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Variation in environmental and cultural outcomes across unrestored forest and three different restoration strategies Note: Axes are scaled minimum to maximum for each dimension.
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With growing calls to scale up reforestation efforts worldwide, conservation managers increasingly must decide whether and how to restore highly altered ecosystems. However, empirical research on potential trade‐offs remains scarce. We use a Hawai'i watershed to demonstrate a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to identifying synergies and tr...
Citations
... As with any modelling exercise, we made simplifying assumptions in the process of linking static models to dynamic scenarios. For example, our results reflect potential outcomes assuming ecosystems are fully restored, even though forest restoration may take a decade or more to become functional at trapping sediment 48 and provide a measurable impact on marine ecosystems and people 49 . Change in vegetation and societal benefits after the implementation of watershed interventions will happen incrementally at rates that are context-specific. ...
Deforestation impacts the ecosystem services provided by downstream coral reefs to coastal communities in multiple ways, such as through increased sedimentation and nutrification. However, connections between terrestrial and marine ecosystems are generally assessed at a single scale and from an ecological perspective alone, limiting our understanding of how watershed management affects the benefits accrued by coastal communities at different scales. Here we explore how ecological and societal benefits of watershed interventions (restoration, protection and sustainable agriculture) differ when considered regionally versus nationally in the Mesoamerican Reef region, by using linked land–sea ecosystem service models. Results from a regional approach prioritize implementing interventions in larger multinational watersheds, leading to neighbouring nations benefiting from increased sediment retention and healthy corals. For the national prioritization approach, selecting for smaller watersheds within individual countries resulted in more societal benefits, particularly increased coastal protection and nature-based tourism, at the cost of improved coral health for neighbouring nations. We demonstrate how planning at multiple scales across the region can improve ecosystem and societal benefits, resulting in win–win outcomes.
... Therefore, the creation and implementation of a regional action plan for reforestation using species of the genus Cinchona is proposed. This strategy aims to conserve the genus, restore forests, preserve natural ecosystems, and contribute to climate change mitigation [86][87][88]. In summary, this research was focused on predicting the possible distribution of three species belonging to the genus Cinchona in the department of Amazonas, considering current climatic conditions. ...
The genus Cinchona L. has important medicinal, cultural, and economic value and is the emblematic tree of Peru. The genus is mainly found in the cloud forests of the Andes. However, the expansion of agriculture and livestock farming in the department of Amazonas is degrading these ecosystems and has reduced the size of the genus’s populations. In this work, we model the potential distribution under current conditions of three Cinchona species (C. capuli L. Anderson, C. macrocalyx Pav. Ex DC., and C. pubescens Vahl.) to identify areas with a high likelihood of species presence and their key conservation and reforestation zones. We fitted a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model using nineteen bioclimatic variables, three topographic variables, nine edaphic variables, and solar radiation. Under current conditions, the potential distribution of C. capuli covers 17.22% (7243.98 km2); C. macrocalyx, 29.11% (12,238.91 km2); and C. pubescens, 22.94% (9647.63 km2) of the study area, which was mostly located in central and southern Amazonas. Only 24.29% (25.51% of C. capuli, 21.02% of C. macrocalyx, and 26.35% of C. pubescens) of the potential distributions are within protected areas, while 10,987.22 km2 of the surface area of the department of Amazonas is degraded, of which 29.80% covers the area of probable occurrence of C. capuli, 38.72% of C. macrocalyx, and 34.82% of C. pubescens. Consequently, it is necessary to promote additional conservation strategies for Cinchona, including the establishment of new protected areas and the recovery of degraded habitats, in order to protect this species.
... Restoration management decisions affect ecological outcomes (Burnett et al., 2019;Guiden et al., 2021;Lesage et al., 2018) but are often not considered (Cabin et al., 2010;Dickens and Suding, 2013) simultaneously with ecological data (Bernhardt et al., 2005;Wyżga et al., 2021). These management decisions are influenced by individual management ideologies, project-based goals, local habitat conditions, and legal requirements (Cabin, 2007;Hagger et al., 2017;Kull et al., 2015). ...
Governmental and non-governmental organizations spend considerable funding on restoring ecosystems to counter biodiversity loss, yet outcomes are often not assessed at a regional scale. Monitoring is done ≤5 years after project-implementation, if at all, and rarely assesses the effects of management practices on project success. We combined vegetation surveys and management interviews to compare long-term restoration outcomes of 37 California coastal grassland projects (5-33 y post-implementation) that spanned a 1000-km north-south gradient. We found that coastal grassland restoration is largely successful at reaching project goals (95 %) and a standard performance metric (80 %) to restore native cover, but land managers preferentially use a small number of well-tested, "high success" species, potentially at the expense of regional diversity. Medium and high maintenance intensity resulted in lower non-native cover and improved native cover and rarefied native richness. Managers of voluntary (non-statutory) sites were more open to assessing outcomes and spent less per hectare compared to legally mandated (statutory) projects but achieved similar plant cover and even higher rarefied richness. Statutory project managers indicated that regulatory agencies sometimes lowered compliance goals for native cover if the initial targets were not met. Additional funding for greater maintenance intensity and incorporating more locally distinctive species (i.e., endemic or range-restricted) may help counteract potential unintended consequences from preferential plant selection, and inter-agency coordination of species selection could reduce biotic homogenization. We recommend delegating funds to a third-party monitoring group to ensure legally mandated compliance and consistency in assessment.
... Non-native forests can decrease erosion, hold water, and provide other ecosystem services (Ewel and Putz, 2004), yet they are often less desirable than native forests as they contain lower native biodiversity and threaten native forests through the dispersal of non-native species (Vorsino et al., 2014). Non-native forests can be costly to restore (Burnett et al., 2019), so conservation organizations have allocated the majority of what little funding is available to protecting remaining native forests and restoring forests at higher elevations where more native plants still exist (DLNR, 2011;Friday et al., 2015). Even though many non-native forests in Hawaiʻi hold less cultural value than native dominant systems (Burnett et al., 2019), they mostly occur in low elevation areas near where people live. ...
... Non-native forests can be costly to restore (Burnett et al., 2019), so conservation organizations have allocated the majority of what little funding is available to protecting remaining native forests and restoring forests at higher elevations where more native plants still exist (DLNR, 2011;Friday et al., 2015). Even though many non-native forests in Hawaiʻi hold less cultural value than native dominant systems (Burnett et al., 2019), they mostly occur in low elevation areas near where people live. This suggests potential for biocultural restoration, or the mutually reinforcing restoration of land and culture (Kimmerer, 2011), which is increasingly seen as pathway to restoring connections to place, food sovereignty, and community well-being in Hawaiʻi Kamelamela et al., 2022;Kurashima et al., 2017) and shares similar concepts with other restoration frameworks that have cultural dimensions (e.g., Fernández-Manjarrés et al., 2018;Garcia-Polo et al., 2021;Zedler and Stevens, 2018). ...
Agricultural land abandonment affects millions of hectares of cultivated lands globally. While ending cultivation can lead to spontaneous reforestation and ecological benefits, the resulting landscapes often have lower social and agricultural benefits than the native forests and agricultural systems they replace, especially when non-native species dominate successional pathways. This is the case in many Pacific Islands including Hawaiʻi, where approximately 45 % of agricultural lands are unmanaged and non-native forests make up nearly 40 % of total forest cover. Agroforestry systems that integrate native and non-native culturally important plants present a potential pathway to increase social and ecological benefits of unmanaged agricultural lands; however, understanding what the restoration potential is of different agroforestry systems remains a question. We collaborated with a Native Hawaiian-led, community-based organization to explore this potential. We asked, 1) does the composition of agroforestry species planted (i.e., treatment) affect restoration success, and if so, do other factors mediate the effect of treatment, and 2) how do ecological conditions two years after starting restoration compare to conditions pre-restoration? We set up ten 12 × 15 m restoration plots and one reference plot on former pasture land regenerating as non-native forest. Then, we used a functional trait-based approach to select two agroforestry species mixes. Both mixes had high cultural value and each had traits to address a different primary ecological goal: erosion control and early successional facilitation. We monitored the plant communities before restoration and at six months, one year, and 1.5 years post-planting. We used multivariate analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the differences between treatments over time. We found that measures of restoration success did not vary significantly between treatments but did change from baseline. Results of the SEM indicated that understory weed cover was a significant driver of understory cover of agroforestry species, but that variability in agroforestry cover was primarily a result of management factors not tested in the model. This study provides a first step in documenting what non-native forest to agroforest transitions can look like. Our findings suggest that non-native fallows have a high potential for restoration through agroforestry in Pacific Island ecosystems.
... Despite this academic geopolitics, there are works aimed at quantifying and qualifying the contributions of nature to people (Burnett et al., 2019), three examples of biocultural interactions are: (1) the ultraviolet radiation-pigmentation relationship, where the weight of current evidence supports the theory that ultraviolet radiation is the main selective agent that has influenced the evolution of human skin pigmentation (Jablonski, 2021); (2) the physical characteristics of the environment promote health and well-being (Melnyk et al., 2018); and (3) the country of origin influences the aesthetic value and function given to certain parts of oral health (Nassani et al., 2015). Hence, Hinchliffe et al., (2018), point out that aging requires not only investing in biomedical remedies to combat cognitive decline, but also in recognizing cultural and environmental factors. ...
There are natural and cultural variables that have an impact on the longevity of older adults. In the case of the former, it is necessary to know and territorialize them, and in the case of the latter, it is necessary to understand them through the analysis of customs and lifestyles. The zones of natural longevity, for this analysis, are those in which low levels of ionizing and ultraviolet radiation converge, as well as the presence of water containing deuterium oxide among its components. To address the cultural longevity zones, an ethnography was carried out in which it was observed that both the consumption of heavy water and the lifestyles generated by the production of coffee and sugar cane prolong life and good old age in the town of El Espinal, municipality of Naolinco, Veracruz.
... Hawaiʻi's wet and mesic forests have been the focus of many restoration efforts over the past several decades (e.g., Scowcroft and Jeffrey, 1999;Scowcroft et al., 2008;Friday et al., 2015, Trauernicht et al. 2018. Despite the economic costs and labor dedicated to these efforts (Burnett et al., 2019), there is surprisingly little information on their success. The few existing studies, which have focused on lowland wet forests, demonstrate that removal of non-native trees affects microclimatic conditions for native saplings and can increase regeneration over the short term Schulten et al., 2014). ...
Across the globe, non-native plant species have become abundant in many tropical forests, resulting in altered patterns of biological diversity and species composition, and impacting important ecosystem functions. However, long-term experimental research on the efficacy of non-native tree removal for tropical forest restoration remains limited. We investigated the removal of non-native tree species in a mesic tropical forest in Hawaiʻi, where rates of endemism and endangerment of plant species is high and multiple non-native tree species are abundant. As a collaboration between resource managers and researchers, we tested the effects of non-native tree removal on overstory and understory metrics of restoration using three restoration approaches: “total cut” (cutting all non-native trees); “girdle” (girdle of all non-native trees); and “selective cut” (cutting approximately 50% of non-native trees). Prior to removal, we established permanent plots (four 10 × 10 m plots per restoration treatment, with 10 1 × 1 m subplots in each), then monitored them over 10 years. Across all treatments, canopy openness increased significantly post restoration, peaked after three years, then decreased to pre-treatment levels or lower. The increase was largest for the total cut treatment, but there was large variation within treatments. By the end of the experiment, the total cut and girdle treatments performed similarly for all our metrics of restoration, including survival, growth, density, and basal area of native trees; density and richness of native species in the understory; and total weed biomass. The selective treatment performed worse, showing lower relative gains in basal area of native trees and density of native understory individuals. Overall, tree removal was effective in restoring a native canopy. However, understory native species richness and density remained at pre-treatment levels, likely due to limited seed dispersal, seed predation by non-native rodents, and continued competition from non-native herbaceous species. Nonetheless, subplots with the best starting conditions performed the best. More intensive and longer-term weeding of non-native species in the understory, focused on areas with the best starting conditions and combined with out-planting of native seeds, seedlings and/or saplings, is likely necessary to foster effective native species regeneration. Overall, our research shows that removal of non-native trees using the total cut and girdle techniques can foster native forest restoration in the mesic forests of Hawaiʻi, but that on-going long-term management in the understory is critical.
... In this case, planting functionally similar agronomic grasses might be preferred, because they can stabilize soils effectively, tolerate harsh growing conditions, and prevent the growth of deep-rooting species that could facilitate oxygen migration into reactive tailings (Guittonny-Larchevêque et al., 2016;Proteau et al., 2020). Tools also need to account for potential trade-offs between multiple restoration priorities (Burnett et al., 2019). For example, restoration activities intended to re-establish vegetation in Cu-Ni smelter damaged landscapes, including the application of lime to reduce soil acidity and soil metal availability, can have negative effects on culturally important wild blueberry species (City of Greater Sudbury, 2018). ...
... Typically, species selection for restoration is based on species composition of a reference ecosystem (i.e., historical restoration; Burnett et al., 2019), or guided by expert knowledge on species' habitat preferences and their ability to achieve functional goals (Laughlin, 2014). Species selection may also depend largely on what is commercially available (Macdonald et al., 2015). ...
We present an applied model that helps restoration practitioners select an ideal mix of species to plant in order to meet their restoration objectives. The model generates virtual plant communities designed to optimize the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions. We used an optimization approach to find the most cost-effective combinations of species to plant to optimize the delivery of four ecosystem functions: rapid establishment of vegetation cover, soil building, biological soil health and resistance to invasion. We used trait-function relationships to characterize species' effects on ecosystem functions. This model accounts for key operational constraints selected by the user, including budget, the number of species to plant, and which functions to consider. The user can also decide whether or not to maximize the functional diversity of the species mix to increase its resilience to global environmental change. To demonstrate the practicality of this approach, we derived optimal species mixtures for the restoration of forests damaged by Cu-Ni smelters in the City of Greater Sudbury (Ontario, Canada). The species mixtures generated by the model varied according to which functions and operational constraints were selected. Results show that the species mixtures that were the most effective at delivering multiple functions were also cost-effective, but were less functionally diverse. This tool provides restoration practitioners with cost-effective restoration strategies for managing the recovery of multi-faceted socio-economic and environmental values in disturbed landscapes.
... Notably, adaptive management explicitly emphasizes the importance of social concerns and values (Armitage et al. 2009), and cultural values of both stake-and rights-holders is critical. For instance, Burnett et al. (2019) found that collaborative adaptive management of the Hawai'i watershed could optimize success as measured by both cultural values and resilience to ecological disturbance, and Quaempts et al. (2018) showed how the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation used adaptive management framed by reciprocity between people and ecosystems to align restoration goals with cultural values. Failing, Gregory, and Higgins (2013) used adaptive management to evaluate cultural values with river flow regimes and salmon abundance. ...
Ecological restoration is the process of repairing ecosystems that have been degraded by human activity. Because success depends upon the support of communities, engaging with the cultural values held by local people is critical to the restoration process. Cultural values are closely held beliefs about what is important to local communities, grounded in historical and contemporary cultural relationships with ecosystems. To address to what extent restoration projects in the peer-reviewed literature consider cultural values, we conducted a systematic review covering 1994–2021, resulting in a sample of 56 articles. From our review, we found that restoration projects include data on cultural values collected mostly through qualitative approaches. Concepts from cultural analysis, ecosystem services, and traditional ecological knowledge are commonly used to frame cultural values in restoration. Drawing on our results, we suggest a standardized process and set of best practices for practitioners and researchers incorporating cultural values into their restoration projects.
... Forest landscape restoration (FLR) efforts under REDD+ can contribute to overall adaptation and resilience through judicious species selection (Kim et al., 2018) or assisted migration (Schreiber et al., 2013) that can help to ensure trees are well-adapted for growth in their respective landscapes, be that degraded cropland or areas experiencing significant climatic shifts. This can secure hydrological benefits (Ilstedt et al., 2016), support biodiversity (Wheeler et al., 2016;Burnett et al., 2019) and maximise productivity whilst improving rural livelihoods by providing timber and non-timber forest products. ...
In 2012, IUFRO launched the GFEP report “Understanding Relationships between Biodiversity, Carbon, Forests and People: The Key to Achieving REDD+ Objectives”. It analysed the implications of the newly evolving REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation; conservation of forest carbon stocks; sustainable management of forests; and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) framework of the UNFCCC and potential impacts of activities foreseen under REDD+. The publication received considerable attention from policymakers and stakeholders and was used as guidance for policy development and implementation related to REDD+.
In the ten years since the publication of the report, REDD+ has made considerable progress and the landscape of related international agreements has also expanded. UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. REDD+ contributes directly to achieving SDG 13 on Climate Action and SDG 15 on Life on Land, and indirectly to several other SDGs. Most recently, the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use confirmed the critical role of forests in meeting the SDGs and combatting climate change while maintaining other ecosystem services. At the same time, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is negotiating a post-2020 global biodiversity framework to respond to the continuing rapid decline of biodiversity. However, the gap between the political will to meet these global goals and their successful implementation still needs to be closed.
In light of this, a thorough scientific review of the REDD+ framework, its impacts and its successes in meeting the related goals, is a timely response to the ongoing global discussions. This report titled “Forests, Climate, Biodiversity and People: Assessing a Decade of REDD+” revisits the questions examined in the earlier GFEP assessment, and analyses and synthesises scientific information published and lessons learned since 2012.
... Similarly, the post-World War II fallowing of former agricultural lands throughout the islands have demonstrated the need for reforestation after centuries of export agriculture drained the soil and reduced biodiversity (Lugo, 2004;Lugo & Helmer, 2004;Pascarella et al., 2000;Rudel et al., 2000) . Given the extent of environmental harms committed to the islands since colonization, there is a clear need to balance cultivating the lands towards material sovereignty while also caring for the lands to promote environmental restoration, a difficult and contentious balance to weigh (Burnett et al., 2019;Carrière et al., 2002;del Mar López et al., 2001;Hobbs et al., 2014;Pascarella et al., 2000;Rudel et al., 2000;Shelton & Richmond, 2016) . Additionally, this balancing of cultivating material sovereignty with restoring the environment is all within the context of the looming threats presented with climate change -rising temperatures threatening crop yields and environmental viability for many species (Fischer et al., 2014;Lobell et al., 2011;Schlenker & Roberts, 2009) Colonial power, the culture of carcerality, and militarism ...
... A. Garibaldi et al., 2017;González-Jácome, 2016;Jackson et al., 2007;Thrupp, 2000;Wood & Lenné, 1999) . 2) Sites with degraded or contaminated soils should be treated as opportunities for soil remediation and rewilding, particularly with plants who are bioculturally important within Taíno ontologies but may have become threatened or endangered since colonization; such efforts offer chances to experiment with hybrid ecosystems and their functionalities, prioritizing rehabilitating the land however possible and in creative ways rather than continuing patterns of neglect (Alkon & Agyeman, 2014;Burnett et al., 2019;Carpenter & Rosenthal, 2011;Cederlöf, 2016;Hobbs et al., 2014;Munawar et al., 1990;Rascio & Navari-Izzo, 2011;P. Smith et al., 2016;Ventura & Bailkey, 2017) . ...
Puerto Rico’s food systems are dangerously precarious, with the islands importing about 90% of its food, a consequence of five centuries of colonialism prioritizing foreign profit over local welfare. Particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, though, there has been a swelling movement towards food sovereignty on the islands, often aligned with overlapping movements towards the resurgence of Taíno identity and culture. Bringing these movements together, this dissertation focuses on Taíno social-environmental systems, using the recorded Taíno language as the primary vantage point in order to understand the dynamics of pre-colonial social-environmental systems on the islands, the cultures that shaped such systems, and how that can guide us to food and material sovereignty on the islands. This dissertation is grounded in a decolonial research methodology, which I develop and provide as a generalized framework such that other researchers can make use of it as well. Delving into Taíno ecolinguistic ontologies – or the worldviews and relations revealed by the nexus between language and the environment – demonstrates a high degree of naming multiplicity in the Taíno lexicon, particularly for plants and animals with which there was greater intimacy in Taíno cultures. Additionally, redundancy was a prominent feature in pre-colonial Taíno bicultural systems, contributing to socioecological resilience, although there were several categories, especially related to spiritual functions, for which certain biota are simply irreplaceable. Although there are numerous critical barriers obstructing food and material sovereignty for Puerto Rico, the lessons gleaned from Taíno culture, particularly Taíno ecolinguistic ontologies and pre-colonial social-environmental systems, indicate several promising opportunities for cultivating sovereignty: research towards decolonization, mass (re)education, land reclamation, land cultivation & restoration, establishing constellations of care, and building a Pan-Caribbean coalition.
