Community composition of tree and palm species following disturbance in a forest with bamboo in southwestern Amazonia, Brazil

Abstract

Anthropogenic disturbances such as selective logging and forest fires can cause further degradation in tropical forests. Various authors have suggested that logging and fire in southwestern Amazonia can increase bamboo abundance and contribute to slowing succession, but few studies have addressed community-composition patterns at either the local or the regional scale. We used a natural experiment with forest fire and post-burn logging to analyze the effects of increased bamboo abundance on the community composition of trees and palms in Brazil's Acre state in southwestern Amazonia. Bamboo abundance was expressed by variables collected both by field sampling and from high-resolution images using a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). Disturbance in these forests was associated with a significant reduction in the number of crowns of emergent trees and palms and an increase in the canopy fraction occupied by bamboo. A significant negative relationship was observed between the canopy area occupied by bamboo and the number of tree and palm species, regardless of the level of disturbance. Bamboo density (culms m −2 ) and canopy area occupied by bamboo had significant effects on community composition, indicating that bamboo abundance is a key driver affecting the floristic composition of the forest.