(This section serves as a blog of sorts for our group update. We also run a namesake WeChat channel where we share our updates in Mandarin: ConservationEE [WeChat ID: gh_8b7cd3d60075] – please find us there also!)
September 30, 2023
Fangyuan gave the last of the plenary talks at the SER2023 10th World Conference on Ecological Restoration, held in Darwin, Australia between September 27th–30th, 2023. The talk was titled "Scaling up forest restoration: achieving the full potential of biodiversity gains". PDF of the presentation can be accessed here, and full video of the talk is expected to be uploaded to YouTube soon.
September 30, 2023
Demeng's paper came online in Forest Ecology and Management. It is titled: "Advantages and limitations of tree mixtures in enhancing avian diversity in commercial timber plantations: Early insights from southern China".
As part of Demeng's postdoc research in China's Guangxi Province – the most important wood-production region of the country – this study critically assessed the extent to which the diversification of monoculture plantations under active production can bring biodiversity benefits. The finding was not a particularly encouraging one: we found that while diversifying fast-growing Eucalyptus monocultures with the tree mixture of slow-growing native species did increase avian diversity in the monocultures, the increase was a very modest one. The limited biodiversity benefit of plantation diversification calls for caution in relying on this method to reduce the negative biodiversity impacts of plantations, considering the likely associated yield penalty that may necessitate an even larger land-use footprint in meeting production needs. Please click here for the Mandarin version of the paper's press release.