Tag: Forests

Research summaries

‘Fruiting dead’ – or the still unpaid extinction debt of a common shrub

In this post Juan P. González-Varo, Rafael G. Albaladejo, Marcelo A. Aizen, Juan Arroyo and Abelardo Aparicio discuss their recent paper ‘Extinction debt of a common shrub in a fragmented landscape’. A key question with direct implications for biodiversity conservation and restoration in fragmented areas is whether the persistence of those species we currently observe in habitat remnants is ensured in the long-term. Habitat-specialist species, … Continue reading ‘Fruiting dead’ – or the still unpaid extinction debt of a common shrub

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From seedling to adult assemblages: chronic disturbance drives the biological impoverishment of Brazilian Caatinga flora

In this post, Elâine Ribeiro writes about her recent paper with Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez, Bráulio Santos, Marcelo Tabarelli and Inara Leal “Chronic anthropogenic disturbance drives the biological impoverishment of the Brazilian Caatinga vegetation”. Many studies worldwide are devoted to understand the reorganization of biological communities after human disturbances. However, a large proportion of these studies deal with acute (as opposed to chronic) forms of disturbance (Martorell … Continue reading From seedling to adult assemblages: chronic disturbance drives the biological impoverishment of Brazilian Caatinga flora

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How common birds and rainforests help cacao farmers in Indonesia

In this post, Bea Maas writes about her recent paper with Teja Tscharntke, Shahabuddin Saleh, Dadang Dwi Putra & Yann Clough “Avian species identity drives predation success in tropical cacao agroforestry“. Birds can make farmers happy. Due to their contribution to the suppression of pest insects in agriculture, their presence can increase the quality and quantity of crop yields. Especially in the tropics, insect eating birds … Continue reading How common birds and rainforests help cacao farmers in Indonesia

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Liko Nā Pilina – The hybrid ecosystems project

In this post, Rebecca Ostertag, Laura Warman, Susan Cordell and Peter Vitousek write about their recent paper “Using plant functional traits to restore Hawaiian rainforest”. You can also watch them in action in the video about their project to see whether hybrid ecosystems could save native forests in Hawaii. Loosely translated, ‘liko nā pilina’ means “Budding (or growing) new partnerships (or relationships)” in the Hawaiian language. We … Continue reading Liko Nā Pilina – The hybrid ecosystems project

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Exotic trees at risk of native insect attack

In this post, Manuela Branco talks about her recent paper “Host range expansion of native insects to exotic trees increases with area of introduction and the presence of congeneric native trees” Also, see Manuela’s cartoon illustrating how host range expansion of native insects to exotic trees increases with area of introduction and the presence of congeneric native trees Exotic tree species are used worldwide for planting, … Continue reading Exotic trees at risk of native insect attack

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Forest certification can benefit cork oak woodlands

In this guest post, Filipe S. Dias provides a summary of his recent paper “Effects of forest certification on the ecological condition of Mediterranean streams“. In Mediterranean regions, streams and riparian habitats support dense and productive forest ecosystems that contrast strongly with the adjacent semi-arid habitats. During the hot and dry Mediterranean summer these habitats provide food and water to several animal species and harbour … Continue reading Forest certification can benefit cork oak woodlands

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When it comes to reforestation, impacts on seedling growth from competition, herbivory and land-use legacy may be as predictable as a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

Species interactions are the foundations of ecological science. As early as pre-school, we begin building food webs and discussing the basic principles of species survival and interactions between living and non-living parts of an ecosystem. We know herbivores eat plants and prefer ‘tasty’ ones; plants compete for light, nutrients, water and space; and historical land management impacts on future actions. What we still don’t know … Continue reading When it comes to reforestation, impacts on seedling growth from competition, herbivory and land-use legacy may be as predictable as a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

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Protecting freshwaters from forest harvesting

Most of us depend on paper, packaging, building materials and fuel wood. Forestry is an important industry, however, the impacts on freshwaters are immense and over the years forest managers have generally come to leave some trees alongside streams to protect freshwaters, i.e., riparian buffers. A new study by Richardson and Béraud shows that the impacts they are trying to protect against are more different … Continue reading Protecting freshwaters from forest harvesting

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