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

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 m 2 ha -1 and 23.8 m 2 ha -1 in the enriched and the unmanaged forest, respectively. Timber volume (DBH ≥ 15 cm) in the enriched forest was 104 m 3 ha -1 (3.7 m 3 ha -1 year -1 rate of increment), 67% of which from the species planted in the enrichment process. The unmanaged forest presented 78.4 m 3 ha -1 of timber (2.4 m 3 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.

Impact Assessment of Timber Harvesting Operations for Enhancing Sustainable Management in a Secondary Atlantic Forest

“…In stands A and B, mostly commercial tree species were harvested. Thus, the commercial harvested timber volume of stand A (74.3 m 3 ha −1 ) and B (43.8 m 3 ha −1 ) contributed to the economic profitability of the system and granted some economic return to the landowner, corroborating the study of Fantini et al [8] on the potential use of secondary Atlantic Forest. In stand C, most of the harvested trees were felled for improving the residual stand.…”

“…Conservation and management of the remaining forest ecosystem are currently largely conflicting goals in the biome [8]. Irrespective of size of forest patches, commercial logging is banned by forest regulations issued in 1993 and 2006, aiming at protecting the remnant forests from deforestation and degradation [5].…”

“…The effectiveness of such policy is, however, questionable. Various researchers argued that sustainable management of secondary forests providing income opportunities would be more effective in increasing the willingness of land owners to conserve and possibly even expand the forest, favoring local development through income generation [3,5,[8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…Multiple studies have investigated the potential of secondary forest utilization in tropical regions [3,7,8]. However, although the Atlantic secondary forests may reach high productivity due to several fast growing species [8,11], only few studies have evaluated the utilization potential of these forests for timber production.…”

“…Multiple studies have investigated the potential of secondary forest utilization in tropical regions [3,7,8]. However, although the Atlantic secondary forests may reach high productivity due to several fast growing species [8,11], only few studies have evaluated the utilization potential of these forests for timber production. Fantini and Siminski [5] estimated the amount of commercially mature trees at up to 300 trees per ha (diameter at breast height above 15 cm), corresponding to a harvestable timber volume of 30 million m 3 , within the approximately 6000 km 2 of secondary forests of the evergreen rainforests (ERF) of the Santa Catarina State alone.…”