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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Ecosystem Restoration
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1458613
This article is part of the Research Topic New Frontiers in Forest Landscape Restoration View all 3 articles

Restoration of tropical dry forest: an analysis of constraints and successes across a highly threatened biome

Provisionally accepted
Natalia Mesa-Sierra Natalia Mesa-Sierra 1Marinés De La Peña-Domene Marinés De La Peña-Domene 1*Julio CAMPO Julio CAMPO 2Christian P. Giardina Christian P. Giardina 3
  • 1 Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Tlaquepaque, Mexico
  • 2 Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 3 Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service (USDA), Albany, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The tropical dry forest (TDF) biome has undergone a diversity of severe disturbances, with resulting transformations and continued pressures making this biome type one of the Earth's most threatened. Supporting large numbers of native, often endemic species, fragments of TDF serve as important but precarious refugia. There are global efforts to restore this once extensive forest type, but the impact of TDF restoration on biodiversity and ecosystem function is poorly understood.Here, we present results from an analysis of 187 unique studies, published between January 1990 and February 2020, that examined a range of TDF restoration practices. We used a meta-analytical approach to compare survival, growth, and measures of ecosystem function in restored systems and either intact reference baselines or impacted controls. Understanding that social factors can represent over-riding constraints on restoration implementation or success, we also examined human dimensions variables, which were the least evaluated metrics in our review. We found that the survival of native species plantings showed high variability within and across regions and treatments -indicating a broad need for refined restoration prescriptions to better match practice to species and site. Synthesizing a global dataset provides insights needed to increase the success of TDF restoration.

    Keywords: ecological restoration, Meta-analysis, Reference systems, Systematic review, Tropical dry forest

    Received: 02 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mesa-Sierra, De La Peña-Domene, CAMPO and Giardina. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Marinés De La Peña-Domene, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Tlaquepaque, Mexico

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.