Chasing the climate signal in the Cerrado’s patterns of burned area

SEGURA-GARCIA Carlota  

The Cerrado, the Brazilian neotropical savanna biome, has experienced large scale agricultural expansion since the 1960s, leading to altered fire regimes and reduced fire activity with growing fragmentation. On the other hand, the Cerrado has become hotter and drier, with increased flammability conditions. Hence, there is a complex interplay betwee... [Read more ...]

Evaluating the impact of agricultural intensification on migratory birds

SOMVEILLE Marius 

Migratory birds are moving through rapidly changing ecosystems and landscapes, and as a result they are declining fast. In particular, agricultural intensification in the tropics has been suggested to be a leading driver of the decline in migratory birds. The aim of this research is to evaluate how change in habitat quality and resource supply due ... [Read more ...]

Local perceptions of tropical forest ecosystem services, insights from Africa

CUNI-SANCHEZ Aida 

Human culture has an important influence on how forests are utilised, yet its influence on ecosystem service (ES) use and valuation remains underexplored. During the past 5 years, we have investigated how livelihood strategy (farmers, pastoralists, hunter-gatherers) and ethnicity affect local peoples’ perceptions of forest ES in tropical Africa, ... [Read more ...]

Applying tree-grass interaction models to decipher forest-savanna dynamics in Central Africa

YATAT DJEUMEN Valaire 

Forest extension over savannas is widely observed, notably over tropical Africa. Understanding forest extension is necessary to forecast its consequences for biodiversity, carbon stocks and livelihoods. We build here from a general model aiming at recovering, as dynamical outcomes of fire-mediated tree–grass interactions, the wide range of vegeta... [Read more ...]

The potential of secondary forests: drivers, mechanisms, and implications for restoration

Lourens POORTER 

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POORTER Lourens

Hosted Scientist

Montpellier - Bur : PS1/4
lourens.poorter@wur.nl

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Tropical forests disappear rapidly because of deforestation, yet they have the potential to regrow naturally on abandoned lands. Here I present results of the 2ndFOR research network on secondary succession. We analyze how 12 forest attributes recover during secondary succession, and assess the underlying biophysical using 77 chronosequence sites a... [Read more ...]