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Women collecting Amazon forest seeds at Panará Indigenous Territory, Guarantã do Norte, MT, Brazil. Seeds are bought by neighbor farmers through the Xingu Seed Network and direct-seeded in degraded riparian areas of their farms in the Xingu Basin (Credit: Dannyel de Sá) (color figure available online).
Source publication
The Y Ikatu Xingu Campaign brought together indigenous people, farmers, researchers, governmental, and non-governmental organizations seeking riparian forest restoration in the Xingu watershed, in west-central Brazil. Forest restoration is challenging in the region because of scarce nurseries, long distances, and high costs associated with the usua...
Context in source publication
Citations
... Our experiment highlights the importance of frequent invasive grass control (more than three times over 1.5 years) between seeding rows, whether through mechanical (mower) or chemical (herbicide) methods. Some authors recommend plowing before planting to reduce the preexisting grass seed bank (Campos-Filho et al. 2013;Pereira et al. 2013;Sampaio et al. 2019). Future studies could address other critical aspects, such as adaptive management techniques for invasive grass control and identifying optimal management periods to ensure the emergence of seeded species and facilitate natural regeneration over time. ...
... The N + GM (mixture) option stood out as the most expensive among the four treatments despite having a cost estimate identical to that of Campos-Filho et al. (2013) for muvuca seedings without green manure (which is equivalent to our Control treatment). However, including green manure by Campos-Filho et al. (2013) increased the costs. ...
... The N + GM (mixture) option stood out as the most expensive among the four treatments despite having a cost estimate identical to that of Campos-Filho et al. (2013) for muvuca seedings without green manure (which is equivalent to our Control treatment). However, including green manure by Campos-Filho et al. (2013) increased the costs. Campos-Filho et al. (2013) adopted a similar technique of mixing native and green manure species in the same rows (seed muvuca) and found that this option resulted in the highest seedling density, reaching 4,500 and 21,875 seedlings/ha for areas with a similar seeding age (1.5 years) in the Cerrado. ...
Aims
This study investigates the effectiveness of different spatial arrangements of green manure and native species in promoting native seedling emergence and reducing invasive grass cover in restoration efforts, particularly within agricultural landscapes.
Location
Cerrado biome (savanna), Brazil.
Methods
We tested four experimental setups by direct seeding: (1) native species only (control), (2) native species and green manure mixed in the same row ( N + GM [mixture]), (3) green manure and native species planted in separate rows ( N + GM [rows]), and (4) native species intercropped with wider strips of green manure ( N + GM [strips]). We evaluated richness, seedling abundance, invasive grass cover, and cost‐effectiveness 540 days (a year and a half) post planting.
Results
The N + GM (mixture) treatment yielded the best cost‐effectiveness, highest species richness (three species) and seedling abundance (10,267 individuals/ha), along with the lowest invasive grass cover (50%). Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart. ex Hayne and Astronium fraxinifolium Schott ex Spreng had the highest emergence rates across all treatments. However, green manure alone did not entirely prevent invasive grass, requiring further weed control. N + GM (rows) showed the lowest cost, but should be considered only with ongoing maintenance.
Conclusions
Mixing green manure with native species in the same row ( N + GM [mixture]) is a practical and cost‐effective method for increasing native species emergence in the early stages of restoration, particularly in agricultural settings, where mechanized planting is feasible.
... However, it also presents several challenges. One significant limitation is the potential need for mechanised application to scale the method efficiently, particularly in extensive areas (Campos-Filho et al. 2013). Additionally, direct seeding often requires a higher quantity of seeds compared to planting seedlings because of potentially lower germination, survival and growth rates (Durigan, Guerin, and Da Costa 2013). ...
... In South America, direct seeding has been commonly implemented in Brazil to restore lowland tropical forests or savanna woodlands (Engel and Parrotta 2001;Campos-Filho et al. 2013;Meli et al. 2018;Piotrowski et al. 2023). A recent systematic review by Lázaro-González et al. (2023) showed that most of the direct seeding studies focus on temperate and low-land regions. ...
... We used a mixture of native trees with annual legumes such as Frijol (Phaseolus vulgaris) and sub-perennial legumes, including Guandul (Cajanus cajan), regarded as green manure that will degrade into the soil after 4 years. Green manure plays an important role in the recovery process because it can help to improve soil quality, reduce the competition with exotic grasses and contribute to food security (Campos-Filho et al. 2013;Rodrigues et al. 2019). Total seeding density averaged for green manure was 60,000 seeds ha −1 , while tree seed density represented 250,000 seeds ha −1 (Piotrowski et al. 2023). ...
Direct seeding is a technique frequently used to restore degraded lands worldwide. Direct seeding is attractive to restore degraded lands mainly because of its low cost compared to planting seedlings. However, this technique has been poorly studied in tropical mountains. Here, we investigated the outcomes of direct seeding at four degraded sites in the Andean mountains of Cauca, Colombia. We used 45 native tree species, most of them commonly used in restoration projects in the Andean region of Colombia. After 150 days of sowing, we evaluated seedling emergence, survival and establishment costs. Performance of direct seeding was markedly different across sites. Most species had low seedling emergence, with Guayaba ( Psidium guajava ) and Matachande ( Bocconia frutescens ) showing the highest emergence. Species with large seeds showed higher emergence compared with medium and small seeds. Seedling density was considerably variable among sites, ranging from 496 to 5550 ind. ha ⁻¹ . Our results evidence the need for long‐term monitoring at mountain restoration sites and that restoring tropical degraded mountains using direct seeding is a challenge that can be complemented with native tree planting. Further research is required to explore the advantages and disadvantages of direct seeding in mountain terrain.
... Existem experiências de uso da semeadura direta mecanizada para restauração de florestas, por meio da semeadura a lanço (Campos Filho et al., 2013). Essa prática pode ser uma importante aliada na redução de tempo, custo e penosidade do trabalho na implantação de áreas em restauração, principalmente áreas extensas ou de difícil acesso (Close; Davidson, 2003). ...
... (Ceccon et al., 2016). O uso dessa técnica de forma mecanizada no Brasil foi relatado em apenas um estudo, que não possui a mesma metodologia apresentada nesta publicação (Campos Filho et al., 2013). Os dados mostraram a eficiência da mecanização para restauração florestal, que alcançou altas densidades de indivíduos por hectare após oito meses de acompanhamento do estudo. ...
Direct seeding of tree species for forest restoration is a technique that has been gaining ground due to its reduced cost and ability to incorporate high densities of individuals. Many studies have been carried out to detail manual direct seeding. The mechanization of this technique is still poorly understood, but it is promising in terms of reducing time, costs and labor burden in the implementation of areas under restoration. Thus, the objectiveof this work was: i) to calibrate a seeder machine for
sowing forest species; ii) to evaluate the emergence and full establishment of seedlings of tree species planted through mechanized direct seeding; and iii) to evaluate the cost of the mechanized direct seeding process in conventional systems and in agroforestry systems. The study was conducted through an experiment at the Cascata Experimental Station (EEC), at Embrapa Temperate Agriculture,
between September/2023 and May/2024. The treatments consisted of mechanized direct seeding with (T1) and without corn cultivation (TC). It was observed that both treatments achieved average numbers of individuals higher than the densities
of seedling plantings in the total area, which is the most used technique currently for forest restoration. In T1, implementation costs were lower, due to the production of corn carried out simultaneously with the sowing of trees.
... Such a requirement is not found in Directive No. 60 (EU, 2010) in Germany and the USA for native seed mixtures. Moreover, the commercialization of directly harvested mixtures is not allowed in Brazil; at the moment, the seeds are mixed only at the moment of planting (Campos-Filho et al., 2013). Allowing the commercialization of directly harvested mixtures at the example of other countries could be crucial for advancing the country's large-scale restoration of grassy ecosystems. ...
... Directly seeding tree species with mechanized broadcasting has been effective at restoring 90 tree species from seed in large sites (up to 50 ha) in tropical wet forests in the Brazilian Amazon, 41,42 as well as forests in Laos, 43 and direct seeding costs are less than half that of planting seedlings in some regions of Brazil. 44 Alternatively, certain tree species planted as stakes can accumulate biomass and develop canopy cover much more rapidly than seedlings [45][46][47] for as little as one-third of the cost. 46 Soil microbiome The use of microbiome transplants has long been understood for agricultural symbionts 48 and some forestry systems, 49 yet application in a restoration context is relatively new. ...
... See Table S4 limited by the pool of species that local nurseries produce, often due to limited knowledge about how to produce many native species, which is a large barrier in many regions 75,76 potentially straightforward to implement if there is a coordinated seed collection and nursery network within a given region, and legal frameworks requiring implementation may be necessary to make high-diversity plantings economically feasible at scale [75][76][77] Economic species provides economic benefit to projects, with the goal of offsetting implementation costs, generating additional income, and gaining landowner support 34,35 some exotic economic species are invasive or have effects that are difficult to remove (i.e., allelopathy) that may restrict native plant recruitment, and care must be taken not to damage restoration plantings when harvesting 78,79 possible to implement where there is ongoing production forestry and native forest restoration, as this approach simply combines the two; requires a local market for the economic species planted, a large enough scale of production for income generation from a given economic species to be feasible, 80 and thorough planning with local stakeholders to decide on the abundance of economic vs. native species used in plantings Spatially patterned planting overcomes the homogeneous structure of plantations and decreases the area needed to plant relative to the area under restoration 36,81 non-systemic planting can be perceived as ''messy'' and/or difficult to implement, requiring a need to communicate how these approaches meet local needs to ensure their adoption. The project area must be large enough for plantings to establish well, and there must be sufficient seed dispersal for subsequent recovery to occur 38,82 implemented in a manner similar to that of forest plantations, which is straightforward to scale up as the infrastructure already exists; difficult to implement unless a project provides a framework for landholder income generation 38 Alternative revegetation helps to overcome seedling production bottlenecks, generally more cost-effective than planting seedlings 41,45 only works for certain species and ecosystems; requires large quantities of collected seed, which often are unavailable, or suitable trees to cut stakes from; for direct seeding, seed predation and increased mortality rates must be addressed 41,83 direct seeding has been applied on large scales with high but variable success in grasslands and some forests, where it is still minimally used; requires the availability of large quantities of seeds at low cost, which is rare, and mechanizing application, which is only feasible on relatively flat terrain 44 ; stakes are widely used as living fences, but use in a restoration context may be limited to small scales due to difficulty in sourcing material, and is limited to a subset of species with the ability to establish ...
... For example, expanding the application of direct seeding requires the development of mechanized approaches that have only been effective at a large scale on relatively flat terrain. 44 While some groups have pioneered the use of drones to broadcast seed over large areas, 97 improving the ability of drones to apply seeds to suitable locations is necessary to ensure effective application of this approach. 98 Moreover, there is widespread potential to take advantage of soil microbiome restoration to facilitate the recovery of entire ecosystems, but it comes with potential risks as this approach can introduce both symbionts and pathogens. ...
... In the Brazilian Savanna, community-led partnerships innovate restoration techniques, from seed collection to planting techniques. These grassroots mobilizations have several implications for the economic and socio-technical feasibility of restoration initiatives (Campos-Filho et al., 2013). High-quality seed from diverse native species that are not commercially available may have higher production costs compared to commercial species with well-established technologies Silva et al., 2022). ...
Emerging global production networks innovate the supply of restoration products and services to reverse degraded ecosystems globally. Yet, savanna restoration interventions often neglect diverse plant life forms and planting techniques in implementing large-scale pledges. Drawing on global production network analysis, we examine how the configuration of savanna restoration practices in Brazil influences decision-making processes and outcomes. Our assessment of a case study in Central Brazil reveals a myriad of forces affecting the interconnections between institutional drivers, markets, and supply systems for restoration actions across multiple scales. Prevailing policies and regulations often disregard diverse expertise, economic strategies, and socio-cultural perspectives when setting savanna restoration priorities and incentives. While we identify different buyers influencing market demands to meet mandatory or voluntary environmental compliance, a wide range of suppliers remakes savanna restoration actions according to regional contexts. The experiences of community-led plant material supply systems in Central Brazil showcase collective organization that enables situated socio-technical innovations to link a high diversity of non-tree species with livelihood outcomes. This study contributes to revealing how institutional drivers and restoration markets assert political authority and commercial objectives in multifaceted decisions, while community partnerships catalyze place-based savanna restoration innovations.
... There are several techniques and practices used to implement restoration projects (see, for example, Danton 1993;Campos-Filho et al. 2013;Willoughby et al. 2004), so the choices you make will depend on the scale and purpose of the project, and the level of degradation. Successful projects usually rely on ▪ efficient resource allocation; ▪ appropriate organizational structures; ▪ stakeholder engagement; ▪ comprehensive training; ▪ inclusion of local knowledge; ▪ careful design and implementation on site; ▪ use of high-quality seeds and seedlings; and ▪ a commitment to monitor progress. ...
This guidebook presents a step-by-step process for planning and implementing a landscape approach to restoration projects. It identifies five essential stages - Scope, Design, Finance, Implement, and Monitor - each outlined with key steps and a checklist to help project developers track their progress and plan properly before launching into a new project.
... We carried out restoration treatments with methods that were suited to a small-scale urban restoration project. In larger areas, mechanized options could be used which could be more cost-effective (Holmes & Richardson 1999;Campos-Filho et al. 2013;Navarro-Pedreño et al. 2017). Despite this, the relative difference in cost between all the tested restoration treatments should remain constant, even at other restoration sites. ...
The successful restoration of endangered habitat types at a low cost is of vital importance. We tested how successful and cost-effective six combinations of restoration treatments were in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Treatments were applied to an area that was primarily covered invasive alien grasses. Treatments that tested combinations of burning, direct sowing of seed, and planting of seedlings, aimed to test the synergistic effect of three treatment factors. Topsoil translocation aimed to determine if this, combined with planting, can restore native shrub cover and whether the addition of mulch and seed can improve overall success. The mechanical removal of invasive grasses, sowing and planting, were tested in the absence of fire. Both topsoil translocation treatments and the treatment that had been burned, sown and planted ("Burn-sow-plant") led to plant species richness resembling near-pristine plots and approximately 30% higher than the burn-only treatment ("Burn"). Native shrub cover was the highest for treatments which included planting. Survival for planted species was 36-41% higher for Burn-sow-plant. The contribution of sowing was low, with 9-16% of species sowed being present across treatments. We show that topsoil translocation can be successful if combined with planting. Burn-sow-plant was most successful at a reasonable cost, despite planting being expensive, whereas Burn and Burn-sow were less successful, but cheaper. The treatment in which grass was removed before sowing and planting was the least successful and most expensive. We conclude that the most successful treatments are not necessarily the most expensive.
... Their results were not included in our review because they did not meet requirements of presenting establishment rates. Nevertheless, the project has shown promising results, with the establishment of a great array of tree and non-tree species through direct seeding, and the participation of local indigenous communities in seed collection (Campos-Filho et al., 2013;Freitas et al., 2019;Rodrigues et al., 2019;Schmidt et al., 2019). The two main features of the project are the use of mechanized sowing, which reduces the time and costs to restore large areas, and the broadcasting of a large number of seeds, around 200,000 seeds of native species per hectare, to achieve satisfactory seedling density and ground cover, considering the expected low emergence and establishment of sown species (Campos-Filho et al., 2013). ...
... Nevertheless, the project has shown promising results, with the establishment of a great array of tree and non-tree species through direct seeding, and the participation of local indigenous communities in seed collection (Campos-Filho et al., 2013;Freitas et al., 2019;Rodrigues et al., 2019;Schmidt et al., 2019). The two main features of the project are the use of mechanized sowing, which reduces the time and costs to restore large areas, and the broadcasting of a large number of seeds, around 200,000 seeds of native species per hectare, to achieve satisfactory seedling density and ground cover, considering the expected low emergence and establishment of sown species (Campos-Filho et al., 2013). ...
... A business management office links groups of collectors to agreed restoration projects by establishing contracts and ensuring the continuity of the demands for subsequent years (Fig. 12.2). These primary restoration markets are projects that apply direct seeding techniques using mixes of seeds from native and green manure species in order to accomplish mandatory restoration as required by national regulations (Campos-Filho et al., 2013), including the Forest Code and the National Environmental Policy (Law 6938/1981). These seed supply operations confirmed the feasibility of developing decentralized and participatory systems that allow local communities to coordinate their activities and establish local negotiations and agreements, respecting place-specific realities and needs (de Urzedo et al., 2021). ...
For successful restoration of wetland and riparian systems, we need to recognise several key points: Wetland systems exist because of, and are governed by hydrology, so hydrological restoration is imperative. Wetlands always have been and need to be temporally and spatially variable, changes in flow and water availability are natural; so restoration of those characters are necessary for successful wetland restoration. Wetlands are closely linked to their surrounding environment as a water and nutrient source; where possible they should be restored in relation to whole landscape restoration. Wetland systems can be resilient and are capable of recovery to a functioning state; the recovery goal, appropriate methods, available resources and subsequent management and monitoring are vital to success.
