Can active restoration of tropical rainforest rescue biodiversity? A case with bird community indicators
There is vigorous debate about the potential for reforestation to offset losses in biodiversity associated with tropical deforestation, but a scarcity of good data. We quantified developmental trajectories following active restoration (replanting) of deforested pasture land to tropical Australian rainforest, using 20 different bird community indicators within chronosequences of multiple sites. Bird species composition in restored sites (1–24years old) was intermediate between that of reference sites in pasture and primary rainforest.