Data from: Demographic costs and benefits of natural regeneration during tropical forest restoration

For tropical forest restoration to result in long‐term biodiversity gains,
native trees must establish self‐sustaining populations in degraded sites.
While many have asked how seedling recruitment varies between restoration
treatments, the long‐term fate of these recruits remains unknown. We
address this research gap by tracking natural recruits of 27 species
during the first 7 years of a tropical forest restoration experiment that
included both planted and naturally regenerating plots. We used an
individual‐based model to estimate the probability that a seedling
achieves reproductive maturity after several years of growth and survival.
We found an advantage for recruits in naturally regenerating plots, with
up to 40% increased probability of reproduction in this treatment,
relative to planted plots. The demographic advantage of natural
regeneration was highest for mid‐successional species, with relatively
minor differences between treatments for early‐successional species. Our
research demonstrates the consequences of restoration decision making
across the life cycle of tropical tree species.