Can forest management be sustainable in a bamboo dominated forest? A 12-year study of forest dynamics in western Amazon

Abstract

The western Amazon supports the largest formation of neotropical bamboo forests. This forest ecosystem is neglected due to its low commercial timber volume and fragile forest structure that amplifies the damage caused by logging operations. This study was conducted in a lightly logged bamboo-dominated forest in Brazilian western Amazon, with the objective to evaluate the sustainability of the applied forest management regime in terms of tree density, above-ground dried biomass and tree bole volume stocks recovery rates and species groups. The forest dynamics were monitored over a period of 12years in 10 permanent sample plots of 1ha. Two main results of this study are important to the establishment of cycle lengths, logging intensities and silvicultural treatments for tropical forest management in bamboo-dominated forest: the rapid increment of the above-ground biomass (AGB) observed in the area after logging, and the slow growth of commercial and logged species. In addition, although no climate data was collected in this study, the reported 2005 and 2010 atypical climate events strongly affected forest dynamics and productivity.These results indicate that short cutting cycles and light logging intensities, and the rotation of logged species, should produce the appropriate combination in terms of the disturbance frequency and scale to promote sustainable timber production in bamboo-dominated forests.