What is the state of tropical montane cloud forest restoration?

AIDE, TM; RUIZ-JAEN, M; GRAU, HR

Waimea, Hawaii

Simposio; Forests in the Mist: Ecology and Conservation of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests; 2004

University of Hawaii

The conversion of tropical montane cloud forest to pastures and agricultural lands has been an important activity in this life zone for many years.  Although deforestation continues, in some areas, changing political, economic, and social drivers have lead to the abandonment of marginal areas.   These dynamics provide an excellent opportunity to study the rates of secondary succession and test different restoration strategies. The major questions of this review are:  1) Once pastures or agricultural lands are abandoned what factors control rates of tropical montane cloud forest recovery?, and 2)When sites do not recover (i.e. resilient degraded state), what restoration strategies can be used to overcome barriers and accelerate forest recovery?  To answer these questions we conducted a literature review, but few restoration projects have been conducted in TMCF, therefore the conclusions are mainly based on studies for TMF.  [c1] Competition with invasive grasses and ferns, and poor seed dispersal appear to be the most important factors limiting forest recovery.   To overcome these barriers, one of the most cost effective ways to accelerate recovery is to promote the establishment of shrubs, which help to shade-out invasive grasses and ferns and create a microsite more appropriate for seedling growth.  Although this strategy can reduce competition, planting will also be required to recover a species composition similar to intact forest because most forest species are rarely dispersed far from forest stands.