Above-ground Biomass Recovery in Managed Tropical Forest in the Jari Valley, Eastern Amazon

Adriano Castelo Dos Santos,Eleneide Doff Sotta,Lilian Blanc,Marcelino Carneiro Guedes

doi:10.5539/jas.v11n6p129

Abstract

Tropical forests play an important role in maintaining the regional rainfall regime and global climate, besides representing a significant stock of carbon. This study aimed at evaluate above-ground biomass (AGB) recovery, after reduced-impact logging (RIL) in a managed forest on the Jari River valley. The data were collected in 15 plots (100 m &times; 100 m) in the management area of the Jari Florestal Company. To estimate AGB we used a local equation adjusted for forests in the eastern Amazon. AGB before logging ranged from 157.9 Mg ha-1 to 619.9 Mg ha-1, with an average of 362.5 Mg ha-1. AGB after logging ranged from 151.2 Mg ha-1 to 632.8 Mg ha-1, with an average of 322.4 Mg ha-1. The time of monitoring of the plots and logging intensity were the main factors that influenced the recovery of the AGB. In 12 years after the RIL, the forest was able to recover its initial stocks of AGB, in places of low exploitation intensity.

Highlights

Forests, even to produce wood, exert important role in the maintenance of the regional rainfall regime and the global climate, they emit large volumes of water into the atmosphere and represent a significant carbon stock in forest biomass (SFB & IPAM, 2011; Piponiot et al, 2016).The recently introduced sustainable forest management (SFM) for production forests is beneficial for the maintenance of forest resources (Imai et al, 2009)
This study aimed to evaluate the recovery of above-ground biomass of tropical rainforest after reduced-impact logging
The study was conducted on the forest management area (FMA) of the Jari Florestal Company, located in the municipality of Almerim, state of Pará, Brazil, between latitudes 0°27′ and 1°30′ S, and longitudes 51°40′ and 53°20′ W (Souza et al, 2014)

Summary

Introduction

Even to produce wood (managed), exert important role in the maintenance of the regional rainfall regime and the global climate, they emit large volumes of water into the atmosphere and represent a significant carbon stock in forest biomass (SFB & IPAM, 2011; Piponiot et al, 2016). The recently introduced sustainable forest management (SFM) for production forests is beneficial for the maintenance of forest resources (Imai et al, 2009). The application of SFM in tropical forests increases the storage of biomass and carbon in these ecosystems. Of the efforts of the regulatory institutions, SFM in the Brazilian Amazon continues to be performed without planning for future cutting cycles (Braz et al, 2015). Management plans must be consistent with sustainable forest management and shall ensure the continuous production of forest products and services (Gourlet-Fleury et al, 2013). The costs associated with the planned operation are by the benefits of RIL: the reduction of the time of operation of machines and the work per cubic meter of extracted wood, reduction of wood waste and decrease of damage to the remaining trees (Jonhs et al, 1996; Sist & Ferreira, 2007; Miller et al, 2011)

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Discussion

Conclusion