Structure and dynamics of a logged over Brazilian Amazonian rain forest

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Growth and yield of a tropical rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon 13 years after logging

Successive inventories of a silvicultural experiment in terra firme rain forest within the Tapajós National Forest in the Brazilian Amazon are examined to provide guidelines for operational forest management on a sustainable basis. The experiment was logged in 1979 without additional silvicultural treatment, but included protection from further logging and encroachment (`log and leave'). Thirty six permanent plots established in 1981 were remeasured in 1987 and 1992. Logging changed the canopy structure and altered the composition of the stand, reducing the number of shade tolerant species and stimulating light demanding species. There was a net increase in stem number and stand basal area during the 11 year observation period, and this trend also holds for most of the individual species. The stand basal area 13 years after logging was about 75% of that in a comparable unlogged forest. Logging stimulated growth, but this effect was short lived, lasting only about 3 years, and current growth rates are similar to those in the unlogged forest. Between the first and second remeasures, average diameter increment decreased from 0.4 to 0.2 cm year-1, mortality remained relatively constant at 2.5% year-1, while recruitment (at 5 cm diameter at breast height) decreased from 5 to 2%. Total volume production declined from approximately 6 to 4 m3 ha-1 year-1, while commercial production remained about 0.8 m3 ha-1 year-1. New commercial species increased the commercial volume in 1992 from 18 to 54 m3 ha-1, and the increment to 1.8 m3 ha-1 year-1. Results from this experiment provide the first quantitative information for management planning in the Tapajós Forest, and may guide the choice of cutting cycle and annual allowable cut. Silvicultural treatment to stimulate growth rates in forest areas zoned for timber production should be considered as a viable management option. Extrapolations of these results to an anticipated 30-35 year cutting cycle must be interpreted with caution. Ongoing remeasurement and analysis of these and other plots over the next 30 years or more are necessary to provide a stronger basis for management inferences

Disturbance intensity is a stronger driver of biomass recovery than remaining tree-community attributes in a managed Amazonian forest

Forest recovery following management interventions is important to maintain ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. It remains, however, largely unclear how above‐ground biomass (AGB) recovery of species‐rich tropical forests is affected by disturbance intensity and post‐disturbance (remaining) tree‐community attributes, following logging and thinning interventions. We investigated whether annual AGB increment (∆AGB) decreases with management‐related disturbance intensity (disturbance hypothesis), and increases with the diversity (niche‐complementarity hypothesis) and the community‐weighted mean (CWM) of acquisitive traits of dominant species (biomass‐ratio hypothesis) in the remaining tree community. We analysed data from a long‐term forest‐management experiment in the Brazilian Amazon over two recovery periods: post‐logging (1983–1989) and post‐thinning (1995–2012). We computed the ∆AGB of surviving trees, recruit trees and of the total tree community. Disturbance intensity was quantified as basal area reduction and basal area remaining. Remaining diversity (taxonomic, functional and structural) and CWM of five functional traits linked to biomass productivity (specific leaf area, leaf nitrogen and phosphorous concentration, leaf toughness and wood density) were calculated for the post‐intervention inventories. Predictors were related to response variables using multiple linear regressions and structural equation modelling. We found support for the disturbance hypothesis in both recovery periods. AGB increment of survivors and of the total tree community increased with basal area remaining, indicating the importance of remaining growing stock for biomass recovery. Conversely, AGB increment of recruit trees increased with basal area reduction because changes in forest structure increased resource availability for young trees. We did not find consistent support for the niche‐complementarity and biomass‐ratio hypotheses, possibly because of a high redundancy in these extremely species‐rich forests. Synthesis and applications. The intensity of disturbance through management, expressed as basal area reduction and basal area remaining, was consistently more important for explaining forest biomass recovery following harvesting and thinning than remaining diversity or trait composition. This points to the importance of controlling logging and thinning intensity in forests of the eastern Amazon. Given the high intervention intensities applied in this experiment, it is likely that low to moderate harvesting intensities permitted by the current legislation for the Brazilian Amazon (30 m³/ha) will not impair biomass recovery in these forests

Efeito de diferentes tamanhos de clareiras, sobre o crescimento e a mortalidade de espécies arbóreas, em Moju-PA Effect of diferente gap sizes on the growth and mortality of arboreal species, in Moju-PA

Crescimento e mortalidade de Sterculia pruriens, Vouacapoua americana, Jacaranda copaia, Protium paraensis, Newtonia suaveolens e Tabebuia serratifolia, considerando diferentes tamanhos de clareiras, foram avaliados em Moju PA(2º07'30" e 2º12'06" de latitude Sul e 48º46'57" e 48º48'30" de longitude a Oeste de Greenwitch). Selecionou-se nove clareiras da exploração florestal, que foram agrupadas em pequenas (200m²<Área<400m2­), médias(400m²<Área<600m²) e grandes (>600m²). Em seu torno instalou-se parcelas quadradas de cinco metros de lado, nas direções Norte, Sul, Leste e Oeste, onde foram plantados indivíduos da regeneração natural de espécies arbóreas. No centro de cada clareira foi instalada uma parcela de 5m X 5m como comparador. A média da mortalidade total foi de 46,9%, não havendo diferenças entre as clareiras pequenas(41,05%) e médias(43,86%), mas estas diferiram das grandes(54,96%). As clareiras pequenas são mais propícias para a maioria das espécies, exceto para J. copaia e N. suaveolens, cujas mortalidades foram menores nas clareiras médias. A mortalidade variou de 14,5%(S. pruriens) nas clareiras pequenas a 70,1%(V. americana) em clareiras grandes, sendo que S. pruriens mostrou menor mortalidade em todos os tamanhos de clareiras. As espécies morreram mais em clareiras grandes. A mortalidade está entre os valores encontrados na literatura, permitindo concluir que não se pode classificar com precisão as espécies em grupos ecológicos somente com base na mortalidade ou sobrevivência. Em termos de crescimento, os resultados indicam que os melhores sítios para desenvolvimento das espécies são as clareiras médias, seguidos pelas clareiras grandes e pequenas. Em termos gerais, a média de crescimento em altura foi de 11,34cm e de 0,11cm em diâmetro de base, com valores maiores para J. copaia. Somente V. americana e P. paraenses não apresentaram diferenças significativas no crescimento em altura em relação aos diferentes tamanhos de clareiras. Os valores de crescimento e mortalidade das espécies apresentaram variações em relação aos diferentes tamanhos de clareiras. J. copaia e N. suaveolens apresentaram melhor desempenho, tanto em termos de mortalidade como de crescimento em altura e diâmetro de base nas clareiras médias, todavia essa mortalidade foi elevada em comparação com S. pruriens.<br>Growth and mortality of Sterculia pruriens, Vouacapoua americana, Jacaranda copaia, Protium paraensis, Newtonia suaveolens and Tabebuia serratifolia regarding different gap sizes, had been evaluated in Moju Pará Brazil(2º07'30"S and 2º12'06"S and longitude 48º46'57"W and 48º48'30"W). Nine gaps from forest harvesting had been selected and grouped in small gaps(200m²<Área<400m²), medium-sized gaps(400m²<Área<600m²) and large gaps(Área>600m²). Around the gaps square plots 5m side had been installed, starting in the gap border to forest inside, according to North, South, East and West directions. In these plots seedlings from natural regeneration of tree species were planted. In the each gap center was installed a square plot of 5m side as testimony, where the plantation was repeated. The total mortality average was 46.9%, not showing significant differences between the small gaps (41,05%) and medium-sized gaps (43,86%) but these had differed from the large gaps (54,96%). The small gaps environment was most favorable for the establishment of most species, except for J.copaia and N. suaveolens whose mortalities had been lesser in the medium-sized gaps, even so has not had significant differences in mortality between the different gap sizes. Mortality varied from 14,5%(S. pruriens) in the small gaps to 70,1%(V. americana) in large gaps, but S. pruriens showed lesser mortality in all sizes of gap. All species had shown greater mortality in large gaps, with remark for V. americana (70,1%), J. copaia (69,1%) and N. suaveolens (58,7%). The mortality are between those finding in literature and for its variability they allow to conclude that if it cannot classify accurately the species in ecological groups only on mortality or survival basis. In terms of growth, however, the results are more conclusive, with evident indication of the medium-sized gaps as the best sites for development of the species, with average height growth of 15cm and base diameter growth 0,16cm, followed for the large gaps and for small ones. In general terms, the height growth average was 11,34cm and the base diameter ones was 0,11cm, with maximum values of 32,5cm (height) and 0,24cm (diameter of base) for J. copaia. P. paraensis and V. americana only had not presented significant differences in height growth regarding to different gap sizes, but the values had been a little bigger in the medium-sized gaps. The species growth and mortality, in two years of monitoring, had presented variations in relation to the different gap sizes. J. copaia and N. suaveolens had presented performance better, as much in terms of mortality as of growth in height and diameter of base in the medium-sized gaps, however this mortality was high in comparison with S. pruriens. It must, therefore, be care when taking silvicultural decisions like as thinning, because it was verified differences even though between species considered of the same ecological group