Effect of different logging intensities and treatments on the dynamics of the remaining forest.

Abstract

This study was conducted with data from Projeto Bom Manejo (Embrapa/CIFOR/ITTO) - Sustainable management of production forests in commercial scale in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out by Embrapa Eastern Amazon in Monte Dourado Forest Company (Jari) area, Vitória do Jari, State of Amapá, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three replications. An evaluation of the dynamics of the vegetation with DBH ³ 20 cm is presented, under three logging intensities (extraction of 15%, 25% and 35%) of the total volume of trees with more than 60 cm of dbh were tested, followed of four levels of basal area reduction (0%, 30%, 50% and 70% of the original basal area). The forest development was monitored through 40 permanent sample plots of 1 ha each (36 logged and 4 unlogged). The plots were measured in 1984, logged in 1985 and remeasured in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996 and 2004. The results showed that reduced impact logging was good for the forest, but not, necessarily, it stimulated the growth and it must take longer cutting cycles than the recommended thirty years.