|
Project properties |
|
| Title | Recovery of functional composition in secondary forests in the Atlantic forest using chronosequences |
| Group | Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Rens Brouwer |
| Examiner(s) | Prof. dr. Frans Bongers |
| Contact info | Rens.brouwer@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2022/03/01 |
| End date | |
| Description | MSc thesis/MSc Internship
Large-scale restoration in the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil needs novel upscaling from thousands to millions of hectares. The NewFor project is part of a large collaboration between Dutch and Brazilian partners that are investigating how to achieve this. We work together with Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture of the University of São Paulo in Piracicaba. We evaluate how upscaling from plot-based inventories to large-scale planning and design is possible, taking into account ecological functions, forest services and human perceptions. We determine characteristics of new forests and their drivers of regeneration and deforestation, assess their aboveground diversity and structure, evaluate key forest functions based on functional traits, predict new forests’ potential contributions to ecosystem services, develop a large-scale method with remote sensing to identify areas with the highest forest restoration potential to promote ecosystem services, and develop novel policies and market instruments to foster and stimulate new forests. In an era of ambitious restoration commitments and societal demands for ecosystem services, we provide alternative landscape developments and promote a sustainable future of the Atlantic Forest. In this project you will collect data on functional traits of tree species growing in naturally regenerating forests in the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil. You will collect data through field measurements and literature research. We also will have plot level data available for over 70 plots, including age, basal area and species taxonomy and structural parameters. Ultimately, you can evaluate how trait composition and diversity changes over time by replacing space for time (chronosequences), i.e. comparing natural regeneration plots of different ages. This will give us more insight how secondary succession works and how new forests develop over time. This thesis will be part of the NewFor project: https://www.wur.nl/en/project/Understanding-restored-forests-for-benefiting-people-and-nature-in-the-Atlantic-Forest.htm Topics (Choose appropriate topic(s) from list): Biodiversity and functional diversity/ Forest restoration and succession Region(s) (choose): the Netherlands/ / America's/ Climate(s) (choose): Tropical zone |
| Used skills | Statistical skills (R) |
| Requirements | Standard for MSc thesis/internship:
FEM-30306 Forest Ecology and Forest Management and REG-31806 Ecological Methods I |