The Analysis of Time Series: An Introduction, 4th edn. By C. Chatfield. ISBN 0 412 31820 2. Chapman and Hall, London, 1989. 242 pp. £13.50.

The Analysis of Time Series: An Introduction

The current scale of deforestation in tropical regions and the large areas of degraded lands now present underscore the urgent need for interventions to restore biodiversity, ecological functioning, and the supply of goods and ecological services previously used by poor rural communities. Traditional timber plantations have supplied some goods but have made only minor contributions to fulfilling most of these other objectives. New approaches to reforestation are now emerging, with potential for both overcoming forest degradation and addressing rural poverty.

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Restoration of Degraded Tropical Forest Landscapes

http://www.lerf.esalq.usp.br/divulgacao/produzidos/artigos/2009bcv142n6p1242-1251.pdf

On the restoration of high diversity forests: 30 years of experience in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Ecological restoration, when implemented effectively and sustainably, contributes to protecting biodiversity; improving human health and wellbeing; increasing food and water security; delivering goods, services, and economic prosperity; and supporting climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation. It is a solutions-based approach that engages communities, scientists, policymakers, and land managers to repair ecological damage and rebuild a healthier relationship between people and the rest of nature. When combined with conservation and sustainable use, ecological restoration is the link needed to move local, regional, and global environmental conditions from a state of continued degradation, to one of net positive improvement. The second edition of the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration (the Standards) presents a robust framework for restoration projects to achieve intended goals, while addressing challenges including effective design and implementation, accounting for complex ecosystem dynamics (especially in the context of climate change), and navigating trade-offs associated with land management priorities and decisions.

https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_journals/2019/rmrs_2019_gann_g001.pdf

International principles and standards for the practice of ecological restoration: Second edition

Tropical dry forests are the most threatened tropical terrestrial ecosystem. However, few studies have been conducted on the natural regeneration necessary to restore these forests. We reviewed the ecology of regeneration of tropical dry forests as a tool to restore disturbed lands. Dry forests are characterized by a relatively high number of tree species with small, dry, wind-dispersed seeds. Over small scales, wind-dispersed seeds are better able to colonize degraded areas than vertebrate-dispersed plants. Small seeds and those with low water content are less susceptible to desiccation, which is a major barrier for establishment in open areas. Seeds are available in the soil in the early rainy season to maximize the time to grow. However, highly variable precipitation and frequent dry spells are important sources of mortality in seeds and seedlings. Collecting seeds at the end of the dry season and planting them when soil has sufficient moisture may increase seedling establishment and reduce the time they are exposed to seed predators. Germination and early establishment in the field are favored in shaded sites, which have milder environment and moister soil than open sites during low rainfall periods. Growth of established seedlings, however, is favored in open areas. Therefore, clipping plants around established seedlings may be a good management option to improve growth and survival. Although dry forests have species either resistant to fire or that benefit from it, frequent fires simplify community species composition. Resprouting ability is a noticeable mechanism of regeneration in dry forests and must be considered for restoration. The approach to dry-forest restoration should be tailored to this ecosystem instead of merely following approaches developed for moister forests.

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Principles of Natural Regeneration of Tropical Dry Forests for Restoration

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/misc/78142-2001-Foreco-Engel-Parrotta.pdf

An evaluation of direct seeding for reforestation of degraded lands in central São Paulo State, Brazil

Restauração ecológica de ecossistemas naturais

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/misc/78177-2003-Engel-Parrotta-Brazil-proceedings.pdf

Definindo a restauração ecológica: tendências e perspectivas mundiais

Failures in reforestation are often attributed to nutrient limitation for tree growth. We compared tree performance and nitrogen and phosphorus relations in adjacent mixed-species plantings of contrasting com- position, established for forest restoration on Ultisol soil, originally covered by tropical semi-deciduous Atlantic Forest in Southeast Brazil. Nutrient relations of four tree species occurring in both planting mixtures were compared between a legume-dominated, species- poor direct seeding mixture of early-successional spe- cies (''legume mixture''), and a species-diverse, legume-poor mixture of all successional groups (''diverse mixture''). After 7 years, the legume mixture had 6-fold higher abundance of N2-fixing trees, 177% higher total tree basal area, 22% lower litter C/N, six- fold higher in situ soil resin-nitrate, and 40% lower in situ soil resin-P, compared to the diverse mixture. In the legume mixture, non-N2-fixing legume Schizolobium parahyba (Fabaceae-Caesalpinioideae) had signifi- cantly lower proportional N resorption, and both naturally regenerating non-legume trees had signifi- cantly higher leaf N concentrations, and higher proportional P resorption, than in the diverse mixture. This demonstrate forms of plastic adjustment in all three non-N2-fixing species to diverged nutrient relations between mixtures. By contrast, leaf nutrient relations in N2-fixing Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Fabaceae- Mimosoideae) did not respond to planting mixtures. Rapid N accumulation in the legume mixture caused excess soil nitrification over nitrate immobilization and tighter P recycling compared with the diverse mixture. The legume mixture succeeded in accelerating tree growth and canopy closure, but may imply periods of N losses and possibly P limitation. Incorporation of species with efficient nitrate uptake and P mobilization from resistant soil pools offers potential to optimize these tradeoffs.

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Dominance of legume trees alters nutrient relations in mixed species forest restoration plantings within seven years

Around the world, there is growing desire and momentum for ecological restoration to happen faster, with better quality, and in more extensive areas. The question we ask is how can laws and governmental regulations best contribute to effective, successful, and broad-scale restoration? In the state of S˜ ao Paulo, Brazil, there is a legal instrument (SMA 08-2008) whose aim is to increase the effectiveness of tropical forest restoration projects in particular. It establishes, among other things, requirements regarding the minimum number of native tree species to be reached within a given period of time in restoration projects and the precise proportion of functional groups or threatened species to be included when reforestation with native species is used as a restoration technique. There are, however, two differing perspectives among Brazilian restoration ecologists on the appropriateness of such detailed legal rules. For some, the rules help increase the chances that mandatory projects of ecological restoration will succeed. For the other group, there is no single way to achieve effective ecosystem restoration, and the existing science and know-how are far from sufficient to establish standardized technical and methodological norms or to justify that such norms be imposed. Both points of view are discussed here, aiming to help those developing new legislation and improving existing laws about ecological restoration. The precedents established in S˜ ao Paulo, and at the federal level in Brazil, and the ongoing debate about those laws are worth considering and possibly applying elsewhere.

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Vera Lex Engel

Papers

An evaluation of direct seeding for reforestation of degraded lands in central São Paulo State, Brazil

Restauração ecológica de ecossistemas naturais

Definindo a restauração ecológica: tendências e perspectivas mundiais

Dominance of legume trees alters nutrient relations in mixed species forest restoration plantings within seven years

What Role Should Government Regulation Play in Ecological Restoration? Ongoing Debate in São Paulo State, Brazil