Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

R Crouzeilles; M S Ferreira; Robin L Chazdon; D B Lindenmayer; J B B Sansevero; L Monteiro; A Iribarrem; A E Latawiec; B B N Strassburg

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701345

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Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

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Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

R Crouzeilles, M S Ferreira, Robin L Chazdon, D B Lindenmayer, J B B Sansevero, L Monteiro, A Iribarrem, A E Latawiec and B B N Strassburg

Science Advances, Vol.3(11), e1701345

2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1701345

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Abstract

Is active restoration the best approach to achieve ecological restoration success (the return to a reference condition, that is, old-growth forest) when compared to natural regeneration in tropical forests? Our meta-analysis of 133 studies demonstrated that natural regeneration surpasses active restoration in achieving tropical forest restoration success for all three biodiversity groups (plants, birds, and invertebrates) and five measures of vegetation structure (cover, density, litter, biomass, and height) tested. Restoration success for biodiversity and vegetation structure was 34 to 56% and 19 to 56% higher in natural regeneration than in active restoration systems, respectively, after controlling for key biotic and abiotic factors (forest cover, precipitation, time elapsed since restoration started, and past disturbance). Biodiversity responses were based primarily on ecological metrics of abundance and species richness (74%), both of which take far less time to achieve restoration success than similarity and composition. This finding challenges the widely held notion that natural forest regeneration has limited conservation value and that active restoration should be the default ecological restoration strategy. The proposition that active restoration achieves greater restoration success than natural regeneration may have arisen because previous comparisons lacked controls for biotic and abiotic factors; we also did not find any difference between active restoration and natural regeneration outcomes for vegetation structure when we did not control for these factors. Future policy priorities should align the identified patterns of biophysical and ecological conditions where each or both restoration approaches are more successful, cost-effective, and compatible with socioeconomic incentives for tropical forest restoration.

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Title: Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests
Authors: R Crouzeilles (Author) - International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil
M S Ferreira (Author) - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Robin L Chazdon (Author) - International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil
D B Lindenmayer (Author) - Australian National University
J B B Sansevero (Author) - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
L Monteiro (Author) - International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil
A Iribarrem (Author) - International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil
A E Latawiec (Author) - International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil
B B N Strassburg (Author) - International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil
Publication details: Science Advances, Vol.3(11), e1701345; 7
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Date published: 2017
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701345
ISSN: 2375-2548
Copyright note: Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450644602621
Output Type: Journal article

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