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Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation

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A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2023) | Viewed by 10063

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Dr. Venceslas Goudiaby

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Department of Biological Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC G5L 3A1, Canada
Interests: ecology; forest science; interdisciplinary research; computer and statistical modeling
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Dear Colleagues,

Regeneration is a key process that allows a forest to restock after a disturbance, and therefore to sustain itself. Forests are renewed through either natural or artificial regeneration. While natural regeneration involves self-sown seeds, coppice shoots, or root suckers, artificial regeneration is done through planting after seedlings are germinated and grown in nurseries. Assisted natural regeneration lies between both and implies helping trees to successfully regenerate by eliminating natural barriers. Ecological drivers for tree regeneration include abiotic factors such as climate, type of substrate, and site aspect; and biotic factors such as interactions with other species of a given plant community, animals, or soil microorganisms. Anthropogenic drivers involve all human actions interfering with tree recruitment. Understanding the driving mechanisms underlying tree regeneration could provide key inputs to help achieve efficient and successful forest restoration targets. This Special Issue invites papers that explore key drivers of natural or human-induced tree regeneration. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a collection of papers that provide insight into the most recent advancements in tree regeneration mechanisms related to ecological or anthropogenic drivers in forest ecosystems worldwide.

Dr. Venceslas Goudiaby
Guest Editor

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Keywords

afforestation
assisted natural regeneration
coppice shoots
regeneration
tree recruitment
root suckers
seed germination
seedlings

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 15071 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Golden Camellia as a Driver of Forest Regeneration and Conservation: A Case Study of Value-Chain Forestry with Camellia quephongensis in Que Phong, Nghe An, North-Central Vietnam

by Kazuya Takahashi, Hiroaki Nishikawa, Reiko Tanabe and Dong Quang Tran

Forests 2023, 14(6), 1087; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14061087 - 24 May 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1030

Abstract

Golden camellia is a highly valued commercial plant owing to its flowers’ medicinal substances. One species of golden camellia, Camellia quephongensis Hakoda et Ninh, is used as a non-timber forest product for value-chain forestry (VCF) in Que Phong District, Nghe An Province, North-Central Vietnam; its production and sale is an important business activity which contributes substantially to local livelihood improvement. According to previous studies and in situ observation, golden camellias, including C. quephongensis, inhabit regenerated forests, especially along streams and rivers. This encourages VCF with C. quephongensis to function as a driver of forest regeneration and conservation. However, the ecological aspect of this species in regenerated forests is poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to determine this species’ growth patterns and population expansion during forest regeneration. We surveyed the morphological characteristics of this species at different ages in several populations, and revealed that the plants reached a tree height of 150 cm and started blooming eight years after germination. Comparing C. quephongensis-populations inhabiting different succession-staged forests, we observed that the population in long-term regenerated forests was significantly larger and had a pyramid-shaped age distribution pattern to possibly expand its population size. Based on this, we conclude that C. quephongensis is a good indicator of forest regeneration and contributes to local livelihoods and forest regeneration and conservation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation)

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14 pages, 1933 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Coupling Relationship between Soil Organic Carbon Storage and Soil Water Storage in Abandoned Economic Forests in the Loess Hilly Areas

by Ting Xiang, Rui Gao, Fangfang Qiang, Ni Yang, Guangquan Liu, Changhai Liu and Ning Ai

Forests 2023, 14(2), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14020221 - 24 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1547

Abstract

The spatial distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon storage (SOCS) and soil water storage (SWS) and the factors that influence these parameters were compared and analyzed for different economic forests under varying land use practices in the study area with the same abandonment years. The widely distributed abandoned mountain jujube and apple forests at the Qijiashan jujube experimental demonstration base in Yanchuan County were the research field, and grassland was the control. The results show that (1) SOCS and SWS accumulated abundantly in the deep layer (below 100 cm) compared to the highest layer, accounting for 60.63% and 64.63%. (2) After abandonment, the SOCS and SWS were different across vegetation types and under different land preparation methods. In the study area, the SWS showed a comparative advantage compared to the SOCS. The trade-off for different vegetation types suggests that it was the highest for grassland (0.39), while the lowest for jujube (0.16). Under different land preparation methods, the RMSE values of the level terrace grassland and undisturbed slope with apple trees were the highest, while those of jujube trees were the lowest. (3) Environmental factors exerted a certain influence on different vegetation types and varying land preparation methods after abandonment. Apart from the interaction between SOCS and SWS, chemical indicators showed the greatest impact on the abandoned grassland and the SOCS of level terraces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation)

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15 pages, 1955 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Coupling Relationship between Herb Communities and Soil in a Coal Mine Reclamation Area after Different Years of Restoration

by Rui Gao, Ning Ai, Guangquan Liu, Changhai Liu, Fangfang Qiang, Zhiyong Zhang, Ting Xiang and Kaixuan Zang

Forests 2022, 13(9), 1481; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13091481 - 14 Sep 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1450

Abstract

In a complete organic ecosystem restoration in mining areas, soil and vegetation complement and influence each other. It is of great significance to evaluate the ecological restoration effect on and ecosystem stability of the mining area, with the coupling and coordinating relationship between herb community and soil physicochemical properties after land reclamation. Therefore, this study takes Juxinlong Coal Mine in Dongsheng District of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as the study area. The understory herbaceous plant community and soil factors with restoration time of 3 to 7 years were selected as the research objects. In addition, artificial grassland and natural restoration grassland were used as controls to investigate the species composition of herbaceous communities and soil physicochemical properties in different sites. The grey relational coupling model was adopted not only to study the relationship between herb community and soil factors but also to explore the coupling mechanism between herb community and soils’ physicochemical properties. The results included: (1) 51 herbaceous plants were investigated in the study area, among which Gramineae, Compositae, Leguminosae, and Chenopodiaceae were the primary ones, accounting for 70% of the total. (2) With the increase of restoration years, the diversity indices of understory herbaceous plants generally showed an increasing trend, but the diversity indices of understory herbaceous plants with different restoration years was smaller than that of artificial grassland. (3) The results of grey correlation analysis showed that the diversity of herbaceous plant community in the study area was closely related to soils’ available nitrogen and water content. (4) The degree of coupling and coordinating between the diversity of herbaceous plants and soils in the study area presented a trend of first increasing then decreasing during the accumulating restoration years. Among them, the degree of coupling between the diversity of understory herbaceous plants and soil system in the 5-year restoration’s sample plot (0.73) was found to be the highest, which was classified as medium coordination. The lowest coupling degree of herb diversity and soils was identified in the artificial grassland (0.51), which was light incoordination. Therefore, it is suggested that the control of water and nitrogen resources should be strengthened, the herbaceous vegetation should be reasonably selected, and the artificial tending should be carried out in the later stage of understory herbaceous vegetation construction in the study area to better promote the vegetation construction in the mining area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation)

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20 pages, 5812 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Drivers of Native Species Regeneration in the Process of Restoring a Dry Evergreen Forest from Exotic Tree Plantations in Northeastern Thailand

by Duriya Staporn, Dokrak Marod, Jetsada Wongprom and Sapit Diloksumpun

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1321; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081321 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1788

Abstract

Establishment of exotic plantations is one of the most effective ways to induce natural regeneration for the restoration of degraded lands, as it has the potential to improve soil properties and creates favorable microclimates. This study aims to determine the effects of stand structure and composition as well as environmental factors under the canopies of three exotic plantations in northeastern Thailand on the regeneration of native species. For each plantation, we conducted three 10 m × 150 m transect lines with fifteen 10 m × 10 m subplots along a forest remnant gradient. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to identify the environmental factors responsible for the differences in natural regeneration among these stands. Three exotic plantations had different stand structure in terms of number of tree species, basal area, and tree density but similar dominant native tree species. Across all stands, 74 native tree species, 60 genera, and 30 families were observed. Some physical and chemical properties in the topsoil were significantly different between species but similar among stands within a species. On the other hand, differences in environmental factors such as RLI were significant among species and stands within a species. The CCA ordination identified that the soil particles, soil pH, and light intensity were key factors influencing the native species composition, which could be categorized into three groups: drought-tolerant pioneer species; light-demanding pioneer species; and shade-tolerant climax species. However, most of the climax species were incapable of regenerating and maturing along the forest edge gradient to plantation stands. To accelerate the restoration process by converting these old exotic plantations to a dry evergreen forest, further research is required to determine the appropriate canopy management and/or dominant climax species for planting beneath their canopies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation)

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15 pages, 10243 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Validation of the Habitat Quality Index of Tetraclinis articulata Forests and Its Application in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Restoration Projects

by Juan Miguel Moya-Pérez, Miguel Ángel Esteve-Selma, Adrián Ruiz Rocamora and Antonio Félix Carrillo

Forests 2022, 13(6), 950; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060950 - 17 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1479

Abstract

The latest reports from the European Commission warn of the need to improve the conservation status of its forest habitats. Native populations of priority habitat 9570 (Tetraclinis articulata forests) in continental Europe are located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The LIFE-TETRACLINIS-EUROPE project aimed to improve habitat conservation conditions. As part of the results of this project, a habitat quality index was proposed with the intention of evaluating both its conservation conditions and its evolution after the implemented action measures. The variables used in this index were selected with the aim of achieving high representativeness of the quality of the habitat while at the same time being easily integrated into monitoring programs. In this paper, we intend to verify the suitability of the variables chosen for this index, its sensitivity to discriminate different conservation levels, and its possible inclusion in forest management programs through a cost-effectiveness analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation)

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15 pages, 2933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Soil Properties and Scots Pine Tree Growth Induced by Different Soil Ploughing Prior to Afforestation: A Case Study

by Gediminas Survila, Iveta Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė and Kęstutis Armolaitis

Forests 2022, 13(6), 900; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060900 - 9 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1730

Abstract

Numerous studies have confirmed that forests have the potential for a significant contribution to carbon sequestration, but afforestation of former agricultural land can be attempted to adopt technologies that further encourage carbon sequestration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different soil cultivation methods, including deep ploughing and soil cultivation by making microsites and furrows prior to afforestation of former agricultural land, on chemical soil properties and tree growth in 20 years old Scots pine plantations. A naturally regenerated Scots pine stand, representing the non-ploughed soil, was included as a control site. Deep ploughing, among other soil cultivation methods, significantly altered the chemical soil properties. Furthermore, significant effects were indicated in the sites afforested after cultivation by making furrows. A recent study found that, due to deep soil cultivation, higher stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) were incorporated into deeper soil layers and were protected from direct environmental impact. Twenty years post afforestation in deeply ploughed sites, we still found a decreased C:N ratio and disbalanced relationship between the concentrations of SOC and total N. The SOC and total N stocks were higher in the subsoil than in the topsoil in the sites afforested after deep ploughing. Moreover, deep ploughing and soil cultivation by furrows prior to afforestation resulted in higher total SOC and total N stocks in the forest floor and mineral 0–80 cm soil layer. A higher total phosphorus (P) concentration in the subsoil and total potassium (K) in the upper mineral soil layer were obtained in the deep ploughing sites and the sites, cultivated by furrows, compared to the non-ploughed sites. Significantly higher total P stock per entire profile was found for the deep ploughing sites and the sites cultivated by furrows than in the naturally regenerated stand. Different soil cultivation methods caused no differences in tree diameter at breast height (DBH) in 20 years old Scots pine stands both in the afforested sites and in the naturally regenerated forest. However, significantly larger tree height in all afforested sites than in the naturally regenerated Scots pine stands was obtained. A lower differentiation in tree DBH was obtained in the deep ploughing sites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Regeneration and Afforestation)

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