| dc.description.abstract | The use of native species in forest restoration has been increasingly recognized as an effective
means of restoring ecosystem functions and biodiversity to degraded areas across the world.
However, successful selection of species adapted to local conditions requires specific knowledge
which is often lacking, especially in developing countries. In order to scale up forest restoration,
experimental data on the responses of native species to propagation and restoration treatments
across a range of local conditions are required. In this study, species that can be passively
restored by natural regeneration were distinguished from those requiring active restoration. Tree
species dominance was quantified (measured by an importance value index, IVIi) and used
abundance–size correlations to select those species suitable for passive and/or active restoration
of disturbed riparian vegetation in Kibale National Park. We sampled riparian vegetation in a
50×10–m plot in each of the sixty two sample plots in the digraded ecosystems. All the species
which were regenerating and had a diameter of atleast 5cm were selected, and Pearson’s rank
correlation between abundance and diameter classes was calculated. For thirteen species, it was
determined that passive restoration could be sufficient for their establishment. The remaining
fifty two species could be transplanted by means of active restoration. The high number of tree
species found in the degraded ecosystem suggests that the species pool for ecological restoration
is large. However, sampling in the degraded ecosysem helped to reduce the number of species
that requires active restoration. Restoration objectives must guide the selection of which methods
to implement; in different conditions, other criteria such as dispersal syndrome or social value
could be considered in the species selection. | en_US |
