17 Years Successional Enrichment Plantation of Tree Recruitment and Restoration in Tropical Forestland

Abstract BackgroundWe examine the recruitment drive of overstorey and undergrowth of tropical forested reserve by assessing the tree diversity, species composition, species richness, and growth form of the undergrowth on 17 years of post-disturbance. ResultThe result show an increase in the diversity and even distribution of the species of the overstorey, compared to the undergrowth. Conversely, the overstorey has a lower in species richness as compared to the level of undergrowth. One way ANOVA results shows that there is no significant difference (P = 0.341). However, undergrowth density (individual/ha) is found to be significantly (P = 0.000) higher than the overstorey trees.ConclusionsIt is evident that the forest trees and saplings are dissimilar in species abundance, which implies that sapling recruitment is a key determinant of the tree species composition of the forest. It is then concluded that the method adopted for restoration encouraged species diversity in this successional forest.