Data from: Lower-intensity restoration interventions drive greater seedling establishment for later-successional tree species

Recovery of tree community composition in restored tropical forests relies
on successful recruitment of later-successional species. However, the
long-term effects of different restoration interventions on establishment
success of arriving seeds are poorly understood. We evaluated the
effects of three restoration treatments on the seed-to-seedling transition
for later-successional tree species in a fragmented agricultural landscape
in southern Costa Rica. Restoration plots (0.25 ha) were established in a
block design nearly two decades prior and spanned a gradient of
intervention intensity: natural regeneration (not planted), applied
nucleation (planted tree clusters), and plantation (fully planted). We
conducted seed addition experiments from 2021-2023 using eight species at
seven replicate restoration sites and in four nearby remnant forests.