2023 Kleinhans Fellow will support Polylepis forest restoration efforts in the Ecuadorian Andes

2023年克莱因汉斯研究员将支持厄瓜多尔安第斯山脉的Polylepis森林恢复工作

The Rainforest Alliance is excited to announce the 2023 Kleinhans Fellow, Alyssa Killingsworth. Alyssa is currently working toward her Master of Science degree from the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry. As Kleinhans Fellow, she will apply her background in interdisciplinary environmental research and forest restoration to examine the effectiveness of Polylepis restoration efforts in the upper Andes in Ecuador.

雨林联盟很高兴地宣布2023年Kleinhans研究员Alyssa Killingsworth。Alyssa目前正在攻读纽约州立大学环境科学与林业学院的理学硕士学位。作为Kleinhans研究员，她将运用她在跨学科环境研究和森林恢复方面的背景，研究厄瓜多尔安第斯山脉上游Polylepis恢复工作的有效性。

Polylepis is a slow-growing, endangered tree genus, comprising 26 species that grow above the tree line in the upper Andes and provide critical habitat for many endemic and endangered species. Deforestation has dramatically reduced Polylepis forest cover, causing habitat fragmentation and threatening biodiversity. Two non-profit organizations in the region, Acción Andina and Fundación Jocotoco, are working to restore Polylepis forests in collaboration with Community Forestry Enterprises (CFEs) and local Indigenous communities. However, these organizations have limited capacity to monitor their restoration efforts, hampering their ability to understand the effectiveness of these approaches.

Polylepis是一种生长缓慢的濒危树种，包括26个物种，生长在安第斯山脉上游的林木线以上，为许多特有和濒危物种提供了重要的栖息地。砍伐森林大大减少了多鳞属的森林覆盖，造成栖息地破碎，威胁到生物多样性。该地区的两个非营利组织，安迪纳行动和乔科托科基金会，正在与社区林业企业（CFEs）和当地土著社区合作，努力恢复多鳞属森林。然而，这些组织监测其恢复工作的能力有限，妨碍了它们了解这些方法的有效性。

For her Kleinhans Fellowship research, Alyssa will develop and implement a methodology for monitoring the health of restored Polylepis habitats, to aid in local restoration efforts. Over the course of two years, she will deploy automated recording units to passively monitor acoustics in primary Polylepis forests, restored forests, and the paramo (Andean tundra). Using acoustic data is a cost- and time-effective method to measure the presence and composition of wildlife, which is critical to understanding whether restored forests are providing suitable habitat for sensitive forest-dwelling species. Ultimately, this information will be used by local non-profits and CFEs to improve their restoration methods and make decisions about how to prioritize restoration projects to best enable key species to thrive.

对于她的Kleinhans奖学金研究，Alyssa将开发和实施一种方法来监测恢复Polylepis栖息地的健康状况，以帮助当地的恢复工作。在两年的时间里，她将部署自动记录装置，被动监测原始多鳞森林、恢复森林和帕拉莫（安第斯冻原）的声学。使用声学数据是一种具有成本效益和时间效益的方法，可用于测量野生动物的存在和组成，这对于了解恢复的森林是否为敏感的森林居住物种提供合适的栖息地至关重要。最终，这些信息将被当地的非营利组织和CFE用来改进他们的恢复方法，并决定如何优先考虑恢复项目，以最好地使关键物种茁壮成长。

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养鱼能帮助保护刚果盆地的雨林吗？

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一个原住民社区找到了一个新家，并恢复了一片风景。