Recovery of tree communities on degraded tropical forests after restoration planting
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Increasing rates of deforestation in tropical rain forests have been linked to agricultural encroachment. How well trees recover into a more species rich ecosystem after restoration planting
remains unclear. The aim of the study was to evaluate the recovery of communities of tree, assess the influence of understory vegetation like Acanthus pubescens, and Pennisetum urpureum, on the recovery in Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda. We studied six restored forests fragments ranging in age from 3 to 16 years and three primary forests. Our results showed that although recovery with natural regeneration was more effective than restoration planting the latter enhanced recruitment of native tree seedling. Tree recovery was generally correlated with age so that species density and diversity increased although at different rates. A reverse pattern was found for dominance but no clear pattern was found for tree density. Understory vegetation like Acanthus pubescens and Pennisetum purpureum negatively correlated with species density, tree density and diversity but a positive correlation was found for dominance. Although restoration planting can enhance recovery, understory vegetation significantly affects recovery of degraded forests. This can affect the cost of restoration of degraded areas.
Keywords: Acanthus pubescens, P. purpureum, Recruitment, Restoration planting, Tree recovery
ID: 3613266