The tool helps the user in identifying species that match their restoration objectives
The tool is developed with information on 237 socio-economically important native trees from the Western Ghats and the numbers and geographies will increase over time. Representative photo: iStock. Researchers have devised a tool that enables appropriate agroforestry and aids systematic ecosystem restoration.
Diversity for Restoration (D4R) tool, devised by Bioversity International, was later modified by another team of researchers to adapt it to the Indian context.
The team from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), with the help of Bioversity International, modified it to promote restoration programmes in India.
Also read: The science of planting (and nurturing) trees
The researchers have claimed the tool will help improve the effectiveness of restoration programmes by providing manifold benefits to interested stakeholders while promoting sustainable development.
“Non-profits, nature lovers and others working on plantations and increasing forest cover often face the challenges in identifying the tree species to plant and their ecological benefits,” Ravikanth, a senior fellow at ATREE, working on the programme, told Down To Earth.
On many occasions, they also struggle to understand which plant species would best suit their given geographic location, he said.
Ravikanth said the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration had gathered increased political and scientific attention to restoring land and ecosystems.
“However, many of these initiatives fail on the ground or are impacted due to the poor inter and intra specific diversity, species site mismatches and land tenurial uncertainties,” he said.
The online tool precisely aims to help better decision-making and bring the best outcome for those plantation programmes. It could improve socio-ecological perspectives and help stakeholders in decision-making, Ravikanth said.
“The tool helps the user in identifying species that match their restoration objectives,” he said. It further helps identify species that can resist local stresses and adapt to evolving environmental conditions. It also helps pinpoint areas and regions to procure the seeds for the required species.
The tool has information about 100 plant functional traits that have been considered to offer the best possible solution. Functional traits include information on economic and ecological uses from the tree species chosen for plantation.
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“We have incorporated habitat suitability modelling for species-specific suitable habitat predictions under present and future climate scenarios,” Ravikanth added.
“The tool informs the user whether the tree species offers timber, fruit, manure or other commercial benefits. It also informs if the tree is resilient to physiological stresses such as extreme high or low temperatures, salinity or acidity tolerance in the soil among others,” he said.
Ravikanth further said the tool could also identify windbreakers — the trees can act as a barrier against high winds. “The user can also know if the species offers better nitrogen fixing and whether it serves as a good pollinator for birds and bees.”
Milind Bunyan, another researcher and Fellow at ATREE involved in the project said the tool is developed with information on 237 socio-economically important native trees from the Western Ghats, and the numbers and geographies will increase over time.
The tool is already being used in countries such as Malaysia, Ethiopia, Columbia, Peru, Burkina Faso, Cameroon etc. It provides a score of a particular tree species for plantations. This score helps determine and decide how well the species match the given site conditions and restoration objectives, Bunyan said.
“The tool also provides varied recommendations that help in maximising the chances of restoration along with propagation information and monitoring suggestions,” he said.
Bunyan said the user could also access species-specific information related to its threat status, its benefits for the local communities and its ecological role, among other factors, making it a holistic tool crucial for socio-ecologically responsible restoration.
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