Rebecca Cole Home  Directory Rebecca Cole
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Research Focus: My dissertation research investigated both ecological and socio-economic barriers to tropical forest recovery in an agricultural landscape. The ecology components of my dissertation focus on seed dispersal, seed predation, and seed germination - three processes critical to forest regeneration. The socio-economic component of my research evaluated how the emerging market for Payments for Environmental Services (PES) acts as an incentive for reforestation on farms and private lands. Specifically, the first aspect of my research tested the importance of local and landscape-scale factors to forest recovery by comparing how different restoration planting designs, as well as spatial characteristics of the surrounding landscape, influence the dispersal of forest seeds. The results of this study show that a lack of seed dispersal, particularly of larger-seeded tree species, is a major barrier to forest recovery and suggests that local factors are important drives of patterns of seed dispersal. The second aspect examined how habitat fragmentation and degradation affect seed predation and seed caching by mammals. The results of this study show that scatterhoarding (seed catching in small depots) by mammals is a key step in the dispersal of some tree species. This dispersal mechanism has been disrupted in degraded forest fragments and successional habitats with potential consequences for the persistence of tree species adapted for secondary dispersal by mammals. The third aspect tested direct seeding of native tree species into different stages of forest succession as a restoration strategy. High seedling survival and growth rates in young successional forests suggests that direct seeding may be an effective and low-cost approach to accelerate succession in these habitats. Finally, I examined the effects of Payments for Environmental Services on the adoption of agroforestry practices and farmer livelihoods in Costa Rica. This research suggests that whereas PES significantly increased reforestation practice and overcame initial economic and technical obstacles, investment in short/medium-term support is likely to be necessary for retention of these practices beyond the life of the PES contracts. |
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