Small-scale Management of Secondary Forests in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Alfredo Celso Fantini,Ilyas Siddique,Cristiano Schuch,Alexandre Siminski

doi:10.1590/2179-8087.069017

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sustainable management of tropical and subtropical secondary forests for multiple purposes, including timber, may encourage farmers to promote regeneration of native forest. We studied the population structures and commercial timber production in two adjacent 33 years-old Brazilian Atlantic Forest stands: a 26 ha forest managed through enrichment with three fast-growing commercial timber species, and a 10 ha naturally regenerated unmanaged forest. The tree species presented basal area of 26.9 m2 ha–1 and 23.8 m2 ha–1 in the enriched and the unmanaged forest, respectively. Timber volume (DBH ≥ 15 cm) in the enriched forest was 104 m3 ha–1 (3.7 m3 ha–1 year–1 rate of increment), 67% of which from the species planted in the enrichment process. The unmanaged forest presented 78.4 m3 ha–1 of timber (2.4 m3 ha–1 year–1 rate of increment) (45% from the planted species). Timber volumes and DBH distributions of both stands suggest that selective harvesting could produce valuable timber now, while stimulating growth of the next cycle.

Highlights

The native vegetation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest originally covered approximately 1.5 million hectares (Metzger, 2009), with ecosystems very rich in biodiversity and with a high degree of endemism (Tabarelli et al, 2010)
We studied the population structures and commercial timber production in two adjacent 33 years-old Brazilian Atlantic Forest stands: a 26 ha forest managed through enrichment with three fast‐growing commercial timber species, and a 10 ha naturally regenerated unmanaged forest
Regarding the species planted in the enriched forest (M. cinnamomifolia, H. alchorneoides and Nectandra spp.), the density was similar in the two forests (350 and 289 individuals ha–1, respectively)

Summary

Introduction

The native vegetation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest originally covered approximately 1.5 million hectares (Metzger, 2009), with ecosystems very rich in biodiversity and with a high degree of endemism (Tabarelli et al, 2010). Most remnants of the Atlantic forest are small and isolated patches (Ribeiro et al, 2009) formed by secondary forests typical of fallows in this climate (Lira et al, 2012; Vibrans et al, 2012), a consequence of the swidden cultivation as a prevalent land use in the region until recently (Siminski et al, 2011; Schorn & Galvão, 2006). In the Atlantic forest region, socioeconomic factors seem to be important drivers of the swidden cultivation decline, especially the lack of labor caused by the rural exodus of young people and the recent enforcement of legal restrictions in suppressing successional forests (Siminski et al, 2011). There are several native timber species typical of secondary forests of the region with potential for commercial management (Fantini & Siminski, 2016; Coradin et al, 2011)

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