@article{timsina_hardy_woodbury_ashton_cook-patton_pasternack_martin_2022, title={Tropical surface gold mining: A review of ecological impacts and restoration strategies}, volume={8}, ISSN={["1099-145X"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4430}, DOI={10.1002/ldr.4430}, abstractNote={Surface gold mining severely degrades landscapes, causing deforestation, soil erosion and displacement, and toxic contamination. The prevalence of both large-scale and artisanal, small-scale surface gold mining in the tropics has risen over recent decades. Restoration strategies developed for less-severe forms of degradation may not sufficiently address the unique ecological conditions of former gold mines. In this review, we summarize biophysical challenges to the restoration and reforestation of large- and small-scale gold mines in the tropics and synthesize the findings of studies that test restoration strategies at these sites. Certain practices, such as the backfilling of mined pits, topsoil conservation, and the preservation of local seed sources, emerge from the literature as crucial for the timely and effective restoration of gold mines. However, because the severity of ecological degradation varies greatly within and between individual mines, and given the relatively small number (n = 42) of published tropical field studies found in our literature review, we highlight a clear need for continued research and development of restoration strategies specific to ecological conditions of former gold mines in the tropics.}, journal={LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT}, author={Timsina, Shrabya and Hardy, Nora G. and Woodbury, David J. and Ashton, Mark S. and Cook-Patton, Susan C. and Pasternack, Rachel and Martin, Meredith P.}, year={2022}, month={Aug} }
 @article{perez-alavez_rodriguez-ortiz_santiago-garcia_virginia campos-angeles_raymundo enriquez-del valle_martin_2021, title={Effect of Thinning Intensity on Litterfall Biomass and Nutrient Deposition in a Naturally Regenerated Pinus Pseudostrobus Lind. Forest in Oaxaca, Mexico}, volume={7}, ISSN={["1540-756X"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2021.1946410}, DOI={10.1080/10549811.2021.1946410}, abstractNote={Litterfall is an important component of forest biomass and nutrient cycling, and can have key impacts on soil fertility through its decomposition. However, the effect of forest management on litterfall remains unclear. We evaluate the impact of thinning intensity on the biomass and nutrient content (C and N) of litterfall in Pinus pseudostrobus forest in Oaxaca, México, across two thinning intensities in areas with either high or low residual basal area and across seasons. There was significantly higher litter carbon content in the least intensive thinning treatment, but no significant differences in biomass or nitrogen content between treatments. However, there was a significant correlation between residual basal area and litter biomass at the p < .1 level. We found a clear seasonal pattern in litterfall fluxes, with 1.5 times more litter deposition in autumn’s dry season compared to spring. We find that the thinned stand of P. pseudostrobus generated an annual mean litter biomass of 1059.27 ± 346.04 kg ha−1 with mean carbon content of 125.31 ± 46.43 kg ha−1 and mean nitrogen content of 4.76 ± 1.43 kg ha−1. These values present an important contribution for modeling of biomass and nutrient cycling in this ecologically and economically important forest type.}, journal={JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY}, author={Perez-Alavez, Yazmin and Rodriguez-Ortiz, Gerardo and Santiago-Garcia, Wenceslao and Virginia Campos-Angeles, Gisela and Raymundo Enriquez-del Valle, Jose and Martin, Meredith P.}, year={2021}, month={Jul} }
 @article{martin_woodbury_doroski_nagele_storace_cook-patton_pasternack_ashton_2021, title={People plant trees for utility more often than for biodiversity or carbon}, volume={261}, ISSN={["1873-2917"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109224}, DOI={10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109224}, abstractNote={Tree planting is both a promising and controversial solution to climate change and biodiversity loss. However, this controversy is largely theoretical because we lack detailed information of how tree planting is proceeding on-the-ground. Here, we compiled a pantropical dataset of 174 tree planting organizations to determine the type of organizations involved in tree planting, their geographic locations and tree planting approaches. We found that the number of organizations have increased by 288% in the past 30 years, especially for-profit organizations. These organizations reported planting nearly 1.4 billion trees across 74 countries since 1961. Most frequently organizations reported establishing agroforestry systems or mixed species and single species plantations or using assisted natural regeneration, suggesting that tree planting programs are designed to support local communities as well as environmental objectives. Moreover, the most frequently reported species were commercial or utilitarian, with the top five including cacao, teak, moringa, mango and coffee. Finally, despite widespread efforts to plant more trees, there was a pronounced lack of monitoring on websites and in reports; only 18% of organizations mention monitoring at all, and only 5% mention measuring survival rate of plantings. Greater transparency and greater communication are needed between planting organizations and researchers to apply the most effective ways to restore forest cover. Further, while organizations often aimed to counter environmental problems, the use of the same sets of commercially useful species to meet economic development goals across the global indicates a need for greater coordination among organizations to avoid biotic homogenization.}, journal={BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Martin, Meredith P. and Woodbury, David J. and Doroski, Danica A. and Nagele, Eliot and Storace, Michael and Cook-Patton, Susan C. and Pasternack, Rachel and Ashton, Mark S.}, year={2021}, month={Sep} }
 @article{martin_woodbury_glogower_duguid_frey_ashton_2021, title={Within-gap position shapes fifty years of forest dynamics in a temperate hardwood forest in Connecticut, USA}, volume={494}, ISSN={["1872-7042"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119311}, abstractNote={Predictions of forest succession have a tremendous influence on forest management decisions, strategies, and policies. Although generalized forest succession models are intensively studied, there is a distinct lack of long-term studies confirming these models due to the logistical constraints of tracking a forest as it develops over decades or centuries. Here we use a long-term dataset spanning >50 years of third-growth forest development in experimental forest gaps within a second-growth northern temperate hardwood forest to examine the influence of gap position on the structure and composition of regeneration and confirm past models of forest succession. We document key stand development patterns in even-aged mixed-species stands, including vertical stratification and shifts in diameter distributions. While the stands have shifted into a classic inverse-J diameter distribution, these shifts are due to a combination of unimodal distributions of the shade-intolerant and intermediate guilds that grow in mean diameter over time with consistently high densities of small individuals from the shade-tolerant guild. The greatest vertical stratification between the shade-intolerant and intermediate guilds occurred 30 years after clearing but then disappeared as the intermediate guild increased in height. In contrast, the separation in strata between the shade-tolerant species and the more intolerant guilds only increased over time. Finally, we found that gap position had a significant effect on productivity. The basal area, height, and species richness (in this case, an indicator of canopy stratification) were best modeled with negative quadratic regressions with highest values in gap centers and lower values towards the edges of gaps. This pattern aligns more with expected moisture and nutrient availability within gaps than expected solar radiation in the northern hemisphere, suggesting that moisture and nutrient availability may play a greater role than is often acknowledged in temperate forest types. Furthermore, these relationships were readily apparent only after 30 years yet became more accentuated with time, highlighting the importance of long-term research on successional dynamics for management. Ultimately our results document a clear successional trajectory in these gaps that follow expectations for even-aged mixed-species stand development where a full suite of species leads to rolling periods of dominance based on species functional guilds, with early successional species replaced by late-successional species in the progression of succession.}, journal={FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT}, author={Martin, Meredith and Woodbury, David and Glogower, Yoni and Duguid, Marlyse and Frey, Brent and Ashton, Mark}, year={2021}, month={Aug} }
 @article{martin_geiger_singhakumara_ashton_2019, title={Quantitatively characterizing the floristics and structure of a traditional homegarden in a village landscape, Sri Lanka}, volume={93}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85047981766&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1007/s10457-018-0254-2}, number={4}, journal={Agroforestry Systems}, author={Martin, M. and Geiger, K. and Singhakumara, B.M.P. and Ashton, M.S.}, year={2019}, pages={1439–1454} }
 @article{martin_simmons_ashton_2016, title={Survival is not enough: The effects of microclimate on the growth and health of three common urban tree species in San Francisco, California}, volume={19}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84978240366&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1016/j.ufug.2016.06.004}, abstractNote={Urban forest managers must balance social, economic, and ecological goals through tree species selection and planting location. Ornamental trees are often popular in tree planting programs for their aesthetic benefits, but studies find that they have lower survivability and growth compared to larger shade trees. To maximize ecosystem services within these aesthetic preferences, it is important to select species carefully based on their ability to grow in each particular climate. However, little locality-specific and species-specific data exist on urban trees in many regions. This study examines the growth, survival, and vigor of three common ornamental street trees in San Francisco’s three different microclimate zones after over 16 years since planting. While we found over 70% survival for all three species throughout the city, there were significant differences in health and vigor among microclimates for each species, likely due to differences in drought-tolerance. While Arbutus had the greatest proportion of healthy trees in the Fog Belt and Sun Belt zones, Prunus cerasifera had the greatest proportion in the Sun Belt, and Prunus serrulata had the greatest proportions in the Transition and the Sun Belt zones. This species-specific and climate-specific information will better equip urban foresters to target both planting and tree-care of these popular species appropriately to maximize the benefits provided by these street trees while still maintaining a diverse canopy. Finally, we argue that simple survival calculations can mask more complex differences in the health and ability of different urban tree species to provide ecosystem services.}, journal={Urban Forestry and Urban Greening}, author={Martin, M.P. and Simmons, C. and Ashton, M.S.}, year={2016}, pages={1–6} }
 @article{naro-maciel_reid_alter_amato_bjorndal_bolten_martin_nairn_shamblin_pineda-catalan_2014, title={From refugia to rookeries: Phylogeography of Atlantic green turtles}, volume={461}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84907495011&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1016/j.jembe.2014.08.020}, abstractNote={Investigating species' distribution and abundance over time is central to evolutionary biology, and provides important context for conservation and management. With respect to population genetic structure in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), certain processes such as female philopatry to natal rookeries are well understood, while others, such as male philopatry and historical changes in distribution and abundance, remain relatively understudied. Further, although inferences from mitochondrial DNA and nuclear microsatellites have both been critical in identifying management units, comparisons of these units based on both markers are still rare. Here we analyzed novel data from fifteen microsatellite markers gathered at six green turtle rookeries in the western Atlantic as well as previously published mitochondrial sequences from 13 regional rookeries. We detected low, but significant, population structure at microsatellite loci, which coincides with previous delineations of local and regional management units as well as reports of male philopatry. However, we also detected a discord between nuclear and mitochondrial data, in which two tropical rookeries (Aves Island, Venezuela; and Matapica, Surinam) clustered with the Caribbean and Mediterranean based on microsatellite data, but displayed a mitochondrial lineage characteristic of the southern Atlantic and Africa. To investigate the possible causes of this discord, we used both classical and Bayesian methods to estimate historical migration rates and the timing and magnitude of changes in population size. We detected a strong barrier to dispersal between the northern and southern Atlantic, as well as an expansion in the southern mitochondrial lineage during the Wisconsin glacial period and a later expansion in the northern lineage following the Last Glacial Maximum. We propose that the Aves and Surinam rookeries were colonized by females from a southern glacial refugium, after which they experienced male-biased gene flow from the Caribbean. This study highlights the utility of incorporating data from multiple types of molecular markers in accurately identifying conservation units and in elucidating the complex historical and contemporary processes underlying population genetic structure in marine species.}, journal={Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology}, author={Naro-Maciel, E. and Reid, B.N. and Alter, S.E. and Amato, G. and Bjorndal, K.A. and Bolten, A.B. and Martin, M. and Nairn, C.J. and Shamblin, B. and Pineda-Catalan, O.}, year={2014}, pages={306–316} }
 @article{martin_peters_ashton_2014, title={Revisiting Camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia): Twenty-seven Years of Fruit Collection and Flooding at an Oxbow Lake in Peruvian Amazonia,Revisitando camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia): Veinte y siete años de la recolección de frutos y la inundación en una cocha en la Amazonía peruana}, volume={68}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84940341045&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1007/s12231-014-9269-4}, number={2}, journal={Economic Botany}, author={Martin, M.P. and Peters, C.M. and Ashton, M.S.}, year={2014}, pages={169–176} }
 @article{the interplay of homing and dispersal in green turtles: a focus on the southwestern atlantic_2012, volume={103}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84870498291&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1093/jhered/ess068}, abstractNote={Current understanding of spatial ecology is insufficient in many threatened marine species, failing to provide a solid basis for conservation and management. To address this issue for globally endangered green turtles, we investigated their population distribution by sequencing a mitochondrial control region segment from the Rocas Atoll courtship area (n = 30 males) and four feeding grounds (FGs) in Brazil (n = 397), and compared our findings to published data (nnesting = 1205; nfeeding = 1587). At Rocas Atoll, the first Atlantic courtship area sequenced to date, we found males were differentiated from local juveniles but not from nesting females. In combination with tag data, this indicates possible male philopatry. The most common haplotypes detected at the study sites were CMA-08 and CMA-05, and significant temporal variation was not revealed. Although feeding grounds were differentiated overall, intra-regional structure was less pronounced. Ascension was the primary natal source of the study FGs, with Surinam and Trindade as secondary sources. The study clarified the primary connectivity between Trindade and Brazil. Possible linkages to African populations were considered, but there was insufficient resolution to conclusively determine this connection. The distribution of FG haplotype lineages was nonrandom and indicative of regional clustering. The study investigated impacts of population size, geographic distance, ocean currents, and juvenile natal homing on connectivity, addressed calls for increased genetic sampling in the southwestern Atlantic, and provided data important for conservation of globally endangered green turtles.}, number={6}, journal={Journal of Heredity}, year={2012}, pages={792–805} }
 @article{martin_peters_palmer_illsley_2011, title={Effect of habitat and grazing on the regeneration of wild Agave cupreata in Guerrero, Mexico}, volume={262}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-80051814107&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1016/j.foreco.2011.06.045}, abstractNote={Abstract Agave cupreata is harvested from tropical dry forests, oak forests, and other habitats by rural communities in the Chilapa region of Guerrero, Mexico to make mescal, a traditional and culturally important liquor. Local management systems use various techniques to regulate Agave harvest and encourage regeneration, including the exclusion of cattle. This study examines the impacts of cattle exclusion and of the different habitat types on the population structure and density of A. cupreata. Sampling was conducted in pastures, oak forest, tropical dry forest, and mixed oak-tropical dry forest using 54 transects of 1000 m2, where Agave was counted by size-class and measurements were taken of the vegetation and physical environment. Transects were divided between areas with cattle present and cattle excluded in all four habitats except for oak forest, where all areas were open to cattle. Agave density per 1000 m2 was highest in pasture (148 ± 5, mean ± SE), followed by oak forest (100 ± 4), tropical dry forest (88 ± 5) and mixed oak-dry forest (81 ± 2). The size-class structures of Agave populations were also significantly different between vegetation types, with oak forest supporting higher seedling densities but lower numbers of juveniles. A regression subset selection algorithm showed that one of the most important factors influencing Agave populations was the presence of cattle, which can reduce densities by trampling and grazing on seedlings and floral stalks. Cattle presence significantly lowered Agave densities in the smaller size classes in all vegetation types but did not significantly alter size-class structure. Total Agave density per 1000 m2 was significantly higher in transects where cattle were absent (148 ± 4) than where cattle were present (81 ± 1). In all areas sampled, the high number of juveniles relative to other size-classes suggests that Agave populations are successfully regenerating in the Chilapa region, and the higher Agave densities in fenced areas suggest that local management techniques are effectively increasing Agave yields. These results highlight the potential for sustainable management of Agave to conserve forest habitats while also providing important income from mescal to local communities in the region.}, number={8}, journal={Forest Ecology and Management}, author={Martin, M.P. and Peters, C.M. and Palmer, M.I. and Illsley, C.}, year={2011}, pages={1443–1451} }
 @article{naro-maciel_reid_holmes_brumbaugh_martin_desalle_2011, title={Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in spiny lobsters: Population expansion, panmixia, and divergence}, volume={158}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-80051968194&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1007/s00227-011-1710-y}, number={9}, journal={Marine Biology}, author={Naro-Maciel, E. and Reid, B. and Holmes, K.E. and Brumbaugh, D.R. and Martin, M. and DeSalle, R.}, year={2011}, pages={2027–2041} }