Multidimensional tropical forest recovery

• DOI: 10.1126/science.abh3629
• Publication Date: 2021-12-09T18:58:36Z
• Authors: Lourens Poorter; Dylan Craven; Catarina C. Jakovac; Masha T. van der ...; Lucy Amissah; Frans Bongers; Robin L. Chazdon; Caroline E. Farrior; Stephan Kambach; Jorge A. Meave; Rodrigo Muñoz; Natalia Norden; Nadja Rüger; Michiel van Breugel; Angélica María Al...; Bienvenu Amani; José Luis Andrade; Pedro H. S. Branc...; Eben N. Broadbent; Hubert de Foresta; Daisy H. Dent; Géraldine Derroire; Saara J. DeWalt; Juan M. Dupuy; Sandra M. Durán; Alfredo C. Fantini; Bryan Finegan; Alma Hernández-Ja...; José Luis Hernánd...; Peter Hietz; André B. Junqueira; Justin Kassi N’dja; Susan G. Letcher; Madelon Lohbeck; René López-Camacho; Miguel Martínez-R...; Felipe P. L. Melo; Francisco Mora; Sandra C. Müller; Anny E. N’Guessan; Florian Oberleitner; Edgar Ortiz-Malav...; Eduardo A. Pérez-...; Bruno X. Pinho; Daniel Piotto; Jennifer S. Powers; Susana Rodríguez-...; Danaë M. A. Rozen...; Jorge Ruíz; Marcelo Tabarelli; Heitor Mancini Te...; Everardo Valadare...; Hans van der Wal; Pedro M. Villa; Geraldo W. Fernandes; Braulio A. Santos; José Aguilar-Cano; Jarcilene S. de A...; Esteban Alvarez-D...; Felipe Arreola-Villa; Patricia Balvanera; Justin M. Becknell; George A. L. Cabral; Carolina Castella...; Ben H. J. de Jong; Jhon Edison Nieto; Mário M. Espírito...; Maria C. Fandino; Hernando García; Daniel García-Vil...; Jefferson S. Hall; Alvaro Idárraga; Jaider Jiménez-Mo...; Deborah Kennard; Erika Marín-Spiotta; Rita Mesquita; Yule R. F. Nunes; Susana Ochoa-Gaona; Marielos Peña-Claros; Nathalia Pérez-Cá...; Jorge Rodríguez-V...; Lucía Sanaphre Vi...; Naomi B. Schwartz; Marc K. Steininger; Maria D. M. Veloso; Henricus F. M. Ve...; Ima C. G. Vieira; G. Bruce Williamson; Kátia Zanini; Bruno Hérault
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; 570; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36729; restauration du paysage forestier; forêt tropicale; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; 01 natural sciences; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems; Tropical forest; zone tropicale; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24904; Taverne; K01 - Foresterie - Considérations générales; SDG 13 - Climate Action; Life Science; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_13802; reconstitution forestière; K70 - Dégâts causés aux forêts et leur protection; Deforestation; SDG 15 - Life on Land; 580; Resilience; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; South America; [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics; 15. Life on land; réhabilitation des forêts; 13. Climate action; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; Africa; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7979; P01 - Conservation de la nature et ressources foncières; Secondary forests; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_60067b8e

Resilient secondary tropical forests?Although deforestation is rampant across the tropics, forest has a strong capacity to regrow on abandoned lands. These “secondary” forests may increasingly play important roles in biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and landscape restoration. Poorteret al. analyzed the patterns of recovery in forest attributes (related to soil, plant functioning, structure, and diversity) in 77 secondary forest sites in the Americas and West Africa. They found that different attributes recovered at different rates, with soil recovering in less than a decade and species diversity and biomass recovering in little more than a century. The authors discuss how these findings can be applied in efforts to promote forest restoration. —AMS