Reliability of evidence-review methods in restoration ecology.

In restoration science, evidence reviews play a crucial role in summarizing research findings in practice and policy. However, if unreliable or inappropriate methods are used to review evidence, decisions based on these reviews may not accurately reflect the available evidence base. To assess the current value of restoration reviews, we examined a sample of meta-analyses and narrative syntheses (n = 91) with the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Synthesis Assessment Tool (CEESAT), which uses detailed criteria to assesses the method of policy-relevant evidence synthesis according to elements important for objectivity, transparency, and comprehensiveness. Overall, reviews scored low based on this standard: median score 16 out of 39, modal score 15, and mean 16.6. Meta-analyses scored higher than narrative syntheses (median 17 vs. 5, respectively), although there were some outlier narrative syntheses that had high scores, suggesting that quantitative synthesis does not solely reflect the reliability of a review. In general, criteria spanning the more fundamental review stages (i.e., searching for studies and including studies) received low scores for both synthesis types. Conversely, criteria comprising the later stages of the review (i.e., critical appraisal, data extraction, and data synthesis) were generally well described in meta-analyses; thus, these criteria achieved the highest individual CEESAT scores. We argue that restoration ecology is well positioned to advance so-called evidence-based restoration, but review authors should elucidate their conceptual understanding of evidence syntheses and recognize that conducting reliable reviews demands the same methodological rigor and reporting standards used in primary research. Given the potential of evidence reviews to inform management, policy, and research, it is of vital importance that the overall methodological reliability of restoration reviews be improved.

Confiabilidad de los Métodos de Revisión de Evidencias en la Ecología de Restauración Resumen Para las ciencias de la restauración, las revisiones de evidencias juegan un papel muy importante en la síntesis de los hallazgos de las investigaciones en la práctica y en las políticas. Sin embargo, si se usan métodos poco fiables o inapropiados para revisar las evidencias, las decisiones que se tomen con base en estas revisiones pueden no reflejar acertadamente la base disponible de evidencias. Para analizar el valor actual de las revisiones de restauraciones examinamos una muestra de metaanálisis y síntesis narrativas (n = 91) con la Herramienta para la Síntesis de Análisis de la Colaboración para la Evidencia Ambiental (CEESAT), la cual usa criterios detallados para analizar el método de síntesis de evidencias relevantes para las políticas de acuerdo con los elementos importantes para la objetividad, transparencia y exhaustividad. En general, las revisiones tuvieron puntajes bajos con base en este estándar (puntaje medio: 16 de 39, puntaje modal: 15, media: 16.6). Los metaanálisis tuvieron un puntaje más alto que las síntesis narrativas (mediana: 17 vs 5, respectivamente), aunque hubo algunas síntesis narrativas atípicas que tuvieron puntajes altos, lo que sugiere que la síntesis cuantitativa no refleja por sí sola la confiabilidad de una revisión. En suma, los criterios que abarcaron las etapas de revisión más fundamentales (es decir, buscar estudios e incluir estudios) recibieron puntajes bajos para ambos tipos de síntesis. Al contrario, los criterios que comprendieron las etapas tardías de la revisión (es decir, la valoración crítica, la extracción de datos y la síntesis de los datos) estuvieron generalmente bien descritos en los metaanálisis; por lo tanto, estos criterios alcanzaron los puntajes CEESAT individuales más altos. Argumentamos que la ecología de restauración se encuentra bien posicionada para adelantar la llamada restauración basada en evidencias, pero los autores de las revisiones deberían aclarar su entendimiento conceptual de la síntesis de evidencias y reconocer que la realización de revisiones confiables requiere el mismo rigor metodológico y los mismos estándares de reporte usados en la investigación primaria. Dado el potencial que tienen las revisiones de evidencias para orientar el manejo, las políticas y la investigación, es de vital importancia que se mejore la confiabilidad metodológica generalizada de las revisiones de restauración.

Bee pollinator functional responses and functional effects in restored tropical forests.

Wild pollinators are necessary for ensuring plant reproduction, not only among crop fields but also remnant and restored ecosystems. Restoration activities should, therefore, lead to wild pollinator recovery, and thus be monitored to evaluate effects on pollinator diversity and functionality. We assessed bee pollinator functional responses in restoration plantings by creating functional groups (traits: body size, nesting location, sociality, and foraging strategy), comparing their abundance and diversity to that of other habitats (i.e., conserved and degraded primary forest fragments, anthropogenic wetlands, and sugarcane fields), and testing for an effect of source habitat (i.e., primary forest fragments) isolation. We analyzed functional effects on pollen transportation by identifying the pollen grains attached on the bodies of bees; creating plant functional groups with the identified species (traits: habit, successional class, geographic origin, and pollination mode); comparing their frequency, diversity, and interaction network structure among habitats; and searching for key interactions in network modules. In general, the abundance and diversity of bee communities and the frequency and diversity of the interacting plant species in restoration plantings were lower than those in primary forest fragments but higher than those in anthropogenic wetlands and sugarcane fields, suggesting that restoration plantings better enhance bee community recovery and functionality than other disturbed habitats. The interacting bees and plants were also negatively affected by habitat isolation, demonstrating the importance of primary forest fragments to supply bee populations to restored sites. The structure of interaction networks was little affected by habitat change and isolation, but the composition and diversity of functional groups varied significantly. There were more effects on larger bee species with more restricted nesting and floral requirements, and the woody species with which they interact most frequently. We identified key functional groups of bee pollinators that deserve priority for conservation because they play an important role in the pollen transportation of some the most relevant species in remnant forests and restoration plantings and also respond more negatively to habitat disturbances. Restoration efforts should include provisioning of nesting resources and management and conservation of primary forest remnant fragments that represent source habitats for them.

Convergence and divergence in science and practice of urban and rural forest restoration.

Forest restoration has never been higher on policymakers' agendas. Complex and multi-dimensional arrangements across the urban-rural continuum challenge restorationists and require integrative approaches to strengthen environmental protection and increase restoration outcomes. It remains unclear if urban and rural forest restoration are moving towards or away from each other in practice and research, and whether comparing research outcomes can help stakeholders to gain a clearer understanding of the interconnectedness between the two fields. This study aims to identify the challenges and opportunities for enhancing forest restoration in both urban and rural systems by reviewing the scientific evidence, engaging with key stakeholders and using an urban-rural forest restoration framework. Using the Society for Ecological Restoration's International Principles as discussion topics, we highlight aspects of convergence and divergence between the two fields to broaden our understanding of forest restoration and promote integrative management approaches to address future forest conditions. Our findings reveal that urban and rural forest restoration have convergent and divergent aspects. We emphasise the importance of tailoring goals and objectives to specific contexts and the need to design different institutions and incentives based on the social and ecological needs and goals of stakeholders in different regions. Additionally, we discuss the challenges of achieving high levels of ecological restoration and the need to go beyond traditional ecology to plan, implement, monitor, and adaptively manage restored forests. We suggest that rivers and watersheds could serve as a common ground linking rural and urban landscapes and that forest restoration could interact with other environmental protection measures. We note the potential for expanding the creative vision associated with increasing tree-containing environments in cities to generate more diverse and resilient forest restoration outcomes in rural settings. This study underscores the value of integrative management approaches in addressing future forest conditions across the urban-rural continuum. Our framework provides valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and decision-makers to advance the field of forest restoration and address the challenges of restoration across the urban-rural continuum. The rural-urban interface serves as a convergence point for forest restoration, and both urban and rural fields can benefit from each other's expertise.

Tarsonemid mites (Acari: Tarsonemidae) on myrtaceous plants of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil, with description of a new species of Tarsonemus Canestrini amp; Fanzago.

A survey of tarsonemid mites associated with plants of the family Myrtaceae was conducted in seven areas of the Atlantic Forest biome. Fourteen known species were registered; other 21 morphospecies was identified up to genus level. Additionally, a new species, Tarsonemus conduru Lofego Cavalcante sp. nov. is described based on specimens collected in the Atlantic Forest of Bahia state.

Dormancy as exaptation to protect mimetic seeds against deterioration before dispersal.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mimetic seeds simulate the appearance of fleshy fruits and arilled seeds without producing nutritive tissues as a reward for seed dispersers. In this strategy of seed dispersal, seeds may remain attached to the mother plant for long periods after maturity, increasing their availability to naïve seed dispersers. The hypothesis that seed coat impermeability in many tropical Fabaceae with mimetic seeds serves as an exaptation to protect the seeds from deterioration and rotting while awaiting dispersal was investigated. METHODS: Seed coat impermeability was evaluated in five mimetic-seeded species of tropical Fabaceae in south-eastern Brazil (Abarema langsdorffii, Abrus precatorius, Adenanthera pavonina, Erythrina velutina and Ormosia arborea) and in Erythrina speciosa, a 'basal' species in its genus, which has monochromatic brown seeds and no mimetic displays. Seed hardness was evaluated as a defence against accelerated ageing (humid chamber at 41 degrees C for 144 h). Seed development and physiological potential of O. arborea was evaluated and the effect of holding mature seeds in pods on the mother plant in the field for a period of 1 year under humid tropical conditions was compared with seeds stored under controlled conditions (15 degrees C and 40 % relative air humidity). KEY RESULTS: All five mimetic-seeded species, and E. speciosa, showed strong coat impermeability, which protected the seeds against deterioration in accelerated ageing. Most O. arborea seeds only became dormant 2 months after pod dehiscence. Germination of seeds after 1 year on the plant in a humid tropical climate was 56 %, compared with 80 % for seeds stored in controlled conditions (15 degrees C, 45 % relative humidity). Seedling shoot length after 1 year did not differ between seed sources. CONCLUSIONS: Dormancy acts in mimetic-seeded species as an exaptation to reduce seed deterioration, allowing an increase in their effective dispersal period and mitigating the losses incurred by low removal rates by naïve avian frugivores.

Disentangling the effects of sampling scale and size on the shape of species abundance distributions.

Many authors have tried to explain the shape of the species abundance distribution (SAD). Some of them have suggested that sampling spatial scale is an important factor shaping SADs. These suggestions, however, did not consider the indirect and well-known effect of sample size, which increases as samples are combined to generate SADs at larger spatial scales. Here, we separate the effects of sample size and sampling scale on the shape of the SAD for three groups of organisms (trees, beetles and birds) sampled in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We compared the observed SADs at different sampling scales with simulated SADs having the same richness, relative abundances but comparable sample sizes, to show that the main effect shaping SADs is sample size and not sampling spatial scale. The effect of scale was minor and deviations between observed and simulated SADs were present only for beetles. For trees, the match between observed and simulated SADs was improved at all spatial scales when we accounted for conspecific aggregation, which was even more important than the sampling scale effect. We build on these results to propose a conceptual framework where observed SADs are shaped by three main factors, in decreasing order of importance: sample size, conspecific aggregation and beta diversity. Therefore, studies comparing SADs across sites or scales should use sampling and/or statistical approaches capable of disentangling these three effects on the shape of SADs.

Phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation favor range expansion of a Neotropical palm.

One of the most intriguing questions in plant ecology is which evolutionary strategy allows widely distributed species to increase their ecological range and grow in changing environmental conditions. Phenotypic plasticity and local adaptations are major processes governing species range margins, but little is known about their relative contribution for tree species distribution in tropical forest regions. We investigated the relative role of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation in the ecological distribution of the widespread palm Euterpe edulis in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Genetic sampling and experiments were performed in old-growth remnants of two forest types with higher (Seasonal Semideciduous Forests vs. Submontane Rainforest) and lower biogeographic association and environmental similarities (Submontane Rainforest vs. Restinga Forest). We first assessed the molecular genetic differentiation among populations, focusing on the group of loci potentially under selection in each forest, using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) outliers. Further, we looked for potential adaptive divergence among populations in a common garden experiment and in reciprocal transplants for two plant development phases: seedling establishment and sapling growth. Analysis with outlier loci indicated that all individuals from the Semideciduous Forest formed a single group, while another group was formed by overlapping individuals from Submontane Rainforest and Restinga Forest. Molecular differentiation was corroborated by reciprocal transplants, which yielded strong evidence of local adaptations for seedling establishment in the biogeographically divergent Rainforest and Semideciduous Forest, but not for Restinga Forest and Submontane Rainforest. Phenotypic plasticity for palm seedling establishment favors range expansion to biogeographically related or recently colonized forest types, while persistence in the newly colonized ecosystem may be favored by local adaptations if climatic conditions diverge over time, reducing gene flow between populations. SNPs obtained by next-generation sequencing can help exploring adaptive genetic variation in tropical trees, which impose several challenges to the use of reciprocal transplants.

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for Piptadenia gonoacantha (Fabaceae).

UNLABELLED: • PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Microsatellite primers were designed for Piptadenia gonoacantha (Fabaceae) and characterized to estimate genetic diversity parameters. The species is a native tree from the Atlantic Forest biome commonly used in forest restoration; it has medicinal potential and the wood is economically useful. • METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-eight microsatellite loci were identified from an enriched genomic library. Fifteen loci resulted in successful amplifications and were characterized in a natural population of 94 individuals. Twelve loci were polymorphic, with allele numbers ranging from three to 15 per locus, and expected and observed heterozygosities ranging from 0.2142 to 0.8325 and 0.190 to 0.769, respectively. • CONCLUSIONS: The developed markers will be used in further studies of population genetics of P. gonoacantha, aimed at conservation and management of the species in natural populations and in forest restoration projects.

Seasonal variation in the fate of seeds under contrasting logging regimes.

Seed predators and dispersers may drive the speed and structure of forest regeneration in natural ecosystems. Rodents and ants prey upon and disperse seeds, yet empirical studies on the magnitude of these effects are lacking. Here, we examined the role of ants and rodents on seed predation in 4 plant species in a successional gradient on a tropical rainforest island. We found that (1) seeds are mostly consumed rather than dispersed; (2) rates of seed predation vary by habitat, season, and species; (3) seed size, shape, and hardness do not affect the probability of being depredated. Rodents were responsible for 70% of seed predation and were negligible (0.14%) seed dispersers, whereas ants were responsible for only 2% of seed predation and for no dispersal. We detected seasonal and habitat effects on seed loss, with higher seed predation occurring during the wet season and in old-growth forests. In the absence of predators regulating seed-consumer populations, the densities of these resilient animals explode to the detriment of natural regeneration and may reduce diversity and carrying capacity for consumers and eventually lead to ecological meltdown.

Tree species sprouting from root buds in a semideciduous forest affected by fires

Foram identificadas as espécies arbóreas que rebrotaram a partir de raízes gemíferas em 3,6ha de um fragmento de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual em Campinas, São Paulo, alvo de freqüentes incêndios. A identificação foi feita através de transectos de 100 metros de extensão no trecho de floresta selecionado e da exposição do sistema subterrâneo para verificar a ligação entre os brotos e seus troncos principais. Foram registradas 27 espécies que rebrotaram a partir de raízes, a maioria Leguminosae. Grande parte das espécies é característica de estádios iniciais da sucessão secundária. As distâncias máximas entre brotos e os troncos principais variaram de 0,6m (Guettarda viburnioides Cham. and Schltdt.- Rubiaceae) a 14m (Colubrina glandulosa Perkins- Rhaminaceae). Com os resultados obtidos, discute-se a relação da rebrota a partir de raízes e a ação dos distúrbios, além da influência da rebrota na ocupação espacial e na estrutura de espécies arbóreas com este potencial de regeneração.