Effectiveness in the tropical forest restoration: how the differential performance of species and ecological context affect the establishment and occupation

Restoring tropical forests is essential to address global climate change, to maintain and conserve diversity and ecosystem services. The establishment and occupation of three forest restoration strategies (Total Seedling Planting (PAT), Diversity Islands (ID) and Direct Seeding (SD)) of the forest vegetation associated with watercourses was analyzed. It were evaluated: the number of individuals, resprouting intensity, aboveground biomass, canopy area, average diameter and height, per individual, in 58 sample units (10 x 30 m) distributed among the strategies after 2.5 years of implantation. It was also evaluated the main species and their similarities between the strategies. The SD provided more effective as the number of individuals, biomass and treetop area, while the intensity of resprouting was higher in ID and there were no differences in mean height and diameter. Each strategy presented a particular set of most successful species and the most similar were those that used seedlings (PAT and ID). The highlight of the SD strategy is magnified when considering ecological perspectives, and social costs involved. The species contributed to the differentiation of strategies, because they provide distinct ecological functions that influence ecological processes at the community level and individuals.