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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Of early secondary species in older areas, providing shade and contributing to organic matter (Mesquita et al., 2001). Both could be key species in facilitating forest succession in recently abandoned mining lands. G. crinita, S. parahyba, and C. spruceanum, pioneer species co-dominating the oldest areas, could also be considered as potential species to be used in restoration strategies, as they have timber value (Reynel et al., 2003). Tree plantations using timber species have been recognized as a cost-effective alternative to convince landowners to recover or catalyze successional processes in degraded lands (Lamb et al., 2005; Rodrigues et al., 2009). I. thibaudiana, a non-pioneer species found in abandoned 5-year-old plots (Supplementary Figure 3A), commonly grows under broad environmental conditions (Schierenbeck et al., 1997), and similar to other Inga spp., it recovers and enriches soils through nitrogen fixation (do Vale et al., 2014; UICN, 2019).ConclusionAfter gold mining in Madre de Dios, forests regenerating demonstrated a high potential for biomass recovery throughout the regeneration process and a high conservation value in degraded landscapes. Stimulating their natural regeneration and testing some restoration strategies (e.g., soil reclamation, species enrichment) to accelerate forest recovery in such areas are fundamental to complement the biodiversity conservation provided by surrounding reference forests.Data Availability StatementThe datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Author ContributionsRC-L, DOR, FF, JPV, PZP JM-P, and DR conceived the research idea. RC-L, JPV, and PZP collected data. RC-L, DOR, and DR performed statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript, with contributions from FF, JPV, PZP, and JM-P. JM-P and PZP made the determination of successional status of all plant species of the areas. All authors discussed the results, commented, and approved the manuscript.FundingFunding for the field work was provided by the Madre de Dios Consortium-USAID and IIAP (Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana).Conflict of InterestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.AcknowledgmentsWe gratefully acknowledge Laura Cutire, Laura Ramirez, Javier F. Valles, and Erika Sajami for the field work. We also thank the staff of Alwyn Gentry Herbarium of Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios and of San Marcos Herbarium of Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos for their technical support in the taxonomic identification. We also thank FONDECYT-CONCYTEC (Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica, Perú, award #239-2018) for the fellowship grant to RC-L; CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior do Governo do Brasil, Finance Code 001 and #88882.305844/2018-01), FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, grant #2012/24118-8), and The Royal Society for the fellowship granted to
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