The Los Tuxtlas Restoration Experiment
Los Tuxtlas is a region in Veracruz, Mexico touted as the northern edge of neotropical rainforests.
Like other tropical forests, deforestation has been a significant issue here and is driven by the demand for cattle pasture.
The Los Tuxtlas Restoration experiment was established in 2006 by Drs. Henry F. Howe and Cristina Martínez-Garza to investigate
how restoration design and initial species composition influenced restoration success.
The experiment is composed of 24 (30 x 30m) fenced plots separated by 35 m of actively grazed pasture on a hillside gradient.
Plots belong to three treatments: (i) plots planted with animal-dispersed trees, (ii) plots planted with wind-dispersed trees,
and (iii) unplanted plots to simulate natural succession.
The main hypothesis is that plantings with animal-dispersed species will attract more dispersal agents, enhancing seed rain, eventually seedling establishment, ultimately accelerating ecological succession.
Studies from the Los Tuxtlas Restoration Experiment
| Authors | Year | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Martínez-Garza et al. | 2009 | Seed rain in a tropical agricultural landscape |
| Howe et al. | 2010 | Early seed fall and seedling emergence: precursors to tropical restoration |
| Tobón et al. | 2011 | Soil responses to restoration of a tropical pasture in Veracruz, south-eastern Mexico |
| de la Peña-Dómene et al. | 2013 | Early recruitment dynamics in tropical restoration |
| Martínez-Garza et al. | 2013 | Drought mortality of tree seedlings in an eroded tropical pasture |
| de la Peña-Dómene et al. | 2014 | Roles of birds and bats in early tropical-forest restoration |
| Popoca-Ortega | 2016 | Lluvia de semillas en parcelas de restauración ecológica en la selva tropical de Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México |
| de la Peña-Dómene et al. | 2016 | Restored connectivity facilitates recruitment by an endemic large-seeded tree in a fragmented tropical landscape |
| Howe | 2017 | Fruit-eating birds in experimental plantings in southern Mexico |
| Howe & Davlantes | 2017 | Waxing and waning of a cotton rat (Sigmodon toltecus) monoculture in early tropical restoration |
| de la Peña-Dómene | 2018 | Plant attributes that drive dispersal and establishment limitation in tropical agricultural landscapes |
| Caughlin et al. | 2019 | Demographic costs and benefits of natural regeneration during tropical forest restoration |
| Cabrales Sanchez & Martínez-Garza | 2019 | Caracterización de la lluvia de semillas en áreas bajo intervención de restauración de 8 años en los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México [Poster] |
| Beltrán & Howe | 2020 | The frailty of tropical restoration plantings |
| Beltrán et al. | 2020 | Effects of a recalcitrant understory fern layer in an enclosed tropical restoration experiment |
| Guzmán et al. | 2021 | Rodent suppression of seedling establishment in tropical pasture |
| Beltrán | 2021 | Planting composition effects on tropical forest restoration [Doctoral Dissertation] |
| Rivas-Alonso et al. | 2021 | Large trees in restored tropical rainforest |
| Rivas-Alonso | 2021 | Gremios tróficos de aves y murciélagos en parcelas de restauración ecológica en los tuxtlas, Veracruz, México [Doctoral Dissertation] |
| Beltrán et al. | 2022 | Return of forest structure and diversity in tropical restoration plantings |
| Zagal-García et al. | 2022 | Photographic capture of medium-sized mammals in ecological restoration experimental plots in a cattle pasture landscape in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico |
Most of these studies can be found through GoogleScholar with the provided information but feel free to contact me if not.