Long-Term Impacts of Fuelwood Extraction on a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest

• Published in: Ecosystems (New York) Vol. 11; no. 6; pp. 868 - 881
• Main Authors: Rüger, Nadja, Williams-Linera, Guadalupe, Kissling, W. Daniel, Huth, Andreas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York New York : Springer-Verlag 01.09.2008; Springer Science+Business Media; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cloud forests; Community composition; community structure; Crop harvesting; Ecology; economics; Ecosystem studies; energy; Energy sources; Environmental impact; Environmental Management; Forest ecology; forest growth; Forest management; Forest regeneration; Forestry; Forests; fuelwood; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; Geoecology/Natural Processes; harvesting; Hydrology/Water Resources; Life Sciences; Logging; Mexico; Montane forests; Old growth forests; Plant Sciences; Plant species; Rural areas; Species composition; species diversity; stakeholders; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Timber industry; Tree felling; Trees; tropical montane cloud forests; Tropical rain forests; Wood; Zoology; Central America; Mexico; America; Mexico, Veracruz; disturbance; FORMIND; logging impacts; selective logging; sustainable forest management; ecosystem dynamics; forest model; Mexico; fire wood; tropical montane cloud forest; Forest management; Tropical forest; Forest logging; Perturbation; Tropical montane forest; Fuelwood; Long term; Dynamics; Ecosystem; Fires; Models; Cloud forest
• ISSN: 1432-9840; 1435-0629
• DOI: 10.1007/s10021-008-9166-8

Fuelwood extracted from natural forests serves as a principal energy source in rural regions of many tropical countries. Although fuelwood extraction (even low intensities) might strongly impact the structure and species composition of natural forests, long-term studies remain scarce. Here, we estimate the potential long-term impacts (over several hundred years) of such repeated harvesting of single trees on tropical montane cloud forest in central Veracruz, Mexico, by applying a process-based forest growth model. We simulate a wide range of possible harvesting scenarios differing in wood volume harvested and preferred tree species and sizes, and use a set of indicators to compare their impacts on forest size structure and community composition. Results showed that the overall impact on forest structure and community composition increased linearly with the amount of harvested wood volume. Even at low levels of harvesting, forest size structure became more homogeneous in the long term because large old trees disappeared from the forest, but these changes might take decades or even centuries. Although recruitment of harvested species benefited from harvesting, species composition shifted to tree species that are not used for fuelwood. Our results demonstrate that fuelwood extraction can have marked long-term impacts on tropical montane cloud forests. The results also offer the possibility to support the design of management strategies for the natural species-rich forests that achieve a balance between economic needs and ecological goals of the stakeholders.