Regeneração de uma área manejada na Floresta Estadual do Antimary, estado do Acre.

Abstract

Although sustainable forest management has become a consensus in recent years, many issues regarding its sustainability are still present. Forest management can generate short-term and long-term effects, ranging from changes in forest microclimate, soil compaction and erosion to changes in floristic composition. On the other hand, areas impacted by logging can be an important microsite for shade-intolerant, commercially valuable, species. To better understand how the forest responds to this activity, the present study aimed to evaluate logging effects on the natural regeneration of tree species considering different levels of disturbance along a chronosequence of areas logged in the Antimary State Forest, in the state of Acre - Brazil. Natural regeneration was evaluated through plots established in Annual Production Unit (APU), one, four and eight years since logging, considering the different levels of impacts generated by this activity, where natural regeneration comprised all tree individuals with a minimum height of 50 cm and 10 cm of diameter at breast height (DBH). Areas not directly affected by logging were used as controls. Canopy opening data and soil data were also collected obtained for the analysis of light availability and soil physical characteristics. The areas disturbed by logging and the frequency and distribution of gaps were quantified using LiDAR data. No significant differences were observed regarding total natural regeneration density at different disturbance levels for all analyzed ages (p ≥ 0.08). Pioneer species displayed a high relative density in environments with high disturbance levels, for all analyzed years (p < 0.001). The floristic composition in areas one year since logging was different from forest areas not directly affected by this activity (p = 0.022). Eight years after logging, species diversity differed only in environments with high disturbance (p = 0.00). Three years after logging, the mortality rate was higher in environments displaying a high level of disturbance (p < 0.001), which was also observed for growth rates (p < 0.001). However, no significant differences were observed in recruitment rates in areas displaying different levels of disturbance (p > 0.46). Four years after logging, the canopy openness did not exceed 10% and the areas did not present significant differences (p ≥ 0,69). Although differences in soil bulk density were observed in the early years, these differences disappeared since eight years of logging (p > 0.50). The area percentages directly affected by logging ranged from 7.0 to 8.6%, while felling gaps represented the highest percentage of disturbance (3.0 - 3.7%). No significant differences in the frequency and distribution of gaps before and after logging (p = 0.25) and among APU (p = 0.25) were observed. Results indicate that the disturbances produced by logging were temporary, and that, after eight years, a good part of the evaluated characteristics, such as seedling density, floristic composition, soil physical conditions and canopy opening, returned to their previous stage.