Recovery and resilience of tropical forests after disturbance

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 3906
• Main Authors: Cole, Lydia E. S., Bhagwat, Shonil A., Willis, Katherine J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.05.2014; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Pub. Group
• Subjects: 631/158/2454; 631/158/854; Africa; Asia; Biodiversity; Central America; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecosystem; Ecosystems; Forests; Fossils; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Plant Development; Pollen; Rainforest; Reforestation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); South America; Time Factors; Trends; Variables; Vegetation; Zoology; South America; Central America; Asia; Africa; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4906

The time taken for forested tropical ecosystems to re-establish post-disturbance is of widespread interest. Yet to date there has been no comparative study across tropical biomes to determine rates of forest re-growth, and how they vary through space and time. Here we present results from a meta-analysis of palaeoecological records that use fossil pollen as a proxy for vegetation change over the past 20,000 years. A total of 283 forest disturbance and recovery events, reported in 71 studies, are identified across four tropical regions. Results indicate that forests in Central America and Africa generally recover faster from past disturbances than those in South America and Asia, as do forests exposed to natural large infrequent disturbances compared with post-climatic and human impacts. Results also demonstrate that increasing frequency of disturbance events at a site through time elevates recovery rates, indicating a degree of resilience in forests exposed to recurrent past disturbance. Forest recovery after past disturbances can help to understand how forests will respond to future scenarios. Here, the authors analyse palaeoecological records from tropical forests and find that Central American and African forests have recovered faster after disturbances than those in South America and Asia.