Harvesting intensity affects forest structure and composition in an upland Amazonian forest

Forest structure and floristic composition were studied in a series of 0.5 ha natural forest plots at four sites near Porto Trombetas in Pará State, Brazil, 11–12 years after being subjected to differing levels of above-ground biomass harvest and removal. In addition to undisturbed control plots, ex...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inForest ecology and management Vol. 169; no. 3; pp. 243 - 255
Main Authors Parrotta, John A, Francis, John K, Knowles, Oliver H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2002
Elsevier
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Loading…
More Information
Summary:Forest structure and floristic composition were studied in a series of 0.5 ha natural forest plots at four sites near Porto Trombetas in Pará State, Brazil, 11–12 years after being subjected to differing levels of above-ground biomass harvest and removal. In addition to undisturbed control plots, experimental treatments included: removal of most trees ≥45 cm DBH (low intensity harvest); removal of trees <20 and ≥60 cm DBH (moderate intensity harvest); clear-cutting (100% above-ground biomass removal). Post-harvest basal area growth generally increased with harvest intensity, and total basal areas for trees ≥5 cm DBH were, at the time of our study, 60% (in the clear-cut) to about 80% of those in the control plots. Biomass harvests stimulated recruitment and growth of residual trees, particularly in the smaller diameter classes, but had little effect on species richness for small trees, seedlings, vine, herbs, and grasses. Species richness for trees ≥15 cm DBH was greater in the control and low-intensity (74–75 species) than in the moderate intensity (47 species) and clear-cut (26 species) treatment plots. While the tree flora within all harvest treatments was broadly similar to the undisturbed (control) plots and included similar numbers of species of the major plant families typical of the surrounding forests, the more intensive harvest treatments, especially the clear-cut, were dominated by a higher proportion of short-lived, early successional tree species.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0378-1127
1872-7042
DOI:10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00758-7