Goupia glabra does not recover its timber stock after a 35-year logging cycle in the Brazilian Amazon: evidence from long-term multi-area monitoring

Abstract

ABSTRACT Single-rule management is often adopted for various tropical forest timber species due to limited knowledge on species-specific growth and the relationship between logging intensity and recovery time. This study provides information to support sustainable management of Goupia glabra by simulating its wood stock recovery over a 35-year period following logging using data from six areas in the Brazilian Amazon. Monitoring periods after the first harvest cycle varyed from 16 to 29 years, and logging intensity from 0.000 to 0.696 m² ha-1. Tree density of G. glabra varied from 0 to 22 trees ha-1 and dominance from 0.00 to 7.39 m² ha-¹. Frequency of tree diameters was almost evenly distributed across diameter classes, slightly higher in the first (20-30 cm) class. These parameters generated estimations of recovery rate from 12 to 85%, showing that 35 years is insufficient for trees with DBH ≥ 20 cm in all study areas to grow and replace the stock of trees with DBH ≥ 50 cm harvested during the first cycle. Minimum recovery periods from 48 to 83 years were estimated to guarantee the recovery of the wood stock in the study areas. These findings reinforce the need to adapt management rules according to the population dynamics of each timber species and each logging area, and suggest the need for changes in the current legal requirements that define forest management in the Amazon.

Keywords

• recovery rate
• sustainable harvest
• species-specific management
• tropical timber