Post-fire recovery of a dense ombrophylous forest in Amazon.

Dárlison F.C De Andrade,Ademir R Ruschel,Lia O Melo,João R.V Gama,Angela L De Avila,João O.P De Carvalho

doi:10.1590/0001-3765201920170840

Abstract

The fires that occur in the Amazon are as damaging as the deforestation is. There is a need for further long-term studies on dynamics of tree communities in forests affected by fires. In the present study we evaluated the dynamics of tree species, before and after an accidental fire that occurred in 1997 in an experimental area of terra firme forest in the Floresta Nacional do Tapajós, in western Pará State, Brazil. Approximately 3500 trees with diameter measured at 1.30 m above ground (DBH) ≥ 5 cm were botanically identified and measured in 12 permanent plots of 0.25 ha (50 m x 50 m), in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1995, 2008 and 2012. Analyses of survival, mortality and recruitment of trees were performed. The results showed that although the fire has increased the mortality and recruitment rates after 15 years, the highest mortality occurred on trees with smaller diameters (DBH < 30 cm), so the fire did not affect the survival of large trees in the long term, explaining why the reduction in density of living trees has not greatly influenced the decrease in basal area in the burned forest.

Highlights

The Amazon forest is a source of fascination for scientists (Correia et al 2016), among them there is consensus that as greater is the knowledge of AGRARIAN SCIENCESAn Acad Bras Cienc (2019) 91(2)POST-FIRE RECOVERY IN AMAZON RAINFOREST loss of environmental services (Fearnside 2006), recent studies have shown that degradation caused by selective logging without technical criteria, fires and others inappropriate anthropogenic uses are as damaging as deforestation, only deforestation is monitored by the government (Barlow et al 2016).it is likely that in this century, the Amazon will experience an increase in temperature, frequency and extent of drought events (Betts et al 2016)
The Amazon forest is a source of fascination for scientists (Correia et al 2016), among them there is consensus that as greater is the knowledge of Correspondence to: Dárlison Fernandes Carvalho de Andrade E-mail: darlisonicmbio@gmail.com ORCid: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4362-8979 the dynamics and biological diversity as more efficient will be management, conservation and restoration actions of this biome (Silva et al 2015)
The percentage of survival of remaining trees (SR) in the last measurement in 2012 was 50.59% for T1 and 67.67% for T0, indicating a natural tendency for gradual replacement of older trees in both areas, intensified in the area affected by fire

Summary

Introduction

The Amazon forest is a source of fascination for scientists (Correia et al 2016), among them there is consensus that as greater is the knowledge of AGRARIAN SCIENCESAn Acad Bras Cienc (2019) 91(2)POST-FIRE RECOVERY IN AMAZON RAINFOREST loss of environmental services (Fearnside 2006), recent studies have shown that degradation caused by selective logging without technical criteria, fires and others inappropriate anthropogenic uses are as damaging as deforestation, only deforestation is monitored by the government (Barlow et al 2016).it is likely that in this century, the Amazon will experience an increase in temperature, frequency and extent of drought events (Betts et al 2016). POST-FIRE RECOVERY IN AMAZON RAINFOREST loss of environmental services (Fearnside 2006), recent studies have shown that degradation caused by selective logging without technical criteria, fires and others inappropriate anthropogenic uses are as damaging as deforestation, only deforestation is monitored by the government (Barlow et al 2016). The monitoring of burned forests is the best way to know the mechanisms of resilience after fire (Betts et al 2016) and to describe the recovery path (Sato et al 2016). The impact of forest fire is directly associated with tree mortality (Sato et al 2016). The existing knowledge infers that, in fire-affected forests, mortality is directly proportional to the severity of the fire and after initial light burning, is higher in trees with smaller stems (Xaud et al 2013)

Methods

Results

Conclusion