Interspecific interactions are considered to be important structuring forces in early
successional vegetation. Whereas competition seems to prevail in less severe
environments, facilitation tends to increase in importance in harsh environments. Hence,
facilitation is expected to play an important role in degraded tropical areas with high
irradiance, heat loads, and evapotranspiration, where conditions are far from optimum for
most forest species. We planned a restoration project on the southeastern Brazilian coastal …