Rules of thumb for predicting tropical forest recovery

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Dr Karen Holl summarizes the results of the recent paper in the Applied Vegetation Science (https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12394) showing that measuring grass cover and canopy cover just a year after pasture abandonment can help to predict the rate of tropical forest recovery. Continue reading the post at the Natural History of Ecological Restoration blog.

Natural forest recovery is highly variable in southern Costa Rica, even after a decade of recovery. Left: slow recovery on a former farm, still dominated by non-native grasses, with an open canopy and little tree recruitment. Right: speedy recovery on a former farm, with virtually no grass cover, a closed canopy, and diverse tree recruitment. Photos by Andy Kulikowski.