Evaluating climber cutting as a strategy to restore degraded tropical forests
Abstract A substantial share of the remaining tropical forest cover is represented by historically degraded fragments exposed to severe edge effects, where ruderal plants proliferate vigorously and may arrest succession. We tested climber plant cutting as strategy to restore a semideciduous tropical forest remnant that is dominated by ruderal climbers. We compared control (unmanaged) plots with plots subjected to climber cutting at 1 m height with recutting one (after 8 months) or three times (8, 24 and 36 months) We monitored: 1) tree and shrub biomass gain and canopy openness for three years; 2) tree and shrub growth and recruitment of regenerating seedlings for one year; and 3) planted seedling survival for two years. Climber cutting increased biomass gain by 51% for smaller trees and shrubs (1.58 dbh