Vegetation Succession on Degraded Sites in the Pomacochas Basin (Amazonas, N Peru)—Ecological Options for Forest Restoration

Helge Walentowski, Steffi Heinrichs, Stefan Hohnwald, Alexander Wiegand, Henry Heinen, Martin Thren, Oscar A. Gamarra Torres, Ana B. Sabogal and Stefan Zerbe
Additional contact information
Helge Walentowski: Faculty of Resource Management, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Büsgenweg 1a, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Steffi Heinrichs: Faculty of Resource Management, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Büsgenweg 1a, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Stefan Hohnwald: Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use—CBL, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Alexander Wiegand: Faculty of Resource Management, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Büsgenweg 1a, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Henry Heinen: Faculty of Resource Management, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Büsgenweg 1a, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Martin Thren: Faculty of Resource Management, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Büsgenweg 1a, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Oscar A. Gamarra Torres: Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Ceja de Selva, INDES-CES, Campus Universitario, Calle Universitaria N° 304, Chachapoyas, Amazonas 01001, Peru
Ana B. Sabogal: Faculty of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru—PUCP, Av. Universitaria 1801, San Miguel, Lima 32, Peru
Stefan Zerbe: Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: The Andes of northern Peru are still widely covered with forests, but increasingly suffer from habitat fragmentation. Subsequent soil degradation often leads to the abandonment of overused forests and pastures. Ecological knowledge on the restoration potential, e.g., on dependencies of soil conditions and altitude, is scarce. Therefore, we compared soil and vegetation patterns along nine transects within the upper Pomacochas Basin, which is an important biodiversity corridor along the Andes, between remaining forests, succession sites and pastures. Anthropogenic successional and disturbance levels, geological substrate, and altitude have the most important ecological impacts on vegetation and tree species composition. Species responded to sandstone versus calcareous substrates, but also to depths of the organic soil layer, and light conditions. The absence of organic layers under pastures contrasted with the accumulation of thick organic layers under forest cover. Vegetation composition at succession sites revealed certain starting points (herbal stage, bush stage, or secondary forest) for restoration that will determine the length of regeneration paths. Pre-forest patches of Alchornea sp. and Parathesis sp. may act as habitat stepping stones for expeditiously restoring biocorridors for wildlife. The key findings can contribute to the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in a fragile ecoregion.

Keywords: soil-plant relationships; biocorridors; yungas; secondary vegetation; fragmentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/609/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/609/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:609-:d:133727

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().