Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests.
Danaë M A RozendaalFrans BongersT Mitchell AideEsteban Álvarez DávilaNataly AscarrunzPatricia BalvaneraJustin M BecknellTony Vizcarra BentosPedro Henrique Santin BrancalionGeorge A L CabralSofia Calvo-RodriguezJerome ChaveRicardo Gomes CésarRobin L ChazdonRichard ConditJorn S DallingaJarcilene S de Almeida-CortezBen de JongAlexandre A de OliveiraJulie S DenslowDaisy H DentSaara J DeWaltJuan Manuel DupuySandra M DuránLoïc P DutrieuxMário Marcos do Espírito-SantoMaría C FandinoG Wilson FernandesBryan FineganHernando GarcíaNoel GonzalezVanessa Granda MoserJefferson S HallJosé Luis Hernández-StefanoniStephen HubbellCatarina Conte JakovacAlma Johanna HernándezAndré Braga JunqueiraDeborah K KennardDenis LarpinSusan G LetcherJuan-Carlos LiconaEdwin Lebrija-TrejosErika Marín-SpiottaMiguel Martínez-RamosPaulo E S MassocaJorge A MeaveRita C G MesquitaFrancisco MoraSandra C MüllerRodrigo MuñozSilvio Nolasco de Oliveira NetoNatalia NordenYule Roberta Ferreira NunesSusana Ochoa-GaonaEdgar Ortiz-MalavassiRebecca OstertagMarielos Peña-ClarosEduardo A Pérez-GarcíaDaniel PiottoJennifer S PowersJosé Aguilar-CanoSusana Rodriguez BuriticaJorge Rodríguez-VelázquezMarco Antonio Romero-RomeroJorge RuízG Arturo Sanchez-AzofeifaArlete Silva de AlmeidaWhendee L SilverNaomi B SchwartzWilliam Wayt ThomasMarisol ToledoMaria UriarteEverardo Valadares de Sá SampaioMichiel Van BreugelHans van der WalSebastião Venâncio MartinsMaria D M VelosoHans F M VesterAlberto VicentiniIma Célia Guimarães VieiraPedro VillaG Bruce WilliamsonKátia J ZaniniJess ZimmermanLourens PoorterPublished in: Science advances (2019)
Old-growth tropical forests harbor an immense diversity of tree species but are rapidly being cleared, while secondary forests that regrow on abandoned agricultural lands increase in extent. We assess how tree species richness and composition recover during secondary succession across gradients in environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbance in an unprecedented multisite analysis for the Neotropics. Secondary forests recover remarkably fast in species richness but slowly in species composition. Secondary forests take a median time of five decades to recover the species richness of old-growth forest (80% recovery after 20 years) based on rarefaction analysis. Full recovery of species composition takes centuries (only 34% recovery after 20 years). A dual strategy that maintains both old-growth forests and species-rich secondary forests is therefore crucial for biodiversity conservation in human-modified tropical landscapes.