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The UN "Decade on ecosystem restoration" demands urgent actions to bring back native ecosystems from degraded lands. Tree seedlings are widely available for restoration plantings. However, the lack of other life forms available in commercial nurseries constraints grassy biomes restoration. The use of fertilizers is widely common to grow tree seedlings in nurseries and the current technology could be useful to grow native grasses in nurseries and turn the planting technique feasible to restore grassy biomes, such as the Cerrado in Brazil. In this study, we examined the growth and nutritional responses to nutrient availability of the native grass Schizachyrium sanguineum produced in nursery. We produced seedlings by germinated seeds of S. sanguineum on seedbeds containing sand and, after emergence, transferring the plants to 290‐cm3 plastic tubes containing commercial substrate (CS) added with 0, 1, 3, 5, or 7 g/L of controlled‐release fertilizer (CRF, NPK 15‐09‐12) and non‐fertilized native soil (NS). After 90 days, we found high seedling survival (>98%) in all trials. In spite of lower nutrient availability, the NS promoted higher seedling tillering and relative height and biomass growths than the non‐fertilized CS. However, in general, seedlings showed increased growth, and shoot P and K concentrations with an increase in CRF rates, up to approximately 5 g/L. In addition, higher CRF rates allowed faster grow of S. sanguineum seedlings. Ultimately, we found that S. sanguineum responds positively to fertilization, despite being native from nutrient‐poor soil of Cerrado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a major need for restoration of nonforest ecosystems in the Brazilian Cerrado, and planting seedlings is promising. However, there is no currently available information on nontree species production in nurseries. Grasses are dominant in the Cerrado herbaceous layer; therefore, we tested whether tree seedling production techniques can be used for two native grasses widely spread across the Cerrado ecoregion (Schizachyrium sanguineum and Loudetiopsis chrysothrix). We performed a factorial experiment with three levels: (1) seedbed substrate, (2) container volume, and (3) final substrate. Seeds were germinated in seedbeds with native soil or sand and, after emergence, transferred to 30, 55, or 290 cm3 containers filled with native soil, commercial substrate, or a mixture thereof. We evaluated seedling survival, height relative growth rate (RGR), tillering, and dry biomass. Survival rates after transfer from seedbeds to containers were greater than 80% for both species. Generally, species had greater height RGR, tillering, and biomass in the 290 cm3 containers than in the other containers, and the presence of native soil in the seedbeds, as well as in the containers, fostered seedling growth. However, the use of native soil is not recommended for large‐scale production, because its acquisition could degrade Cerrado areas. The commercial substrate improvement could be an alternative to increase seedling growth, since grasses survived well and presented greater growth in the largest container. Our study demonstrated that the techniques currently used in commercial nurseries for growing trees are suitable for both grasses, and substrates and container size drive seedling growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has committed to fulfilling international restoration goals and to enforcing environmental legislation that will require private landowners to undertake ecological restoration of 21 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes. To support a broad range of restoration practices, a well‐established supply chain capable of representing regional plant diversity is essential. This study investigated the restoration species pool in native plant nurseries in São Paulo state, located in southeastern Brazil, and evaluated their geographic distribution, similarity of their plant stocks, and the proportion of species represented from regional floras. Despite a lack of technical assistance and a significant presence of nonnative species (126 species, average 7.5 species/nursery), we found an impressive native species richness in plant nurseries (561 species, average 86.4 species/nursery) from both the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado domains, representing 38–44% of regional floras. There was a huge bias toward tree and shrub species (96.6%) and an absence or underrepresentation of other growth forms, as well as of savanna specialists, animal‐dispersed, and threatened species. The dissimilarity of species observed among the different nurseries surveyed highlights their role in representing regional diversity, which reflects their regional seed collection practices. Effective assistance and training are essential to address issues related to misidentification of species, underrepresentation of most functional plant groups, and the presence of nonnative species, as well as to support the supply chain, which is currently undergoing a market downturn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planting of tree seedlings is a common restoration technique in the tropics, and using large‐crowned, fast‐growing shade species is recommended to suppress invasive grasses and accelerate forest succession. We analyzed the effectiveness of shade species in shading the forest floor during the rainy and dry seasons at young forest restoration sites, whether shade changes according to site for a given species, and whether crown architecture can predict the shade level. We measured the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) intercepted by the tree crowns of 14 species in two 3‐year‐old restoration plantings. The ability to predict shade based on crown architecture traits was evaluated using multiple linear regressions. The interception of PAR varied according to species, site, and season for seven species and was generally higher during the rainy season. Low values of tree and first branch height and high values of trunk diameter and mean area of a leaf predicted greater light interception. For the dry season, the ability to predict PAR interception was weaker than that for the rainy season and affected by a shorter tree height and a greater crown area. The crown architecture of shade species did not completely predict their shading ability, and the preselection of shade species for forest restoration purposes based only on crown architecture traits is not effective. Therefore, it is important to consider other factors, such as how long trees retain their leaves throughout the year and the soil and management conditions of the sites undergoing restoration, during the selection of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) is a powerful strategy for large-scale tropical forest recovery, and payment for ecosystem services (PES) is used to support FLR programs and projects on privately-owned land. In this article, we discuss the lessons learned from the Water Producer Project, a pioneer, multiple-stakeholder, and PES-supported FLR project in the Atlantic Forest, south-eastern Brazil. The project was implemented in four landscapes located in two municipalities. Altogether, 41 PES contracts with landowners were signed, resulting in various FLR practices being implemented in a total of 342.4 ha (64.2 ha for riparian forest restoration, 90.8 ha for soil conservation, and 187.4 for forest conservation) of land, which represents 39% of the project goal. As of the end of the project, only 50% (USD 49,250) of the available PES funds had been spent. However, funds spent on project planning, implementation, communication, and monitoring were 12 times greater than those spent on PES. Several challenges restricted the progress and monitoring of the project. The main issue was landowner participation and/or engagement. In terms of lessons learned, we highlight that PES schemes are more complex than initially thought, and that sufficient funding does not guarantee the success of FLR projects. It is essential to promote landowner participation and engagement by considering them key players in FLR projects. Finally, acceptance from landowners was higher and implementation was easier for forest conservation practices that required no land-use changes. Thus, we suggest that similar future projects should focus on targeting private properties in marginal agricultural lands with a high probability of natural regeneration. Alternatively, future projects could focus on lands with remnant forest cover of high conservation value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent change in Brazilian laws reduced the amount of area that is set aside for native vegetation restoration in rural private properties. However, we lack estimates of its impacts on the provisioning of key ecosystem services at local scales. Therefore, in a microwatershed in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest hot spot, we quantified the impact of the change from the Forest Code (1965) to the Native Vegetation Protection Law in Brazil (2012) on future native forest cover, biomass carbon stocks, and soil loss and sedimentation. We analyzed three scenarios: (a) the land use and cover as of 2016, (b) the Forest Code, 1965, and (c) the Native Vegetation Protection Law, 2012. In each scenario, we modeled soil loss and sedimentation (InVEST, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) and calculated the carbon stocks. The 2012 law implementation would increase forest cover (15.6%), decrease soil sedimentation (1.12%) and loss (1.13%), and increase carbon stock (5.4%). However, compared to the Forest Code, it would reduce the area for restoration and the potential for native forest cover growth, increase soil loss and sedimentation potential, and limit increases in carbon stocks at the landscape level. In both restoration scenarios, the potential percent increase in forest cover in the microwatershed owing to the laws is higher than the percent decrease in soil loss and sedimentation. These findings have the potential to elucidate the effect of laws on ecosystem services and be useful to those planning the creation, modification, and implementation of laws for forest restoration in private properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental legislation has fostered ecological restoration programs worldwide, but few studies have reported the outcomes for landscape connectivity. Here, we investigated the contribution of forest restoration programs planned to comply with the Brazilian Forest Code for increasing forest cover and landscape connectivity in agricultural landscapes of southeastern Brazil. We gathered data for 85 landscapes and 2,408 rural properties, totalizing 748,601 ha of farmlands within the Atlantic Forest biome and its ecotone with Cerrado, two global hotspots for biodiversity conservation. Together, rural properties account for 50,783 ha of native vegetation deficit found on Areas of Permanent Protection (APPs). On the basis of this, we performed a landscape connectivity analysis by simulating scenarios in accordance with the requirements of the legislation for two sugarcane mills that are already under ongoing restoration efforts. We evaluated the relative changes promoted by restoring all deforested riparian buffers within APPs, as determined by the Forest Code. The simulation of restoration at the property-level resulted in the reconnection of isolated forest patches, reducing their number in the landscape and increasing their overall and core size. At the sugarcane mill level, the restoration of riparian forests increased the index of connectivity. Despite these benefits, final forest cover (remnant plus restored forests) would still be reduced (<20%—the minimum forest cover on the private land to comply with the environmental law) in most landscapes and insufficient to conserve species sensitive to forest fragmentation. The mandatory restoration of riparian buffers plays a relevant role for improving landscape connectivity in human-modified tropical landscapes, but this strategy shall be complemented by other approaches to increase forest cover and landscape connectivity to mitigate the enormous species extinction debt accumulated for tropical forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring protocols are needed to evaluate the millions of hectares of land that are being proposed for forest restoration in the coming decades. Standardized proposals are critical to evaluate efficacy of restoration strategies, identify triggers for corrective actions, compare results across projects, and generally learn from past projects to inform future restoration efforts. We describe an iterative process, including over 200 stakeholders, to develop a protocol for monitoring Brazilian Atlantic Forest restoration. We give an overview of the ecological, socioeconomic, and management criteria, indicators, and metrics included in the protocol. Strengths of the protocol include the following: (a) testing and use across sites with a range of ages, forest types, past land uses, restoration techniques, and implementing institutions; (b) participation by a broad range of government, nongovernment, private, and academic institutions in the protocol development process; and (c) inclusion of socioeconomic and management criteria. Next steps for facilitating the broad adoption of the protocol in the Atlantic Forest region include providing in person and online training courses, establishing an online repository for storing and comparing monitoring data, and developing smartphone applications to facilitate data collection. Although the protocol was developed for the Atlantic Forest context and further refinements are needed, we think that the Atlantic Forest Pact monitoring protocol may serve as a model to inform the development of similar protocols in other regions, which ultimately could be integrated to produce a pantropical protocol for common use by several restoration forest programs worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]