Climate change and ecosystem degradation have achieved unprecedented levels nowadays. In this context, assessing restoration projects to recover native vegetation and ecosystem services is fundamental to understanding the success of these initiatives. This study evaluated the effects of different restoration techniques on the basal area, diversity, and composition of regenerating and planted species in a restoration area in the Atlantic Forest, Southeast Brazil. The experiment consisted of three treatments: row planting (ROW, 2 × 2 m spacing); nucleation (NUC, 13 individuals/nucleus, 5 × 5 m spacing); and control with passive restoration (PAS). The active restoration techniques had different planting densities at project implementation (NUC: 5.200 seedlings ha-1; ROW: 2.177 seedlings ha-1). A floristic survey was carried out within 8 sampling units (15 × 15 m) per treatment 10 years after implementation of the project, including all planted and regenerating individuals with a diameter at ground level > 2.5 cm. The abundance, basal area, and species richness of the planted and regenerated communities were estimated. The active restoration techniques (ROW and NUC) resulted in higher values of basal area, abundance and species richness compared to passive restoration (PAS). A higher abundance of natural regeneration was observed in ROW than in NUC. Additionally, the rarefaction curves suggested a trend toward higher diversity indices in ROW. Regarding the successional trajectory, greater variation in species composition was observed in ROW after 10 years of planting. The species composition was similar in ROW and NUC and differed from the composition in PAS. The species identified as indicator species in each treatment were Annona glabra L. in ROW, Trema micranthum (L.) Blume in NUC, and Vernonanthura polyanthes (Sprengel) Vega & Dematteis in PAS. Our study revealed that active restoration techniques, such as seedling planting in rows and nuclei, were more effective in restoring ecological indicators than passive restoration. These results emphasize the importance of restoration techniques in enhancing plant community diversity and structure in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
Keywords
, , , ,
Citation
Casati Fernandes H, Manhães AP, Alonso JM, Mantuano D, Martini AMZ, Saavedra MM, Andrade MT, Sansevero JBB (2025). Effect of restoration methods on natural regeneration in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. iForest 18: 23-29. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4598-017
Academic Editor
Michele Carbognani
Paper history
Received: Mar 06, 2024
Accepted: Nov 05, 2024
First online: Feb 15, 2025
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2025
Publication Time: 3.40 months
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2025
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Breakdown by View Type
(Waiting for server response...)
Article Usage
Total Article Views: 601
(from publication date up to now)
Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 118
Abstract Page Views: 240
PDF Downloads: 221
Citation/Reference Downloads: 0
XML Downloads: 22
Web Metrics
Days since publication: 22
Overall contacts: 601
Avg. contacts per week: 191.23
Article Citations
Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Mar 2025)
(No citations were found up to date. Please come back later)
Publication Metrics
by Dimensions ©
Articles citing this article
List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.
(1)
Alvares CA, Stape JL, Sentelhas PC, De Moraes Gonçalves JL, Sparovek G (2013)Köppen’s climate classification map for Brazil. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 22: 711-728.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(2)
Bechara FC, Dickens SJ, Farrer EC, Larios L, Spotswood EN, Mariotte P, Suding KN (2016)Neotropical rainforest restoration: comparing passive, plantation and nucleation approaches. Biodiversity and Conservation 25: 2021-2034.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(3)
Bechara FC, Trentin BE, Lex Engel V, Estevan DA, Ticktin T (2021)Performance and cost of applied nucleation versus high-diversity plantations for tropical forest restoration. Forest Ecology and Management 491: 119088.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(4)
Beltrán LC, Martínez-Garza C, Howe HF (2022)Return of forest structure and diversity in tropical restoration plantings. Ecosphere 13: 1-17.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(5)
Brancalion PHS, Pinto SR, Pugliese L, Padovezi A, Ribeiro Rodrigues R, Calmon M, Carrascosa H, Castro P, Mesquita B (2016)Governance innovations from a multi-stakeholder coalition to implement large-scale forest restoration in Brazil. World Development Perspectives 3: 15-17.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(6)
Brancalion PHS, Niamir A, Broadbent E, Crouzeilles R, Barros FSM, Almeyda Zambrano AM, Baccini A, Aronson J, Goetz S, Leighton Reid J, Strassburg BBN, Wilson S, Chazdon RL (2019a)Global restoration opportunities in tropical rainforest landscapes. Science Advances 5: 1-12.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(7)
Brancalion PHS, Meli P, Tymus JRC, Lenti FEB, Benini M R, Silva APM, Isernhagen I, Holl KD (2019b)What makes ecosystem restoration expensive? A systematic cost assessment of projects in Brazil. Biological Conservation 240: 108274.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(8)
Casimiro MS, Sansevero JBB, Queiroz JM (2019)What can ants tell us about ecological restoration? A global meta-analysis. Ecological Indicators 102: 593-598.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(9)
Castro MS, Monge M, Soares PN, Rivera VL, Dematteis M, Semir J (2023)Vernonanthura in Flora e Funga do Brasil [Vernonanthura in the Flora and Funga of Brazil]. Jardim Botnico do Rio de Janeiro. Web site. [in Portuguese]
Online |
Gscholar
(10)
Cecílio RA, Oliveira-Ravani LT, Zanetti SS, Mendes HA (2021)Method for classifying sites to Atlantic rainforest restoration aiming to increase basin’s streamflows. iForest 14: 89-94.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(11)
Chazdon RL, Guariguata MR (2016)Natural regeneration as a tool for large-scale forest restoration in the tropics: prospects and challenges. Biotropica 48: 716-730.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(12)
Chazdon RL, Brancalion PHS, Lamb D, Laestadius L, Calmon M, Kumar C (2017)A policy-driven knowledge agenda for global forest and landscape restoration copy. Conservation Letters 10: 125-132.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(13)
Chazdon RL, Falk DA, Banin LF, Wagner M, Wilson JS, Grabowski RC, Suding KN (2021)The intervention continuum in restoration ecology: rethinking the active-passive dichotomy. Restoration Ecology. 1-13.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(14)
Crouzeilles R, Ferreira MS, Chazdon RL, Lindenmayer DB, Sansevero JBB, Monteiro L, Iribarrem A, Latawiec AE, Strassburg BBN (2017)Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests. Science Advances 3: 1-8.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(15)
Crouzeilles R, Beyer HL, Monteiro LM, Feltran-Barbieri R, Pessôa ACM, Barros FSM, Lindenmayer DB, Lino EDSM, Grelle CEV, Chazdon RL, Matsumoto M, Rosa M, Latawiec AE, Strassburg BBN (2020)Achieving cost-effective landscape-scale forest restoration through targeted natural regeneration. Conservation Letters 13: 1-9.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(16)
Da Silva FR, Gonçalves-Souza T, Paterno GB, Provete DB, Vancine MH (2022)Análises ecológicas no R [Ecological analyses in R]. Nupeea, Recife, PE, Canal 6, São Paulo, Brazil, pp. 640. [in Portuguese]
Gscholar
(17)
De Cáceres M, Legendre P (2009)Associations between species and groups of sites: indices and statistical inference. Ecology 90: 3566-3574.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(18)
Di Sacco A, Hardwick KA, Blakesley D, Brancalion PHS, Breman E, Cecilio Rebola L, Chomba S, Dixon K, Elliott S, Ruyonga G, Shaw K, Smith P, Smith RJ, Antonelli A (2021)Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits. Global Change Biology 27: 1328-1348.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(19)
Duarte MM, Moral RA, Guillemot J, Zuim CIF, Potvin C, Bonat WH, Stape JL, Brancalion PHS (2021)High tree diversity enhances light interception in tropical forests. Journal of Ecology 109: 2597-2611.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(20)
García-Orth X, Martínez-Ramos M (2011)Isolated trees and grass removal improve performance of transplanted
Trema micranthum (L.) Blume (Ulmaceae) saplings in tropical pastures. Restoration Ecology 19: 24-34.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(21)
Gardon FR, Santos Dos RF, Rodrigues RR (2020)Brazil’s forest restoration, biomass and carbon stocks: a critical review of the knowledge gaps. Forest Ecology and Management 462: 117972.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(22)
Guariguata MR, Ostertag R (2001)Neotropical secondary forest succession: changes in structural and functional characteristics. Forest Ecology and Management 148 (1-3): 185-206.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(23)
Gatica-Saavedra P, Echeverría C, Nelson CR (2017)Ecological indicators for assessing ecological success of forest restoration: a world review. Restoration Ecology 25: 850-857.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(24)
Guerra A, Reis LK, Borges FL, Ojeda PT, Pineda DA, Miranda CO, Maidana DP, Santos TM, Shibuya PS, Marques MC, Laurance SG, Garcia LC (2020)Ecological restoration in Brazilian biomes: Identifying advances and gaps. Forest Ecology and Management 458: 117802.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(25)
Holl KD, Aide TM (2011)When and where to actively restore ecosystems? Forest Ecology and Management 261: 1558-1563.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(26)
Holl KD, Reid JL, Chaves-Fallas JM, Oviedo-Brenes F, Zahawi RA (2017)Local tropical forest restoration strategies affect tree recruitment more strongly than does landscape forest cover. Journal of Applied Ecology 54: 1091-1099.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(27)
Holl KD, Reid JL, Cole RJ, Oviedo-Brenes F, Rosales JA, Zahawi RA (2020)Applied nucleation facilitates tropical forest recovery: lessons learned from a 15-year study. Journal of Applied Ecology 57: 2316-2328.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(28)
Jakovac CC, Junqueira AB, Crouzeilles R, Penã-Claros M, Mesquita RCG, Bongers F (2021)The role of land-use history in driving successional pathways and its implications. Biological Reviews 96: 1114-1134.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(29)
Jakovac C, Korys KA, Rodrigues AF, Ronix A, Tubenchlak F, Monteiro LM, Lemgruber L, Santos HS, Mendes M, Junqueira AB, Crouzeilles R, Maioli V, Latawiec AE (2024)Meta-analysis of carbon stocks and biodiversity outcomes across Brazilian restored biomes. Science of The Total Environment 906 (3): 167558.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(30)
Joly CA, Metzger JP, Tabarelli M (2014)Experiences from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: ecological findings and conservation initiatives. New Phytologist 204: 459-473.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(31)
Manhães AP, Pantaleão LC, Moraes LFD, Amazonas NT, Saavedra MM, Mantuano D, Sansevero JBB (2022)Functional trajectory for the assessment of ecological restoration success. Restoration Ecology 30 (8): e13665.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(32)
Mata S, Braga JMA, Moser P, Sartori RA, Sánchez-Tapia A, Sansevero JBB (2022)Forever young: arrested succession in communities subjected to recurrent fires in a lowland tropical forest. Plant Ecology 223: 659-670.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(33)
Meli P, Holl KD, Benayas JMR, Jones HP, Jones PC, Montoya D, Mateos DM (2017)A global review of past land use, climate, and active
vs. passive restoration effects on forest recovery. PLoS One 12: 1-17.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(34)
Mendes MS, Latawiec AE, Sansevero JBB, Crouzeilles R, Moraes LFD, Castro A, Alves-Pinto HN, Brancalion PHS, Rodrigues RR, Chazdon RL, Barros FSM, Santos J, Iribarrem A, Mata S, Lemgruber L, Rodrigues A, Korys K, Strassburg BBN (2019)Look down - there is a gap - the need to include soil data in Atlantic Forest restoration. Restoration Ecology 27: 361-370.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(35)
Nascimento DF, Dos Santos Leles PS, De Oliveira Neto SN, Moreira RTS, Alonso JM (2012)Initial growth of six forest tree species in different spacing conditions. Cerne 18: 159-165.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(36)
Oliveira RE, Engel VL, Loiola PDP, De Moraes LFD, Vismara EDS (2021)Top 10 indicators for evaluating restoration trajectories in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Ecological Indicators 127: 107652.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(37)
R Core Team (2024)R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
Online |
Gscholar
(38)
Restrepo-Carvajal IC, Manhães AP, Pantaleão LC, De Moraes LFD, Mantuano DG, Sansevero JBB (2024)Testing for priority effects of tree plantings on natural regeneration in restoration sites in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Applied Vegetation Science 27: 1-11.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(39)
Ruiz-Jaen MC, Aide TM (2005)Restoration success: how is it being measured? Restoration Ecology 13: 569-577.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(40)
Sánchez-García EA, López Rosas H, Sosa VJ, Lindig-Cisneros R, Moreno-Casasola P (2023)Setting the stage for the restoration of an
Annona glabra swamp after exotic grass invasion. Restoration Ecology 31: 1-14.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(41)
Sansevero JBB, Prieto PV, De Moraes LFD, Rodrigues PJP (2011)Natural regeneration in plantations of native trees in lowland Brazilian Atlantic Forest: community structure, diversity, and dispersal syndromes. Restoration Ecology 19: 379-389.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(42)
Scervino RP, Torezan JMD (2015)Factors affecting the genesis of vegetation patches in anthropogenic pastures in the Atlantic forest domain in Brazil. Plant Ecology and Diversity 8: 475-482.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(43)
Souza FM, Batista JLF (2004)Restoration of seasonal semideciduous forests in Brazil: influence of age and restoration design on forest structure. Forest Ecology and Management 191: 185-200.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(44)
Suganuma MS, Durigan G (2015)Indicators of restoration success in riparian tropical forests using multiple reference ecosystems. Restoration Ecology 23: 238-251.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(45)
Suganuma MS, Torezan JMD, Durigan G (2018)Environment and landscape rather than planting design are the drivers of success in long-term restoration of riparian Atlantic forest. Applied Vegetation Science 21: 76-84.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(46)
Trindade DFV, Coelho GC (2012)Woody species recruitment under monospecific plantations of pioneer trees - facilitation or inhibition? iForest 5: 1-5.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(47)
Veloso HP, Rangel Filho ALR, Lima JCA (1991)Classificação da vegetação brasileira, adaptada a um sistema universal [Classification of Brazilian vegetation, adapted to a universal system]. IBGE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp. 124. [in Portuguese]
Gscholar
(48)
Wortley L, Hero JM, Howes M (2013)Evaluating ecological restoration success: a review of the literature. Restoration Ecology 21: 537-543.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(49)
Zahawi RA, Holl KD, Cole RJ, Reid JL (2013)Testing applied nucleation as a strategy to facilitate tropical forest recovery. Journal of Applied Ecology 50: 88-96.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(50)
Zupo T, Freitas JL, Reis DA, Siqueira MF (2022)Trends and knowledge gaps on ecological restoration research in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Restoration Ecology 30: 1-12.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
