Generating key information on natural regeneration in the second cycle of logging in the Brazilian Amazon

• Grant number: 23/07753-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Forest Management
• Acordo de Cooperação: CONFAP - National Council of State Research Support Foundations
• Principal Investigator: Edson José Vidal da Silva
• Grantee: Daigard Ricardo Ortega Rodriguez
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/10454-8 - Going beyond the first harvest cycle in the rainforests of the Brazilian Amazon, AP.R

Abstract

The demand for wood from tropical forests has been constant in the recent years, however stocks of the main managed species have declined in recent years. Thus, the uncertainty generated by the stocks of production forests in the second cutting cycle demonstrates weaknesses in the long term. Thus, this proposal intends to generate critical and essential information about the species in regeneration after the second wood harvesting cycle, in the ecological and economic aspects of forest management. Specifically, expectations will be evaluated that: 1) The composition and structure of the natural regeneration of areas with EIR after 30 years are similar to those of areas without intervention; 2) The proportion of fast-growing species in the regenerant bank is higher in managed areas than in areas without intervention; 3) The population structure of commercial timber species varies between different ecological groups. Information collected in 60 plots of 400 m2 will be used, installed in the areas of a wide forestry experiment, carried out in 1993 with RIL and conventional exploration techniques in the municipality of Paragominas, PA. Information regarding species composition and density of individuals with DBH < 10 cm, and environmental characteristics will be collected within these plots. Analyzes of floristic diversity and similarity of the regenerant bank between treatments will be carried out, as well as evaluations of individual density and population structure of commercial species. This study will contribute to the assessment of the effects of logging in tropical forests, including indicating potential gaps for silvicultural interventions that increase the sustainability of the activity. (AU)