Not all forests are created equal: Tree species composition in primary, unplanted secondary, and communally restored cloud forests in Northwest Andean Ecuador

Background/Question/Methods

Tropical forests in South America are being decimated at some of the highest rates in the world. In response, the number of community based, forest-restoration projects has increased dramatically in the past decade. In coming years, as high deforestation rates coincide with increasing demand for forest ecosystem services, such projects will become even more common. A number of these projects are taking place in Andean cloud forests, which, given their megabiodiversity and alarming rate of disappearance, are understudied. My research investigates: 1) The efficacy of simple community reforestation methods to restore cloud forest tree-species composition and diversity; and 2) How local people’s tree use and preferences affect the initial species composition of restored forests. This study takes place in Northwest Andean Ecuador, a region where only 10% of the original cloud forests remain. Here, members of five communities (1800-2200masl) began restoring forest using native tree species in 2003.  In 2011, we identified all woody plant species along transects (0.1 ha per site) in restored forests (n=5), in neighboring naturally regenerating forest of the same age (n=5) to act as a control, and in nearby primary forests (n=5). We also surveyed 120 households regarding forest use and tree preferences.

Results/Conclusions

Rarefaction curves reveal that restored forests have a higher diversity of woody species than do forests that regenerated naturally. However, both secondary forests types are less diverse than the primary forest sites. A non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination analysis shows that the species composition of all three forests is distinct, although restored forests share more species with primary forests than do naturally regenerating forests. People planted 45+ native tree species and five exotic species to restore forest, and restored forests contain the highest proportion of native species useful to people (p<0.05). The results show that in the short term, restoring forest increased biodiversity and reestablished species that people rely on more so than allowing forests to regenerate naturally. However, given their unique species composition, restored forests may also represent a ‘novel ecosystem’ that is both distinct from the region’s previous ecosystems and, because of its usefulness to people, more likely to occur in future as cleared areas are restored.   These results contribute to our understanding of how – and how well – community-based restoration projects are working to conserve cloud forest biodiversity, information essential to improving the outcomes of future restoration projects.