA (3.3×104km2year−1), but much higher annual rates of forest loss and gain. The rate of forest loss (0.195×106km2year−1) was higher than that of Global Forest Watch (0.081×106km2year−1). PALSAR/MODIS forest maps showed that more deforestation occurred in the unfragmented forest areas. Caution should be used when using the different forest maps to analyze forest loss and make policies regarding forest ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. The integration of PALSAR and MODIS images during 2007–2010 provides annual maps of forests in South America with improved accuracy and reduced uncertainty.

Genetic Structure of the Tropical Tree Eusideroxylon zwageri in Indonesia Revealed by Chloroplast DNA Phylogeography

Eusideroxylon zwageri is a large tropical rainforest tree native to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei. Because of its high economic value, illegal logging and overexploitation is threatening this species in several locations in Indonesia. In this study, in order to conserve genetic resources, we investigated the genetic structure of E. zwageri in Indonesia using chloroplast DNA sequencing. Eusideroxylon zwageri samples were collected from the Kalimantan (56 trees from seven populations) and Sumatra (16 trees from two populations) islands of Indonesia. Approximately 3137 bp of chloroplast DNA was sequenced for each tree. Twenty-one haplotypes were identified, of which six haplotypes were detected from two or three populations, whereas the other 15 haplotypes were detected from one population each. For each population, one to six haplotypes were detected, and phylogenetically closer haplotypes were detected within the same population. Although the haplotypes were roughly divided into two groups, geographically-close populations did not always have phylogenetically-close haplotypes. Our results suggest that in Indonesia, E. zwageri showed a high genetic diversity at the chloroplast DNA level, and populations within a population were derived from similar maternal lineages. Therefore, transplantation within a population may be a feasible option for E. zwageri conservation. However, transplantation among different populations should be conducted with careful consideration, because geographic distances are not always related to phylogenetic distances in E. zwageri.

Epigeal Fauna and Soil Chemical Attributes in Grazing and Regeneration Areas

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of natural pasture and spontaneous regeneration on soil chemical properties and epigeal fauna community using a secondary Atlantic Forest as reference. The study areas were located in Passa Vinte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In each study area, pitfall traps were used to sample epigeal fauna in the dry and rainy seasons. Earth samples were collected at a depth of 0-5 cm in the dry and rainy seasons for analysis of chemical attributes. The pasture and regeneration areas showed an overall activity of epigeal fauna and functional groups similar to the forest area. However, the diversity evaluated by the Shannon and Pielou evenness indices and the total richness were lower than the observed in the forest. The best fertility attributes were observed in the forest and pasture areas. Keywords: land use, diversity, forest fragments. 1. INTRODUCTION The Atlantic Forest is the most fragmented Brazilian biome and the second largest tropical rainforest in the Americas. It originally spread throughout an uninterrupted strip across the Brazilian coast (Fundacao SOS Mata Atlântica, 2001). Although the Atlantic Forest is one of the hotspots on the planet in terms of biological diversity, it is also one of the most threatened biomes (Brasil, 2015 ). Because of anthropogenic interference (deforestation), most forest remnants in this biome are small, highly disturbed, isolated, little known, little protected ( Menezes et al., 2009 ), and often surrounded by agricultural crops and pastures and regenerating forests.Deforestation for agricultural purposes followed by pasture and/or spontaneous regeneration may generate a landscape with different levels of ecological degradation/restoration. The spontaneous regeneration is an essential process for restoration of degraded areas, since it promotes the addition of new individuals. The mechanisms involved in this process (seed falls, soil seed bank formation and seedling and young plant banks) increase the density and richness of species in the community and contribute to ecological succession and its biological diversity. Spontaneous regeneration can make ecological interrelations stronger and contribute to the restoration of the system, and also to its increase in complexity and consequent self-sustainability (Quintela, 2005), which is essential in the case of the Atlantic Forest.Chemical, physical and biological soil attributes are among the main indicators for evaluating environmental restoration and degradation processes ( Silva et al., 2012a ;