Forest Restoration Research Articles

Natural Conditions for Heliophilous Tree-Species Following Forest Dieback in Temperate Zone After Periglacial Habitats

Abstract Widespread forest dieback following a series of exceptionally dry seasons has made restoration by relic heliophilous tree-species uncertain. Using logistic regression, we identified conditions suitable for relic Norway spruce (Picea abies /L./Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), European larch (Larix decidua Mill.), birches (Betula sp.), poplars (Populus sp.) and willows (Salix sp.) by comparing the relief and bedrock under stands that died abruptly between 2018 and 2020 at temperate zone after periglacial habitats of the Czech Republic. Extent of forest dieback was determined through automated object analysis on the basis of vectorised Planet Scope and Sentinel-2 satellite images. The object analysis consisted of mainly spruce stands and dieback indicated by a deep inter-year decrease in the vegetation indices. The overall occurrence of tree-species in pure or mixed stands was determined from a polygon geodatabase of forest management plans, while growth condition types were determined by overlaying biogeographically subdivided polygons. Dead forests provided suitable conditions for mixed conifer, birch, and poplar stands on 64.4 % of the greywackes, acid metamorphites, and waterlogged sediments on broken plateaus, depressions, and slopes. In comparison, pure stands of relic tree-species can cover 35.6 % of dead forest area. Restoration of mixed forests differenting over a range of growth conditions seems to be suitable for adaptation to climate change impacts.

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

Integrating both restoration and regeneration potentials into real-world forest restoration planning: A case study of Hong Kong

Forest restoration is a vital nature-based solution for mitigating climate change and land degradation. To ensure restoration effectiveness, the costs and benefits of alternative restoration strategies (i.e., active restoration vs. natural regeneration) need to be evaluated. Existing studies generally focus on maximum restoration potential, neglecting the recovery potential achievable through natural regeneration processes, leading to incomplete understanding of the true benefits and doubts about the necessity of active restoration. In this study, we introduce a multi-stage framework incorporating both restoration and regeneration potential into prioritized planning for ecosystem restoration. We used the vegetated landscape of Hong Kong (covering 728 km2) as our study system due to its comprehensive fine-resolution data and unique history of vegetation recovery, making it an ideal candidate to demonstrate the importance of this concept and inspire further research. We analyzed vegetation recovery status (i.e., recovering, degrading, and stable) over the past decade based on the canopy height data derived from multi-temporal airborne LiDAR. We assessed natural regeneration potential and maximum restoration potential separately, producing spatially-explicit predictions. Our results show that 44.9% of Hong Kong's vegetated area has showed evidence of recovery, but remaining gains through natural regeneration are limited, constituting around 4% of what could be attained through active restoration. We further estimated restoration priority by maximizing the restoration gain. When prioritizing 5% of degraded areas, the increment in canopy height could be up to 10.9%. Collectively, our findings highlight the importance of integrating both restoration and regeneration potential into restoration planning. The proposed framework can aid policymakers and land managers in optimizing forest restoration options and promoting the protection and recovery of fragile ecosystems.

Optimising forest rehabilitation and restoration through remote sensing and machine learning: Mapping natural forests in the eThekwini Municipality

Forests are crucial in delivering ecosystem services that underpin human well-being and biodiversity conservation. However, these vital ecosystems are threatened by forest degradation and rapid urbanisation. This study addresses this challenge by proposing a comprehensive framework for mapping natural forests at the municipal scale. The framework integrates remote sensing techniques with machine learning algorithms to provide valuable insights into the extent of natural forests within the eThekwini Municipality. The study utilised Landsat 7, Landsat 8, and Landsat 9 satellite imagery to analyse and map the historical and current distribution of natural forests. Five spectral indices, namely, Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI), Chlorophyll Index Green (CIG), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and Enhanced Vegetation Index-2 (EVI-2), which were calculated from Landsat bands, were employed in the analysis. Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), Categorical Boosting (CatBoost), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning algorithms were used to model forest distribution. Accuracy was assessed through confusion matrices, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curves, area under the ROC curve (AUC), and the F1 scores. LightGBM achieved the highest overall accuracy (90.76%), followed by CatBoost (89.56%) and XGBoost (84.34%). LightGBM also obtained the best F1 score (90.76%). These findings highlight LightGBM's effectiveness in classifying natural forests, making it the preferred model for mapping the historical extent of natural forests in the eThekwini Municipality. However, classifications based on Landsat 7 significantly underestimated the extent of natural forests within the study area, whereas Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 data revealed an increase in natural forests from 2015 to 2023. These findings will guide effective and targeted forest rehabilitation and restoration efforts, ensuring the preservation and enhancement of forest ecosystem services.

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.

Challenges and a Strategy for Successful Restoration of Dry Evergreen Afromontane Forests of Ethiopia

Challenges and a Strategy for Successful Restoration of Dry Evergreen Afromontane Forests of Ethiopia

The return of tall forests: Reconstructing the canopy resilience of an extensively harvested primary forest in Mediterranean mountains

Understanding recovery times and mechanisms of ecosystem dynamics towards the old-growth stage is crucial for forest restoration, but still poorly delineated in Mediterranean. Through tree-ring methods, we reconstructed the return of a tall canopy after severe human disturbance in a mixed beech (Fagus sylvatica) and silver fir (Abies alba) forest, located at a mountain site in the southern edge of both species' range (Gariglione, south Italy). The primary forest was extensively harvested between 1930 and 1950, removing up to 91 % of the biomass. Growth histories, climate-growth relationships and time-series of growth dominance in Gariglione were compared with a network of protected mature and old-growth beech forests distributed along a wide elevational gradient in the same region. We found that the renewed tall canopy of Gariglione is mainly composed of remnant trees, which include uncut trees and saplings, and the post-harvesting regeneration mostly represented by fir. Canopy beech trees reached maximum basal area increment (BAI) in the 1970s, 40–50 years after cutting. Then, beech BAI shifted towards negative trends in phase with drying climate (PDSI), while fir maintained a sustained growth until 2000. This growth asynchrony between the two species conferred community stability over the last decades. The network comparison highlighted the common negative impact of summer drought on high-frequency growth signals of beech in south Italy. However, analysis of long-term mean growth trends indicates decreasing BAI limited to Gariglione beech, revealing relevant differences due to site ecology and its interactions with legacy effects of past management in driving growth responses to climate change. Indeed, lowland mature beech forests showed increasing BAI in the last decades, while primary high-mountain forests displayed a remarkably stable low oscillating growth. In all the Mediterranean forests we studied, large and old trees showed a marked growth acclimation despite ongoing climate warming, demonstrating the effectiveness of landscape rewilding.

The Influence of Conservation Education on Pro-wildlife Sustainability Behaviour at the Eco-centric Zone of Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Buliisa District, Uganda

Human-wildlife coexistence has become increasingly pressing in sub-Saharan Africa, especially Uganda, highlighting the need for an effective conservation education programme. The relationship between Conservation education and Human-wildlife coexistence in Uganda remains an open question. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the influence of conservation education on pro-wildlife sustainability behaviour at the eco-centric zone of Budongo Central Forest Reserve (CFR) in Uganda. Two specific objectives guided the research which include to: document the existing conservation education programs involved in enhancing human-wildlife coexistence around Budongo CFR; and to determine the influence of conservation education programs towards enhancing human-wildlife coexistence around Budongo CFR. The study employed a descriptive survey design where mixed-methods approach, including quantitative and qualitative surveys were carried out. Key informant interviews were carried out to elicit information from some community leaders and teachers. In addition, field observations were done to gauge the success of these programs towards fostering human-wildlife co-existence. The study revealed various conservation education programs in place, including environmental education in schools, community outreach programs, ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, and forest restoration. Notably, conservation education in schools played a significant role, contributing 59.1% to the variance in human-wildlife co-existence. A Pearson Correlation Coefficient analysis indicated a strong positive significant relationship between conservation education programs and improvements in human-wildlife co-existence (r=0.973, Sig=0.000). The findings showed that well-designed conservation education programs have the potential to enhance community awareness, reduce conflict incidents, and encourage sustainable co-habitation practices. However, challenges such as cultural nuances and resource limitations pose significant hurdles to program effectiveness. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the effectiveness of conservation education programs in enhancing human-wildlife coexistence around Budongo CFR. These programs have not only increased knowledge and positive attitudes but also fostered local capacity to conservation. There should be a continued investment in these programs by the government, NGOs, CBOs, and industry experts aimed at promoting sustainable coexistence and conservation in the Budongo CFR and similar areas in the country.

Multi-Dimensional Landscape Connectivity Index for Prioritizing Forest Cover Change Scenarios: A Case Study of Southeast China

Predicting forest cover change (FCC) and screening development scenarios are crucial for ecological resilience. However, quantitative evaluations of prioritizing forest change scenarios are limited. Here, we took five shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) representing potential global changes, namely SSP1: sustainability, SSP2: middle of the road, SSP3: regional rivalry, SSP4: inequality, and SSP5: fossil-fueled development, which were constructed by integrated assessment and climate models. We modeled them with the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) and constructed a multi-dimensional landscape connectivity index (MLCI) employing forest landscape connectivity (FLC) indices to assess forest development in Fujian Province, Southeast China. The MLCI visualized by radar charts was based on five metrics, including forest patch size (class area (CA), number (patch density (PD), isolation (landscape division index (DIVISION), aggregation (mean nearest-neighbor index (ENN_MN), and connectance index, (CONNECT). The results indicate that FC will remain above 61.4% until 2030, with growth observed in SSP1 and SSP4. Particularly, FC in SSP4 substantially increased, converted from cropland (1140.809 km2) and grassland (645.741 km2). SSP4 has the largest MLCI values and demonstrates significant enhancements in forest landscape integrity, with CA, ENN_MN and CONNECT increasing greatly. Our study offers valuable approaches to and insights into forest protection and restoration.

Mapping forest phenological shift in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats: Response to climate change

In the present study, the spatiotemporal alterations in phenological metrics were analyzed in different forest types of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), Western Ghats, India with special reference to the impacts of changing climate on the forest phenology over two-phase periods (Phase 1: 2001–2010 and Phase 2: 2011–2020). Three phenological measures including the start/end/length of the season (SOS/EOS/LOS) were obtained using 16 days of MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) dataset over the two decades. The study exhibited a gradual delay in SOS during phase 1, and an advancing SOS during phase 2 in the tropical forests of NBR. Delayed EOS was observed in all forest types in NBR barring Moist Deciduous Forests (MDF) during phase 1, while opposite trend of advancing EOS was observed in deciduous forests (MDF and DDF: Dry Deciduous Forests), but delayed EOS was observed in evergreen forests (SEF: Semi Evergreen Forests and WEF: Wet Evergreen Forests) during phase 2. These variations in forest phenology are linked with an increase in annual mean temperature (0.01 °C year−1) along with a decrease in annual mean precipitation (3.97 mm year−1) during 1950–2018 as observed using IMD-based meteorological datasets. The results highlighted reduction in the total LOS with a delayed SOS and advanced EOS in NBR, which were prevalent during phase 1 conversely to phase 2 due to the varied intensity of changes in climatic conditions. However, disaggregating decade-long intervals into 5-year segments enables a finer resolution analysis of phenological trends. The study contributes to the development of long-term strategies for forest ecosystem restoration under the influence of global climate change by providing an insightful understanding of the non-systematic shifts in forest phenology attributed by rising warming impacts and erratic precipitation patterns.

Livelihood impacts of community-based forest landscape restoration in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Pakistan

Livelihood impacts of community-based forest landscape restoration in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Pakistan

Solutions Based on Nature to Face Water Stress: Lessons from the Past and Present

Nature-based solutions (NbS) to water scarcity, environmental degradation, climate change, and biodiversity losses are enjoying increasing implementation throughout the world. This manuscript reviews three case studies from Brazil, Panama, and Portugal that illustrate NbS and searches for commonalities that may assist their usefulness in new sites. The Tijuca Forest in Rio de Janeiro is a remarkable story of centuries of forest management and restoration that initially aimed at providing water security for the capital of the country during the XIX Century while it was still a monarchy. Today, it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Panama Canal Watershed produces water for canal operations, electricity generation, and drinking water for half the country’s population. Traditional water mills and weirs near streams in the Alentejo Region, Portugal, have largely been abandoned due to the damming of the Guadiana River. Yet today, weirs are increasingly recognized for their important contribution to water provisioning in this dry region. All have a primary goal related to water provisioning, yet their ecosystem benefits are multiple. The cases offer important lessons for adaptation to climate change, cultural benefits from traditional human activities, and concerns about social equity.

Changes in fungal abundance and biochemical properties of soil through a temporal restoration of forests

Changes due to the exploratory management of the soil and cultivated plant species can interfere with the cycling of nutrients vital for soil fertility. This biogeochemical cycling of soil is an interaction of physical, chemical, and biological processes that can be altered by land use change and management. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate soil quality indicators in sand-extraction-degraded areas that had been reforested at different times and compare them to an unrestored area and native forest fragments. The five areas reforested with native Atlantic Forest species were 20, 17, 10, 7, and 5 years old. The fungal abundance, microbial respiration rate, enzyme activity, and C content were evaluated in soil samples collected at a depth of 10 cm. In addition, the total organic carbon, soluble carbon content, total carbohydrates, moisture, organic matter, and pH of these soils were studied. Our results verified a significant improvement in the fertile fraction of these soils due to the action of microorganisms in the different reforestation areas. The longer the reforestation period, the more the soil exhibited similar characteristics to native forests and approached the level of primary forests. The unrestored sand mining degraded soil area had the poorest fungal community and the least biochemical activity, which was less than the fungal abundance and activity of the most recent reforestation. These results suggest that the use of microbial and enzymatic activities as soil quality indicators is a viable approach to assess the impact suffered from past uncontrolled exploitation in areas that are undergoing ecological restoration processes of native forests.

DIVERSITY OF BATS IN HALABAN MONITORING POST AREA, SEI BETUNG, GUNUNG LEUSER NATIONAL PARK

Halaban Monitoring Post, Sei Betung Resort, Gunung Leuser National Park is a rehabilitated forest restoration location since 2017 after previously being diversified from oil palm land. The location has currently become a habitat for various types of animals, including bats. The identification of bat species at the Halaban Monitoring Post is conducted to assess the presence of fauna, with important ecological roles in pollination. Identification was conducted using mist nets installed at five observation points. Our observations showed that 87 individuals of Microchiroptera family bats were found, belonging to 4 species: Cynopterus brachyotis (38 individuals), Cynopterus minutus (15 individuals), Glischropus tylopus (1 individual), Hipposideros cervinus (33 individuals). Further analysis showed Shannon-Wiener diversity index ranges from 0.0 to 0.94 and Margalef species richness index ranges from 0.0 to 0.69. Bat abundance tends to be evenly distributed with an evenness index of 0.0 to 1.35. There is a dominant species at one of the locations with a dominance index value of 0.85.

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.

Optimizing restoration: A holistic spatial approach to deliver Nature’s Contributions to People with minimal tradeoffs and maximal equity

Ecosystem restoration is inherently a complex activity with inevitable tradeoffs in environmental and societal outcomes. These tradeoffs can potentially be large when policies and practices are focused on single outcomes versus joint achievement of multiple outcomes. Few studies have assessed the tradeoffs in Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) and the distributional equity of NCP from forest restoration strategies. Here, we optimized a defined forest restoration area across India with systematic conservation planning to assess the tradeoffs between three NCP: i) climate change mitigation NCP, ii) biodiversity value NCP (habitat created for forest-dependent mammals), and iii) societal NCP (human direct use of restored forests for livelihoods, housing construction material, and energy). We show that restoration plans aimed at a single-NCP tend not to deliver other NCP outcomes efficiently. In contrast, integrated spatial forest restoration plans aimed at achievement of multiple outcomes deliver on average 83.3% (43.2 to 100%) of climate change mitigation NCP, 89.9% (63.8 to 100%) of biodiversity value NCP, and 93.9% (64.5 to 100%) of societal NCP delivered by single-objective plans. Integrated plans deliver NCP more evenly across the restoration area when compared to other plans that identify certain regions such as the Western Ghats and north-eastern India. Last, 38 to 41% of the people impacted by integrated spatial plans belong to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, greater than their overall representation in India's population. Moving ahead, effective policy design and evaluation integrating ecosystem protection and restoration strategies can benefit from the blueprint we provide in this study for India.

Diversity-enhanced canopy space occupation and leaf functional diversity jointly promote overyielding in tropical tree communities

Understanding the mechanisms that drive biodiversity-productivity relationships is critical for guiding forest restoration. Although complementarity among trees in the canopy space has been suggested as a key mechanism for greater productivity in mixed-species tree communities, empirical evidence remains limited. Here, we used data from a tropical tree diversity experiment to disentangle the effects of tree species richness and community functional characteristics (community-weighted mean and functional diversity of leaf traits) on canopy space filling, and how these effects are related to overyielding. We found that canopy space filling was largely explained by species identity effects rather than tree diversity effects. Communities with a high abundance of species with a conservative resource-use strategy were those with most densely packed canopies. Across monocultures and mixtures, a higher canopy space filling translated into an enhanced wood productivity. Importantly, most communities (83 %) produced more wood volume than the average of their constituent species in monoculture (i.e. most communities overyielded). Our results show that overyielding increased with leaf functional diversity and positive net biodiversity effects on canopy space filling, which mainly arose due to a high taxonomic diversity. These findings suggest that both taxonomic diversity-enhanced canopy space filling and canopy leaf diversity are important drivers for overyielding in mixed-species forests. Consequently, restoration initiatives should promote stands with functionally diverse canopies by selecting tree species with large interspecific differences in leaf nutrition, as well as leaf and branch morphology to optimize carbon capture in young forest stands.

Relevance of surface albedo to forestry policy in high latitude and altitude regions may be overvalued

Abstract Forest restoration and improved forest management are seen as options to enhance terrestrial carbon dioxide removal in many regions, yet concerns surrounding their potentially adverse surface albedo impacts exist, particularly in high latitude and altitude regions. Such concerns are often based on generalized conclusions rooted in analyses carried out over broad spatial extents at coarse resolutions. The impacts of surface albedo change are highly sensitive to local environmental factors governing both the surface albedo and solar radiation budgets, and many previous assessments either do not sufficiently deal with such sensitivities or do not qualify the conditions under which they are relevant. Using the country of Norway with its diverse gradients in topography and climate as an ideal case study region, we seek clarity to the question of whether surface albedo is relevant to consider in forestry planning, and if so, what are the important factors determining it. We find that the adverse impact of a forest’s albedo outweighs its carbon cycle benefit on only ∼4% of Norway’s total forested area, reducing to <∼1% when future climate changes are considered. Our findings challenge the common perception that surface albedo concerns are highly relevant to forestry planning at high latitudes and emphasize the importance of carrying out albedo impact assessments at spatial scales aligning with those of local forestry planning.

Transcriptomic and physiological responses of Quercus acutissima and Quercus palustris to drought stress and rewatering.

Establishment of oak seedlings, which is an important factor in forest restoration, is affected by drought that hampers the survival, growth, and development of seedlings. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how seedlings respond to and recover from water-shortage stress. We subjected seedlings of two oak species, Quercus acutissima and Quercus palustris, to drought stress for one month and then rewatered them for six days to observe physiological and genetic expression changes. Phenotypically, the growth of Q. acutissima was reduced and severe wilting and recovery failure were observed in Q. palustris after an increase in plant temperature. The two species differed in several physiological parameters during drought stress and recovery. Although the photosynthesis-related indicators did not change in Q. acutissima, they were decreased in Q. palustris. Moreover, during drought, content of soluble sugars was significantly increased in both species, but it recovered to original levels only in Q. acutissima. Malondialdehyde content increased in both the species during drought, but it did not recover in Q. palustris after rewatering. Among the antioxidant enzymes, only superoxide dismutase activity increased in Q. acutissima during drought, whereas activities of ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase increased in Q. palustris. Abscisic acid levels were increased and then maintained in Q. acutissima, but recovered to previous levels after rewatering in Q. palustris. RNA samples from the control, drought, recovery day 1, and recovery day 6 treatment groups were compared using transcriptome analysis. Q. acutissima exhibited 832 and 1076 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to drought response and recovery, respectively, whereas Q. palustris exhibited 3947 and 1587 DEGs, respectively under these conditions. Gene ontology enrichment of DEGs revealed "response to water," "apoplast," and "Protein self-association" to be common to both the species. However, in the heatmap analysis of genes related to sucrose and starch synthesis, glycolysis, antioxidants, and hormones, the two species exhibited very different transcriptome responses. Nevertheless, the levels of most DEGs returned to their pre-drought levels after rewatering. These results provide a basic foundation for understanding the physiological and genetic expression responses of oak seedlings to drought stress and recovery.

Decision-making factors influencing land use transformation and its implication on forest landscape restoration in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Macro-level landscape patterns are often a result of a strong influence on human decisions at the micro level. The abilities and objectives of decision-makers should be explicitly addressed to improve our understanding of land use transformation. This research explores the factors influencing smallholder farmers to transform their land use while implementing Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). We employed a systematic sampling technique to select a study catchment in Southern Ethiopia and 228 households were randomly approached for a household survey. Reaping more economic benefits is the most contributing factor for land use transformation in the study region. Land use transformation towards FLR options such as woodlot and agroforestry is substantially influenced by the location of the farm within the catchment. Furthermore, the study reveals that land allocated for different land uses differs across farmers depending upon their change orientation behaviours categorized as survivalist, subsistence-oriented and market-orientated smallholder farmers. When carrying out FLR in the study region and in similar landscapes that aim to engage smallholder farmers, it is important to promote fast-growing economically rewarding tree species.