Effects of forest preservation, livestock exclusion, and use of shrubs as potential nurses on planting success of an endangered tree

Domestic livestock are widespread in seasonally dry forests, likely causing forest degradation and limiting tree seedling establishment. Shrubs can play an important role facilitating regeneration, by protecting trees from damage ameliorating unfavorable abiotic conditions. We aimed at disentangling the relative contribution of grazing exclusion, long-term conservation, potential facilitation effect shrubs on performance saplings native Kageneckia lanceolata. planted 400 grazed ungrazed areas situated both a preserved degraded forest. In each situation, we established planting plots three accompanying vegetation treatments: herbs, nonleguminous spiny shrub leguminous shrub. Survival 3-year-old was 10-fold higher than 2-fold site. Differences survival among treatments were much smaller between treatments. significantly increased with increasing protection only Sapling growth patterns fairly similar to patterns, no forest, except for limited under conclude that, selecting plantation sites study species, condition exclusion should be prioritized over microsite selection based neighboring vegetation.