Rainforest seedlings are more likely to survive in natural forests than in places where logging has happened -- even if tree restoration projects have taken place, new research shows.
They studied a landscape containing both natural forest and areas logged 30 years ago -- some of which were recovering naturally, while some had been restored by methods including tree planting.
But these benefits did not last: low seedling survival in the restored forest meant that, by the end of the study, similarly low numbers of seedlings remained in restored and naturally recovering forest. Seedling populations remained higher in natural forest. Whilst restoration has been shown to benefit biomass accumulation in these forests, the research indicates this is not yet enabling full establishment of the next generation of seedlings.
Selective logging of forests is prevalent throughout the tropics, and long-term recovery is crucial to maintaining carbon stocks and high biodiversity. Low rates of survival among seedlings three decades after logging therefore raise concerns about potential regeneration failure in future generations of trees.
Local environmental conditions may differ between restored areas with higher biomass and canopy cover than in degraded areas with no restoration. Plant traits, or characteristics that determine how plants function, may be the key to understanding the low survival rates of seedlings -- they can reveal which resources the plants are struggling to access.
The study was conducted in the Danum Valley Conservation Area and the surrounding Ulu Segama landscape of North Borneo.
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