GROWTH AND YIELD OF A TROPICAL RAIN FOREST IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON 13 YEARS AFTER LOGGING.pdf

Forest Ecology and Management 71 (1995) 267-274 1 GROWTH AND YIELD OF A TROPICAL RAIN FOREST IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON 13 YEARS AFTER LOGGING J.N.M. Silva*,a, J.O.P. de Carvalhoa, J. do C.A. Lopesa, B.F. de Almeidaa, D.H.M. Costaa, L.C. de Oliveirab, J.K. Vanclayc, J.P. Skovsgaardd a EMBRAPA - Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária da Amaz?nia Oriental, P.O. Box 48, 66.095-100 Belém-Pará, Brazil b FCAP - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias do Pará, Av. Perimetral s/no, 66.095-100 Belém-Pará, Brazil c Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark d Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark ABSTRACT 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. Forest Ecology and Management 71 (1995) 267-274 2 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 nett 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 yr-1, mortality remained relatively constant at 2.5% per year, while recruitment (at