CRB: Restoration of Plants and Mycorrhizae in Mexico Seasonal Tropical Forest

旱季热带森林受到的关注比热带雨林少，但它们被破坏的速度更快。中美洲季节性热带森林只剩下不到10%，因此恢复必须补充保护生物多样性和生态系统功能的保护。森林恢复实验将在墨西哥的两个季节性热带地点，Chamela生态保护区和El Eden生态保护区进行，以确定菌根对成功恢复的重要性。将在两个保护区的受干扰地点种植接种了菌根真菌的本地树木。许多类型的干扰耗尽了土壤的养分和菌根接种量，而菌根在有效养分低的土壤中更有益。在土壤磷含量较低的伊甸园保护区，给树木接种菌根将产生更大的影响。主要研究人员将使用为当地人提供食物、饲料和纤维的树种。这些实验将提供关于如何重建被改作牧场和野火毁坏的森林的新信息。此外，调查人员将研究树木生长和森林演替，这两者对这些森林知之甚少。

Dry seasonal tropical forests have received less attention than tropical rainforests, but they have been destroyed at a greater rate. Less than 10% of the Mesoamerican seasonal tropical forest remains, so restoration must supplement conservation for the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Forest restoration experiments will be conducted at two seasonal tropical sites in Mexico, the Chamela Ecological Reserve and the El Eden Ecological Reserve, to determine the importance of mycorrhizae for successful restoration. Native trees inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi will be planted in disturbed sites at both Reserves. Many types of disturbance deplete the soil of nutrients and mycorrhizal inoculum, and mycorrhizae are more beneficial in soils that are low in available nutrients. Inoculating trees with mycorrhizae will have a greater impact at the El Eden Reserve where soils are poorer in phosphorus. The principal investigators will use tree species that provide local people with food, forage and fiber. The experiments will provide new information on how to reestablish forests that have been devastated by conversion to pasture and by wildfire. In addition, the investigators will study tree growth and forest succession, both of which are little understood for these forests.