Recovery of plant species richness and composition after slash-and-burn agriculture in a tropical rainforest in Madagascar

Slash-and-burn agriculture is an important driver of deforestation and ecosystem degradation, with large effects on biodiversity and carbon sequestration. This study was conducted in a forest in Madagascar, which consists of fragments of slash-and-burn patches, within a matrix of secondary and primary forest. By recording species richness, abundance, and composition of trees, shrubs, and herbs in fallows of various age and slash-and-burn history, and in the secondary and primary forest, we show how slash-and-burn intensity (number of cycles, duration of abandonment), years since last abandonment, and environmental factors (distance to primary forest and topography) affect the natural succession and recovery of the forest ecosystem. We used ordination analyses to examine how the species composition varied between the different successions stages, and to examine tree recruitment. Our results show shrub dominance the first years after abandonment. Thereafter, a subsequent increase in species richness and abundance of tree seedlings and saplings suggests a succession towards the diversity and composition of the secondary and primary forest, although a big gap between the oldest fallows and the secondary forest shows that this will take much more than 30 years. A high number and frequency of slash-and-burn cycles decreased tree seedling and sapling richness and abundance, suggesting that reducing slash-and-burn intensity will increase the speed of tree recruitment and fallow recovery. Trees can be planted into fallows to speed up vegetation and soil recovery, such that fallows can be usable within needed time and thus the extension of cultivated areas reduced. We recommend further testing of six potential species for restoration based on their early colonization of the fallows and their survival through vegetation succession.