Understanding the pathways of alternative forest transition involves the integration of land science, forest succession theory and invasion ecology. Land science explains the availability of sites to be reforested. The species composition of new forests depends on the availability of propagules, dispersal agents and competitive relationships between species (forest succession theory). Invasion ecology explains the role of introduction areas (which are often associated with residential use) of exotic species in the successional process.
SSC Member Ricardo Grau and colleagues published an article in Elementa about the complexity of outcomes resulting from livestock diminishing density, and provide a framework to understand and optimize processes of large herbivore rewilding according to different social-ecological contexts.
News on forest cover change in Latin America typically refer to the dramatic deforestation in the Amazon or the Chaco. However, many regions in the world are experiencing the opposite pattern of forest expansion due to agriculture abandonment or disintensification. Two new analyses led by the Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER, CONICET–UNT) of Argentina and the department of Biology of the University of Puerto Rico, document these trends in Latin America. Nodal Office Coordinator Ricardo Grau was a co-author on both.
GLP Member Andrea Izquierdo and Latin America Nodal Office Coordinator Ricardo Grau published an article in Mountain Research and Development about the Puna region of Argentina based on land use trends over the last 57 years and on their expertise in the region.
