In this study we investigated the conservation value of native plantation forests in the lowlands of New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
Only Monaghan, Down, and Antrim were excepted, the first because it had been subjected to a "native" plantation in the 1590s and the latter two because neither was held by the rebel earls and both were already areas of extensive de facto Scottish settlement.
"The big growth in woodland area more recently was the result of large-scale non-native plantations on marginal land in the first two thirds of the 20th century – whilst all the time our ancient woods are inexorably chipped away by development and infrastructure".
For example, some exotic (non-native) plantations can be refuges for native biodiversity (Senbeta et al. 2002; Barlow et al. 2007; Bhagwat et al. 2008), when having naturally regenerated native saplings (Senbeta et al. 2002).
Hence establishing native species plantations among native forest remnants – especially in heavily fragmented landscapes – could have a positive effect in the conservation of threatened avifauna.
Our results demonstrate the potential for tropical native timber plantations to contribute to the retention of biodiversity.
This study investigates understory recruitment patterns in mixed native species plantations along the Panama Canal that were established in grasslands dominated by the invasive exotic species Saccharum spontaneum (L).
Topics covered include the ecology and management of native species plantations and second-growth forests; understanding the social drivers and barriers of restoration; and becoming familiar with the methodological protocols of gathering and assessing social, economic, and cultural values.
Native timber plantations may represent a land-use capable of balancing production and conservation by potentially supporting understorey plant and tree species otherwise restricted to old-growth forests, with little impact on yield.
We compared bird species assemblages of 40 50 year-old native spruce plantations with those of mature, naturally-regenerated conifer forests using a Bayesian hierarchical model, which accounts for imperfect detection of species.
