Although important for biological conservation and provisioning of several ecosystem services, tropical forest–grassland mosaics face several threats, one of which is woody invasion in grasslands of these mosaics—an issue proving to be challenging to solve. We present a framework to guide grassland restoration in these mosaics that takes into account their unique ecology, outlines a general chronological sequence of restoration activities, and helps identify research priorities to guide restoration efforts. Specifically, we outline approaches to (1) increase the cost-effectiveness of restoration programs (e.g. selecting restoration targets and priority sites); (2) restore edaphic processes impacted by woody invasion; (3) maximize the establishment of native grass and forb species, and (4) maintain restored communities in the long-term by minimizing re-invasions. We apply this framework to montane southern Indian forest-grassland mosaics (locally called shola-grassland mosaics) invaded by nitrogen-fixing woody exotics to identify research priorities that can act as “game-changers” in the restoration of these ecosystems. These include (1) identifying invaded areas where passive restoration can be effective, (2) understanding the role of endogenous disturbances, particularly fire, in the spread and management of invasive species and the prevention of re-invasion, and (3) assessing the role of large-scale seed farming and emerging seed technologies for the use of seeds to effectively re-introduce native grassland species. Restoration frameworks that take into account unique ecologies are needed to make the most of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and we present such a framework for forest-grassland mosaics—an important ecosystem that is generally neglected.

中文翻译：

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恢复被木质外来入侵的热带森林-草原马赛克

尽管对于生物保护和提供多种生态系统服务很重要，但热带森林 - 草原镶嵌物面临着多种威胁，其中之一是这些镶嵌物在草原上的木本入侵——事实证明，这个问题难以解决。我们提出了一个框架来指导这些马赛克中的草原恢复，该框架考虑到它们独特的生态，概述了恢复活动的一般时间顺序，并帮助确定研究优先事项以指导恢复工作。具体而言，我们概述了以下方法：(1) 提高恢复计划的成本效益（例如选择恢复目标和优先地点）；(2) 恢复受木本入侵影响的土壤过程；(3) 最大限度地建立本地草种和杂种，(4) 通过最大限度地减少再次入侵，长期维护恢复的社区。我们将此框架应用于被固氮木本外来植物入侵的印度南部山地森林-草原马赛克（当地称为 shola-grassland 马赛克），以确定在恢复这些生态系统时可以作为“游戏规则改变者”的研究重点。这些包括 (1) 确定被动恢复可以有效的入侵区域，(2) 了解内源性干扰，尤其是火灾，在入侵物种的传播和管理以及防止再次入侵中的作用，以及 (3) 评估大规模种子养殖和新兴种子技术在使用种子有效地重新引入本地草原物种方面的作用。