Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium.
Glob Chang Biol. 2022 Feb;28(4):1204-1211. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15983. Epub 2021 Nov 17.
Transformative change is required to achieve conservation of the globe's natural resources. Ambitious forest restoration can help achieve this change. Restoration success depends on trees persisting through multiple stressors, with drought standing out as one of utmost importance. However, research tends to focus on tree inciting factors of tree decline, like drought, whilst ignoring the fundamental importance of context, potentially leading to the wasted restoration effort. Indeed, the propensity of trees to succumb to, or resist, drought depends on whether they are predisposed to fail or succeed. Here, I argue that this predisposition crucially depends on the nature and characteristics of the former land use at the restoration site and propose a research agenda that will help enable the successful upscaling of forest restoration ambitions by revealing the land-use history-determined conditions under which tree species are likely to succeed in an era of environmental challenges.
要实现全球自然资源的保护，就必须进行变革性的改变。有抱负的森林恢复可以帮助实现这一转变。恢复的成功取决于树木能否经受住多种胁迫，而干旱是最重要的胁迫之一。然而，研究往往侧重于导致树木衰退的诱发因素，如干旱，而忽略了背景的基本重要性，这可能导致恢复工作的浪费。事实上，树木是否容易受到干旱的影响，取决于它们是否容易失败或成功。在这里，我认为这种倾向取决于恢复地点以前土地利用的性质和特征，并提出一个研究议程，通过揭示在环境挑战时代下，树种在哪些可能成功的土地利用历史决定的条件下，帮助成功扩大森林恢复的雄心。
