Second Growth
The Promise of Tropical Forest Regeneration in an Age of Deforestation
For decades, conservation and research initiatives in tropical forests have focused almost exclusively on old-growth forests because scientists believed that these "pristine" ecosystems housed superior levels of biodiversity. With "Second Growth", Robin L. Chazdon reveals those assumptions to be largely false, bringing to the fore the previously overlooked counterpart to old-growth forest: second growth. Even as human activities result in extensive fragmentation and deforestation, tropical forests demonstrate a great capacity for natural and human-aided regeneration. Although these damaged landscapes can take centuries to regain the characteristics of old growth, Chazdon shows here that regenerating – or second-growth – forests are vital, dynamic reservoirs of biodiversity and environmental services. What is more, they always have been. With chapters on the roles these forests play in carbon and nutrient cycling, sustaining biodiversity, providing timber and non-timber products, and integrated agriculture, "Second Growth" not only offers a thorough and wide-ranging overview of successional and restoration pathways, but also underscores the need to conserve, and further study, regenerating tropical forests in an attempt to inspire a new age of local and global stewardship.
About the Author
Robin L. Chazdon is professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and co-editor of "Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology". She lives in Storrs, CT.
Reviews
"Impressive and very timely given the growing recognition of the importance of secondary forests in conserving biodiversity. 'Second Growth' provides a very thorough review of the human impacts on tropical forests over several centuries and more recently, and on the ecology of forest regeneration after a range of disturbances. It is a well-researched and valuable contribution to the literature on tropical secondary forests" – Karen D. Holl, University of California, Santa Cruz
"A tremendous survey. Chazdon draws on paleobotany, ecology, natural history, and policy and forest management to make the case for the potential of forest regeneration. 'Second Growth' is astounding in its breadth and depth" – S. Joseph Wright, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
"What a wonderful book! Secondary forests have been ignored for too long, and 'Second Growth' brings together a wealth of material from across the Latin American, African, and Asian tropics to provide a synthesis of what we know about how they can develop and what influences their succession. Sadly, even optimists must accept that primary or old growth forests will continue to shrink. This means secondary forests are likely to replace them in the future as the main repositories of biodiversity and sources of many ecosystem services. This book is destined to become a key text for those protecting and managing these new forests" – David Lamb, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
"At last, an authoritative and very readable account of the most neglected aspect of tropical forest ecology: the vast areas of second growth that restored and managed properly will yield enormous human and conservation benefit. Chazdon's book fills a yawning gap in tropical ecology and land management. A great and important work, 'Second Growth' will be an enduring scholarly masterpiece" – Thomas E. Lovejoy, George Mason University, Senior Fellow, The United Nations Foundation
