Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Tropical Forest Recovery in an Agricultural Landscape

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。在被清除的树木的热带景观中重新造林是一个对保护生物学，发展多样化的地方经济，以及碳封存和气候变化具有重要意义的目标。在哥斯达黎加100平方公里的15 ~1公顷的土地上，正在进行一项大规模的长期试验，以测试一种新的方法，即种植树岛作为恢复热带森林的源点。还在测试当地因素（恢复战略、树木覆盖）与地貌性质（附近森林覆盖）对森林恢复的相对重要性。2004年至2006年建立的处理方法包括三种大小的树岛，这些树岛要么种植树木，要么通过自然扩散进行殖民。迄今为止的结果提供了关键的见解鸟类觅食，种子雨，种子发芽和幼苗生长的模式。该奖项将维持一个吸引了众多项目合作者的实验基础设施，并支持对恢复和参考森林中的植被，种子传播，蝙蝠和鸟类进行持续和新的监测。这项研究的结果将为热带森林恢复工作提供信息，这对保护生物多样性和生态系统服务至关重要，如水文循环和碳固存。其他更广泛的影响将包括培训美国和拉丁美洲的研究生和本科生，以及所有教育水平的哥斯达黎加人。研究结果将通过教育机构、政府机构和非营利组织以英文和西班牙文向一般和科学受众传播。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Reforestation of tropical landscapes that were cleared of trees is a goal that has important implications for conservation biology, for developing diverse local economies, and for carbon sequestration and climate change. A novel approach of planting tree islands as source points for restoration of tropical forest is being tested with a large-scale and long-term experiment built around 15 ~1 ha plots spread across 100 square km in Costa Rica. The relative importance to forest recovery of local factors (restoration strategy, tree cover) versus the nature of the landscape (nearby forest cover) is also being tested. Treatments, established from 2004-2006, include tree islands of three sizes that were either planted with trees or left to be colonized through natural dispersal. Results to date have provided key insights into patterns of bird foraging, seed rain, seed germination, and seedling growth. This award will maintain an experimental infrastructure that has attracted numerous project collaborators and support ongoing and new monitoring of vegetation, seed dispersal, bats, and birds in restored and reference forests. Results of this study will inform tropical forest restoration efforts, which are critical to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services, such as hydrological cycling and carbon sequestration. Additional broader impacts will include training of US and Latin American graduate and undergraduate students, as well as Costa Ricans of all educational levels. Results will be disseminated in English and Spanish to general and scientific audiences, through educational institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.