Acceleration and novelty: community restoration speeds recovery and transforms species composition in Andean cloud forest

Community-based tropical forest restoration projects, often promoted as a win-win solution for local communities and the environment, have increased dramatically in number in the past decade. Many such projects are underway in Andean cloud forests, which, given their extremely high biodiversity and history of extensive clearing, are understudied. This study investigates the efficacy of community-based tree-planting projects to accelerate cloud forest recovery, as compared to unassisted natural regeneration. This study takes place in northwest Andean Ecuador, where the majority of the original, highly diverse cloud forests have been cleared, in five communities that initiated tree-planting projects to restore forests in 2003. In 2011, we identified tree species along transects in planted forests (n = 5), naturally regenerating forests (n = 5), and primary forests (n = 5). We also surveyed 120 households about their restoration methods, tree preferences, and forest uses. We found that tre...以社区为实施主体的热带森林修复项目常被宣传为兼顾当地社区与生态环境的双赢方案，在过去十年间数量大幅攀升。此类项目在安第斯云雾林中开展颇多；该类森林生物多样性极高，且曾经历大规模砍伐，相关研究却较为匮乏。本研究旨在对比社区植树造林项目与无辅助自然更新（unassisted natural regeneration）两种模式，探究前者加速云雾林恢复的成效。本研究设于厄瓜多尔安第斯山脉西北部区域——该区域原生高多样性云雾林已大部分遭到砍伐，共纳入5个于2003年启动森林修复植树项目的社区。2011年，研究人员沿样带（transects）对人工林（n = 5）、自然恢复林（n = 5）以及原始林（n = 5）中的树木物种进行了调查。同时，我们还针对120户家庭开展了问卷调查，内容涵盖其森林修复手段、树木选择偏好以及森林利用方式。我们发现，树木...